September 1, 2012
Page 50
After five years on the market I think people are finally appreciating how adaptable the bikes are, said Sean Virnig, founder of 650b/700c brand Rawland Cycles. And Virnig is not talking about how 650b bikes can let smaller people rider bigger wheels on trails. Now that disc brakes make wheel swaps easy, his customers put on wide 650b rubber for a gravel ride, randonee or commuting and switch to a 26-inch mountain wheel set to hang with friends for an epic trail ride.
A recent favorable review of Rawland's rSogn in Outside magazine pretty much cleaned out the small company's inventory. But Virnig is unsure whether this means the 650b buzz this year is picking up traction or that the versatile appeal of the wheel size caught riders' eye.
A nice publicity for sure. However, I am not sure why or how 26" appeared, after the article initially associated Rawland with both 650b and 700c wheel sizes. At any rate, dSogn and Drakkar owners, myself included, continue to enjoy the simple ability to swap between 650b and 700c wheels with tires of a similar effective diameter, such as 52mm and 32mm, respectively. This also goes for the upcoming disc models. Stay tuned!
Skoal,
Sean
