Converting a 90s MTB to 650b 

Loved this so much. Especially the $500.00 worth of brakes on an old mountain bike. I’m glad I’m not alone in this madness.

I have Motolite brakes paired with Paul Love Levers on my old Surly 1x1. It never occurred to me that I could upgrade it to 650b! Great idea! Btw I’m sure you know this, but running full housing all the way to the rear brake would fix your braze on issue. Cheers!

conversion or not, the best point you made at the end is that you are way more excited about the bike! All the other stuff doesn't matter as much.

Sweet! I've done this conversion probably 10 times on dadbike builds over the years. 90's Steel Gary Fisher Tassajara, Procaliber, GT Lightning, Scott Racing Comp, Trek 950 Specialized Stumpjumper 1991 (see Ultra Romance Cool bike) and they always ride awesome. Paul's are amazing, I run them on my Lightning, but also Tektro cr720 has decent height adjustability if you stick with canti, and if you cheat and run the threaded kool stop pads with v brake pad conical washers you can get a little more height. Sometimes a little bit of filing on the caliper to get pad contact to hit right. Bead seat diameter (rim diameter in mm basically) 559 mm for 26er to 584 mm for 650b makes for a change in radius of 12.5mm. So if your pads can adjust up that far from current position on 26er rims, this wonderful conversion just may work for you! Thanks for doing what you do Russ!

Interesting experiment but I prefer to stay with the 26 and get wider tires and it has the same diameter as a 650b with thinner tires and you retain a cushier ride. 26" wheels are stronger too. Tires like Maxxis DTH, Rene Herse Rattrap Pass, make your $150 26er just as good as your latest gravel bike. Crust bikes is also selling a 26" dynamo hub wheelset too. Long live 26"!

Pick up a clamp-on cable stop from origin8. Get one that matches your top tube diameter and you can avoid the zip ties for the rear brake.

really enjoyed this one. I'm actually a little surprised that this isn't a more common upgrade. Perhaps I will give it a try myself.

I’ve got the same setup on a 1992 ibis. Converted to drop bar and 650b with some nice Rene Herse tires. Really changed the feel of the bike. Motolites are amazing. From what I understand they will accommodate all the way up to a 700c wheel. When I spoke with Paul about it he said 26 will be linear long pull 700 will be short pull and 650b will be uhhh medium pull. Run whatever you want and it’ll be fine”. I’m my experience he was exactly right. The brakes are so high quality that the differences in pull are negligible in my experience. Love the content as always. Can’t wait for the next one.

FYI - most basic V-brakes are adjustable to work with 650b no problem. So $25 per brake as opposed to $$$ for Paul brakes.

Thanks for this! A while back I had looked at doing exactly this for my trusty ( crusty? v8v ) Fuji Sundance and have wondered about the road not taken (Path Not Pedaled?). Motolites were the only option that have would worked for the Sundance (brazed on posts, adapters that wouldn't fit in the frame, not quite enough pad adjustment, fugliness, etc.). At the time the cost for just the 2 sets of Motolites was well over my "try for less hand numbness after 30 miles" budget :S . For sure, tire clearance on the older bikes is an issue. When I was riding rock hard 20c tires on the road and I brought that Sundance home, those 1.5" knobby tires seemed enormous! Today...not so much, lol. My Sundance can't run bigger than 26x1.75" knobby or 26x2" slicks without rubbing, so about a 650b x 35 semi-slick at maximum. Alternatively, I could have gone with a 700c wheelset with a set of long reach center mount brakes, but I could "just" fit 700x28c tires (32c were jammed into the frame and I couldn't even seat the axle) Yeah, 26" really feels sluggish and a little twitchy when you've been riding bigger wheels. I find myself missing my newer 700c bike when riding the Sundance now. It might just be that '80s and early '90s mtbs are just kind of wonky. Again, thanks, now I don't have to wonder "what if?" anymore.

Basically, I am very happy to see that finally, 90s MTBs are becoming a media topic or generally a "thing", as my basement is full of them :-D

If you run a full length cable from the lever to the brake and skip all the cable stops you just zip tie the cable to the top tube and it works like a factory brake with full housing. Did this on my hard rock and it works great!

I think you should have kept the original lever, with shorter pull for cantilevers. Because with the pads moved upwards, you reduced the V-brake lever lenght significantly and therefore the need of cable pull is also reduced, causing that on-off feeling with a long pull lever. With a shorter pull lever, you will get more power and more modulation, because you have to pull the lever more, to have the same amount of cable pull.

Little advice: just use a brake housing from the lever all the way to the brake and nothing could slip.

@6:51 I believe you can see the milling marks on the cable capture thing. I like to see stuff like that.

