S40 with 650 or 26inch wheels?

[bromclist]

My S40 has 700c (ofcourse)
But I feel the tyres are too thin or bare (threadless) for bangalore/Indian roads.
I was thinking if it is a good idea to change to 650b or 26inch wheels and put a 1.5inch tyres on them.
Is it a good / bad idea? thoughts?
I know fatter tyres means reduced speed but I am anyway not a fast person.

 

[Greg S]

I’ve used 38mm 650b’s on my S40 and liked them. Only reason I changed back to 700c was I had an xd cassette I wanted to use and the freehub on the 650b wheels was Shimano HG (too lazy to change it, easier to change wheels).

I’ll probably go back at some point. For me, 38mm is the sweet spot: big enough to be comfortable, roll well (either Rene Herse or GravelKing slicks) and reasonably light.

 

[chicorider]

I ran 650b on my S40, with 50mm Gravel King slicks. The ride was nice and smooth, and with enough air pressure, could even be fast. I also still had room for fenders.

 

[cpml123]

My S40 has 700c (ofcourse)
But I feel the tyres are too thin or bare (threadless) for bangalore/Indian roads.
I was thinking if it is a good idea to change to 650b or 26inch wheels and put a 1.5inch tyres on them.
Is it a good / bad idea? thoughts?
I know fatter tyres means reduced speed but I am anyway not a fast person.

My S40 takes 700 x 40mm tires.

 

[kizarmynot]

I used 26x46 for my S40 touring setup. I could go bigger but those are the largest tubeless tires I could find that didn’t have an aggressive tread.

 

[bromclist]

My S40 takes 700 x 40mm tires.

Mine is an old frame. 32mm barely fits the front fork.

 

[bromclist]

I used 26x46 for my S40 touring setup. I could go bigger but those are the largest tubeless tires I could find that didn’t have an aggressive tread.

thanks. I will use my current setup for as long as they last and then switch.

 

[rdl03]

My S40 takes 700 x 40mm tires.

In front? What rim and tire? I've one one of my S40s set up with a 700x36mm tire, and the clearance seems acceptable, but just barely. (I've put a 700x45 in back, makes the bumps in the road a little bit softer).

 

[rfneep]

I just tested my S40 with 650b x 48 tires on a gravel ride. Worked perfectly fine.

 

[rdl03]

I just tested my S40 with 650b x 48 tires on a gravel ride. Worked perfectly fine.

That I can believe. 650B is 38mm smaller in diameter, so there is significantly more vertical and horizontal clearance.

 

[Jamon Smallgoods]

I just tested my S40 with 650b x 48 tires on a gravel ride. Worked perfectly fine.

What wheels and tires did you use? And was the gravel hard packed or loose?

 

[kizarmynot]

In front? What rim and tire? I've one one of my S40s set up with a 700x36mm tire, and the clearance seems acceptable, but just barely. (I've put a 700x45 in back, makes the bumps in the road a little bit softer).

My wheels have 22 mm inner width. Tires are Mavic Yksion Elite Allroad XL 700x40 - they were the original gravel tires installed on a DF that I bought 10 years ago that haven’t gotten much use but still work well.

 

[rfneep]

What wheels and tires did you use? And was the gravel hard packed or loose?

I use Reynolds ATR 650b carbon wheels and Rene Herse 48 x 584 (650b) Switchback Hill tires. Mainly hard-packed gravel but with intermittent patches of loose sand used to fill holes in the trail.

 

[Robert Holler]

On a 400c wheel you can usually fit 38c tires (tight but it works) If you did 650b you could fit 47c easily.

Robert