I haven’t really had an opportunity to build a mountain bike around Kirk Pacenti’s 27.5″ mtn bike tires. These tires mount on a 650b rim. The overall wheel size ends up being half way between a normal 26 inch wheel and a 29 inch wheel. I am going to try to build Christine a combo style of bike. She needs a bike for commuting and for trail riding. I have designed the bike so it will handle properly as a commuter with a 650b X 38c tire or as a rigid mtb with the 27.5 inch tires. The BB height is critical and can be adjusted accordingly with the eccentric bottom bracket.
The frame is being built out of True Temper Platinum tubing. I am not sure what the final paint scheme will be. So far a brown/pink combo seems to in the running.
For years I have dreaded reaming seat tubes. I never really seemed to have an efficient system that didn’t require a huge amount of elbow grease. A little while back I found a number of 1.5 hp motors with gears boxes attached and thought that some day I might have a chance to use them for a reaming machine. My friend Wheelspinner put this machine together for around $200 and a couple of afternoons of work. It works like a dream!