Sweet geebus everybody. Thanks for the suggestions to use continuous housing or a cable stop. No need to leave that in the comments.

There’s clamp on cable stops made for that exact problem. Surprised you didn’t discover them. Also, I don’t know why there’s so much complaints about 26” tire availability. I’ve had no issues finding stuff, and not old stuff either. I’m running Maxxis Holy Rollers on one bike and Panaracer Fire XC on another, that I bought last year.

Ah yes. Those guides on the Schwinn/Paramount models. Such fun. My Series 90 is the same. Although I’m running HS33s on that beauty!

Loving these vids! Did you find any diferences in how the bike rides/handles with a higher bottom bracket?

This type of conversion was actually a winning setup on the HPR (Human-Powered Rollercoaster) figure-8 velodrome in the late 1990s/early 2000s. It was a competition open to the international bike-courier community. While many people showed up to race with track bikes or road bikes, one of the most successful setups was 26er MTBs converted to 650b wheelsets. This allowed the use of narrower, lighter tires while maintaining the original wheel's intended outside diameter and race geometry on the MTBs. Quite a few riders ran this setup and many races were won on that crazy track with the 26-to-650b conversion. Paul Motolites were the key to enabling the conversion. Sweet brakes!

I would have simply thrown on some new Continental Race King's and a healthy dose of talcum powder in the tire to let the tube slide around. Makes a huge difference and adds major suppleness factor to the ride quality. For the rear wheel, just rebuild the wheel with a new cassette hub and cheap cassette using the same rim. That's what I would have done personally. Keeping the tires 26" also allows future use of fenders in case you want to turn it into a commuter or city bike.

Given that you recently loved some 26" wheels with the Rene Herse Humptulips tires I'm assuming that with a good wheelset and some of those the 26" size would ride great for you. The problem is it is quite tough to get a high quality 26" rim brake set these days. So odd to me that RH put a lot of energy into the 26" revival but won't support it by pressuring Pacenti for the Brevets in 26."

I'm sorry if it's churlish to point it out, but those brakes cost five times what the bike is worth.

V brakes are my favorite rim brakes. More then enough power!

If you want to use the 26ers the way I did it was with a Shimano freehub model FH-T4000 36 hole(in my case). It’s dimensions are 135x10mm. That’s if you don’t mind unlacing and re-lacing the rear wheel. I recently put a Deore 1x11 on my 1993 GT Palomar. No frame widening or anything like that. Just a smooth swap and everything worked out beautifully.

Very nice, i had to do a similar thing with the zip ties in my old bike when i changed the derailleur, is a pretty neat trick that in my opinion doesn't deserve any money. If you want have less room for move the zip tie you can put another zip tie around the external part of the zip tie that keeps the cable housing and for stop it complitely put some eletrical tape in the frame where you think to put the zip tie. Anyway very nice bike. i noticed that around youtube now a lot of people are doing "5 reason for take a old 90 mtb" and i think people forgot that for update an old bike basically we are spending the same amount of the bike itself for each "upgrade" :') Your brakes are something like 100 $ :') My bike have a frame from the '90, tange double butted tubing, that i paid 51€ from ebay, but if i think the amount i've spent for have an "updated" bike probably i would be able to buy pretty easy an cxc model from omnium :D

A Problem Solvers Backstop Frame-mounted clamp-on housing stop will fix your cable tie mess.

I wish they'd make 29er rims compatible with V-Brakes. I used V-brakes forever and finally got into the 20th century with disc brakes and wasn't blown away except for the extra weight and cost.

I have converted my '97 Giant 200 GSR to 27,5. I used v-breaks but had to extend the space for break pad with metal file (not sure if this is 100% safe :D). Also I have change the drivetrain from 3x7 to 1x9 (probably will add another chainring in the front). The biggest problem was with getting some decent 27,5 rim breake wheels so I've used some very low budget wheels. After the conversion riding on it is still not so nice :D

Great video. Great to know that the Paul's will reach. I have a 2001 cannondale ultra bad boy had 700c wheels on it or or i can put 26"wheels and will fit up to 2.1. But I put 650b wheelset on and I can run up to a 2.4 inch tire. I'm running a 2.1 road tire. And made the ultra bad boy into a gravel bike with drop bars. Love it best thing I did.

I did a similar conversion that worked rather well. I took a old school Trek mountain bike with 26” wheel set and converted it to a modern gravel bike with modern drive train and old school 27” road wheel set. Like you I had to use a set of risers for the brakes. 👍👍👍. Turned out to be really cool build

Excellent content Russ. I hope this comment helps. 👍👍

Still have the stock 26inch wheels on my Old Orbea xc bike, & they are great for gravel & xc riding, have not found any reason to go for a larger wheel size, just my opinion.

