650c rear wheel for Vendetta?

ccf

Guru
What is the Tribe's experience with running a 650c wheel on the rear of their Vendetta, while keeping the 700c on the front? It would lower my head by ~25mm, which I should think would be more aero.
 

MrSteve

Zen MBB Master
Everything else is affected with that one wheel change.
The rake and trail of the front end will be different, for example, so the handling will also be different.
 

Robert Holler

Administrator
Staff member
Not recommended and any gain will (in my opinion) be very minimal. However the potential change to the handling could be very large.

Likely to get more speed out of a change of tires and pressures I think.

If the knees at the top of the pedal stroke are going much higher than your shoulders you are possibly going into the less aero and less efficient territory.
 

Kenneth

Well-Known Member
I'm riding this way on my S40. 700/35 front and 700/28 on rear.i wanted to change the angle a little to see if it reduced seat pressure. It allowed for transfering a bit of my weight to the back of the seat and off of my rear. I realize it's not recommended by many but I haven't noticed any ill affects to the handling. I've been riding like this for a month and plan to leave it this way indefinitely. At some point if I haven't found a reason to change it I'll buy a 650 wheel and put a tire that corresponds to the 28 in height. That of course to be able to have the fatter tire for better comfort.
 

LarryOz

Cruzeum Curator & Sigma Wrangler
Like someone said earlier, one change ripples through and changes everything.
For what it is worth, I experimented with a 650 wheel also and found that I was less aero even though my head was lower. I think the taller of a person you are, the more possible benefit there might be for you, but you will probably have to change some other things to maximize your gain. In the end, the loss of handling might force you back.
 

ccf

Guru
FWIW, I used a 650b rear wheel for the 6-hour race at Borrego Springs. Front end felt a little "heavier", but handling was fine for a relatively flat time trial with just four turns per lap. For a technical mountain descent, a 700c wheel would still be best.
 
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