Wheel help

[firesafetydave]

Hi all,
Just building an old fixie with parts of eBay. Think I just made a bit of a bobo, I have bought a pair of 650c wheels instead of 700c, wasn't really concentrating.
My question is, what is the size difference and will they look stupid on an old frame?
Thanks
Dave

[Jimbo.]

They'll be too small for the brakes I suspect: the callipers won't each down anywhere near enough.

EDIT: Fixie. You are running brakes, non?

[firesafetydave]

Thanks for reply, but I won't be running brakes, just worried it may look wrong, how much smaller are they actually?

[anonymous-user]

700c is about 622mm in diameter, 650c is about 584mm.

if you are not running brakes its irrelevant but I really would reconsider brakes. there will be a big gap between the seat tube and the rear wheel and the down tube and the front wheel, and it may ride quite twitchy but there wont be any issues.

650 is getting quite popular in triathlons again as tt bikes have shorter chainstays to pitch get the rider further forwards. its a fad and triathletes are gullible

[BadgerBenji]

Pedals will also be alot closer to the ground, so during cornering you might want to be careful especially on a fixed as you can't exactly freewheel round with the inside pedal high.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

pablo said:

700c is about 622mm in diameter, 650c is about 584mm.

if you are not running brakes its irrelevant but I really would reconsider brakes. there will be a big gap between the seat tube and the rear wheel and the down tube and the front wheel, and it may ride quite twitchy but there wont be any issues.

650 is getting quite popular in triathlons again as tt bikes have shorter chainstays to pitch get the rider further forwards. its a fad and triathletes are gullible

what about a small front and a a larger rear wheel? Amazed no one's thought of that before