What about rims? Interested to know what options there are for 650b rim brake wheels

i cant understand what you mean by saying not being able to use a modern drive train with 26 inch wheels. could you elaborate on that?

Thanks for noting the help from Paul Components. (Great company).

Yea Motolites! My favorite rim brake. A much more economical conversion can be done using the Tektro CR 720 cantilever brakes - the slot has enough vertical adjustability to work with 650b rims. Easy to set up and good looking brakes.

Well now you’ve done it! I am already mentally measuring up the clearance on my bike. I have a problem…

I have a 1994 Slingshot with a 650B front. Box Components V brakes have enough range to handle it. Suspension Corrected forks will accommodate a pretty good sized 650B. I just put a pretty big 26 inch wheel on the back. Weirdly, the Slingshot has braze ons, you can put a rack on it! Just doing 650B front will slow the steering down a bit which is good.

I just converted my 26" MTB to 28 mm wide 700c fixed gear wheels. I am still waiting for the brake adapters to arrive.

Thanks for the great content! I've been wanting to do a 650b vintage mtb conversion for years! I'm living vicariously through the cave of bad ideas (good ideas?)

great video @pathlesspedaled. I have a 90s MTB I would like to try this brake. Will it take 700C wheels?

What handlebar make is that riser bar?

Use continuous outer housing to the rear noodle.

This may be a dumb question but I have never done it… Can you convert 26” to 650b on every old mtb?

What did the conversion do to your tire clearence? How much did you lose going to a larger diameter 650B?

It's almost like an old 90's mountain bike can do it all

Nice! I did it on a 26" ANT fixed gear MTB. So as a result I only needed the front brake. 650x48c. I would be a little concerned going any fatter though because of how close the top if the tire would be to the noodle clamp. Would not a stone to rotate into it and get jammed. Paul makes the best brakes around, Klamper, Motolites and Racers. Have them on my other dirt specific fixed gear bikes.

I converted my 90’s titanium hardtail to 650/700 mullet as an adventure bike. Very fun and eye catching bike.

I owned a Schwinn Paramount MTB for a brief time. I tried and tried to make it comfortable to ride but in the end it was just too small. Shame, because it was a gorgeous frame, with the "spider web" paint they were known for back then. So glad to see you working to give that one a second life. The frame has a lot of life left in her.

This was an interesting and very achievable mod. Finding a set of reasonably priced wheels would be my biggest issue, probably have to buy a junker bike with 650s on it and go from there.

I've been considering 650b wheels for my Gary Fischer MTN bike for the reason you note about 26" wheels, they feel pokey. Your information now gives me a path on making my brake pads fit the bigger rim. Great to see the April 1 bike get new life and be something to enjoy. Last thought on your brake skid test reminding me of skidding on an old single speed coaster brake bike. What fun that was.

429 EUR for a pair of those brakes. a little too much for this crappy old bike

Hey Russ, I think you would be better off running full brake housing from the lever to the caliper. Definitely safer then using zipties as a cable stops. Safety third.

Do you remember what stem adapter you used? I bought a 25.4 turnd out it was a 26.0

The way to deal with that rear brake hack, is to run the full-length housing and zip tie just to hold the housing in place without that weirdo stress flex.

jan heine has good 26 inch. u want more rollover? go to a bigger tire. need a subject for a video? change to 650b

Thanks so much for sharing this! I just picked up a '90s 26er a few weeks ago. I had no idea there were products on the market for converting wheel size! Adding this to the list of future upgrades.

Hey where do you do breakdancing? Ithink i saw you before?

I'd be willing to bet that most of that 26" 'pokeyness' can be attributed to the vintage tires. Tire construction has come a long way since the 90's. Also, I'd be very interested to hear more about the other options to convert from 26" to 27.5"!

Those Motolites are swell. I tried them with a 90s MTB update after this and it solved my problems with other linear pull brakes. The range of adjustability is great, not just for wheel sizes but for whatever rim width or shape. Being able to fine tune the tension let me get them just right.

Stuck freewheel? Thr last stuck freewheel I had release easily when I switched to a 48 inch breaker bar.

What wheels the did you use? I’ve looked up 650b rim wheelsets and not many are in my budget; very much in the “might as well buy a modern gravel bike” price range.

I used an origin8 cable guide that clamps to the top tube. Origin8 makes these guides in three diameters.

Awesome video. Paul Motolites are stupid expensive.

Try using the cantilever pull ratio now.

The bigger wheels make it look pretty cool too

Where the heck do you find 650 wheels with rim brakes

I was more concerned about toe and front wheel clearance but apparently it wasn't an issue

I like brakes

Audio went a bit funny from 2:48 to 3:52.

