I got the opportunity to ride a Pacenti 650b steel hardtail demo bike this past weekend and was really impressed with the over all performance of the Pacenti demo and the 650b wheel size. So impressed that when I got back home I tore down my 29er squishy and started listing parts on ebay to build up the cash to buy a new frame and wheel set. I unloaded the a new set of Stan's Flow 29er rims the same day I listed them on ebay and my 29er squishy frame has a bid... so things are moving forward quite well on the cash end. Now I just got to figure out what frame to get.
I really dig the Pacenti demo I got to ride, but I really dig my Ventana frames, the quality and service I have gotten in the past from V... so I'm leaning towards a V. However, Ventana doesn't actually offer a production line V 650b hardtail as of yet, so it would be a custom order, which puts it close to the price range of the Pacenti frame... that I really liked too! The Pacenti demo was a steel frame. First time I've ridden a steel frame since the mid-90s and I forgot how good steel can feel! So that adds another dimension to my decision making and this isn't going to be an easy choice, because I really want to get one frame and stick with it for a few years.
When I got my 29er frames (a hard tail and squishy) I thought this is it... I found the frames I'll stick with for many years. Ride them till they break. And I really dig my 29ers, but considering I'm 5'6" tall, the large wheels always felt slightly too big. I was never too crazy with the slightly slower handling of the 29er wheels in cornering and I've noticed when ever I hit something in the trail that was large enough to wrench the wheel to the side, it took a good bit more effort to correct the line than it did on my 26ers I've had in the past. Since I switched from 26" wheels to 29" wheels, I've also missed the flickability of the 26ers and the responsiveness of the smaller wheel size. Regardless I still liked my 29ers far more than the 26ers I've had and if I was limited to choosing between a 26er and 29er... I chose a 29er all day long.
But the 650b sets me right in the middle and I really liked how fast I could spin up the 27.5 wheels and yet retained much of the rolling characteristics of the 29er size wheels and it simply felt like a better fitting bike for my height.
I've got a lot of frame research I got to do. I posted a video of a Vicious Cycle Ti frame. I think I'll be checking Vicious out as well.
Ti, Aluminum or Steel... got some hard choices ahead of me. Ti - I'm not so interested in, I like the way Ti rides, but I prefer the feel of steel over Ti and I really dig the stiffness of Aluminum frames. But they can deliver more of a beating on a hardtail. I'm really interested in going steel, but I don't want to pick up the additional weight compared to an aluminum frame.
Last time I had to make these kind of choices I spent 6 to 8 months just researching frames. It was well worth the time and my decision to go with Ventana frames has been 100% positive. My gut feeling is to stick with V, I know I won't be disappointed. But the Pacenti steel frame really has caught my attention.
Tags: 650b 27.5 Wheel Size Neo Moto Stan's ZTR 355