I had a Marin (maybe Bolinas Ridge) with astonishing brakes. I stupidly sold it when I moved to drop bars. It had a L / H or maybe even L / M / H setting to increase grab. Can anyone point me to those brakes as they were awesome?

Also, Russ didn't you love 26" x 2/2.2" rubber or thereabouts on your ti bike at one point? I was a bit confused by your comment about a lack of tires in 26" (Rat Trap Pass being dubbed the "ultimate most supple tire ever" by you, if I'm not mistaken?)

I have done the same thing and found it difficult to get the bike comfortable with the raised BB but the frame size was a tad smaller than ideal. Thanks for sharing 👍

Did the BB and standover height change with this conversion, and did that affect your saddle height? MTBs already have a high enough BB that I feel like I am riding a horse when I put the saddle high enough to make my knees more comfortable.

not all 80s and 90s mtbs have enough clearance

I've heard that the Promax P-1 V-Brake-Pro-108mm brakes have enough reach to do this - can anyone confirm?

Longe life to the 90's bicycles!

I have a trek 1996 Trek 930 which will take 26" / 27.5" and 700c using some taiwanese long reach v-brakes, I tried the cantilever brakes but they dont really have the stopping power of the good old v-brake.

Just done a 650 conversation to my old Raleigh massif from 1990. Luckily I got a v brake to fit perfect, they were brakes of a 700c bike so I don't know if that helped. Can't wait to ride it now

I’ve done something similar. I have 92 Schwinn PDG Paramount series 7 road bike. These so called “Japanamounts” frames are excellent values. They don’t have quite all the features of a Waterford Paramount but the Series 7 and 5 frames were made in the same Panasonic shop that still makes Kieran bike frames. In other words these are excellent and highly undervalued Steel frame sets. That’s why I’ve kept this frame for 30 years. The original Ultegra (Shimano 600) components and wheel set wore out long ago. So going into the late 90’s I set my Paramount aside and bought new Aluminum and CF bikes to keep up with advances in technology. Around 2010 I had moved to a new location near a bike path that I could ride to about two blocks from where I worked. So I got the bright idea to convert my PDG 7 into a commuter bike. I upgraded the head set, installed a stem with about 5% rise, replaced the handlebars, replaced the components with a lightly used Dura Ace 7800 groupo and added some DT Swiss wheels. As a commuter bike you’d have to spend a lot of money to have a commuter bike of this quality. 12 years later I’m still using it to commute to work. Though I’ve had to replace the brifters in 2018.

Interesting mod. Really uglified your bike though.

haha the paul components are only the most expensive option. i used my origial deore xt center pulls and added the v-brake extenders on the front (rigid fork) and they work great. costs $12.

Hey, great video and I have learned alot from your channel. What makes me shake my head is the handlebars above the seat. I am a longtime roadie, and I have setup my MTB the same way as my road bikes, with a 5-6 in drop from seat to bars. Am I doing it wrong?

It's too bad you weren't able to find a seat post binder with an attachment for a rear brake cable. AS for modualtion between the canti's and linear brakes, if you play with the adjustment barrel on the v brakle lever... I think that you will also get more moduation. Wheels: as you said, they aren't the same quality, so not worth the comparison. I have some pretty decent 26" wheels and have to admit that I still like them more than the 27.5's that they were replaced with. As a shop that still has a lot of repair tage for 26" wheels, there truly are a lot of choices for tires. They might be harder to get right now, but in a normal season... not much of a problem.

you remind me of Richard Ayoade

Which pedals, bars and stem are those? Great video. Things to consider. Not sure how I feel about the need to zip tie the cable? It would be nice to have more wheels and tires options.

I've got the opposite problem. Bike set up for 650b, but has 26rims. Brakes don't fit.

What is 650B ?

Hah, those brakes are probably 2-3x the cost of the bike, but fun project!

Ha ha. The skid test was upsetting the neighborhood dogs! 🐕‍🦺🐕🐶

Switch from the most common tire and tube size to one of the most annoying / hard to find sizes, no thanks.

26" is just fine, not all frames fit 27.5" tires.

Here in uk our rear break is the left leaver ....it come from motor bikes right leaver is clutch ...

Hi. What stem and threadless stem adapter are you using with those SOMA Dream riser bars? And what brand are those grips?

One should consider that a 26 inch wheel with a 59mm tire is exactly the same wheel size as the 650b with a 47mm tire. But if you want to do it, a pair of avid speed dial adjustable levers or sth. similar should solve all the leverage/cable pull problems of the motolites at 650b.

They look well built, however, I'm not vibing with the aesthetics.

PAUL'S are dreamy, 'nuff said. They are not cheap but the stopping power is amazing and they will outlive all of us combined.

Cool stuff ... Maybe I'll do the same with my Marin

I got away with 700c and break post risers. I love converting them so freaking much