Cool 855 road bike!

[jinder]

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOP-OF-THE-LINE-PROFLEX-855-ROAD-BIKE-LOW-RESERVE_W0QQitemZ7174019961QQcategoryZ98084QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[proflex252]

Is it a tria wheelset or a mtb wheelset? What would you think?

Looks like a tria to me, but how de he manage to fix the prob with the different hub dimension?

But it looks great.
A real high speed machine with a lot of comfort.

[Matno]

My guess would be that those are MTB wheels with really small tires on them. Don't know where you'd get tires in that size though (do 650c tires fit a narrow MTB rim?)

Otherwise, they could be 650c wheels (do those have the same diameter as mountain bike rims? The brakes line up well...) It wouldn't be too hard for a creative person to make a rear axle fit, but more likely, if the hub is too short, he just cranked the skewer down tight to make it work.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what in the heck a bike like that is good for. Seems like the suspension would be way too inefficient for a road bike, the tires are too smooth for a cyclocross bike, and the wheels are too wimpy for off-road riding (haven't heard the best reports about such wheels). Oh, wait. I know - it's perfect for getting a good deal, then parting it out again on eBay! Depending on the reserve, you could actually make a decent profit off of it...

[jeffhop]

i once saw  a 957 for sale at st johns street cycles fitted with drop bars and road sti`s. it looked cool but i think it would have been too heavy to be efficient as a road bike unless of course its for fast and comfortable touring. several tyre manufacturers make slicks for mtb in 1 inch width which is only 2.5 mm wider than the 23mm road tyres which seem to be the norm on just about all bikes these days

[Dennis]

that thing is just a regular 855 that has skinny tires on it.

I turned my old Trek 930 into an on-road touring machine using mtb wheels with skinny tires. I added drop bars and Modolo shifters/brake levers. of course, the Trek is fully rigid so it makes a much better road bike.

but anyway, this guy seems to have just put skinny tires on a regular 855 and is trying to pass it off as some kind of cool road bike. I don't buy it, nor will I.

[smiley=groucho.gif]

[jimbo]

My guess would be that those are MTB wheels with really small tires on them. Don't know where you'd get tires in that size though (do 650c tires fit a narrow MTB rim?)

Otherwise, they could be 650c wheels (do those have the same diameter as mountain bike rims? The brakes line up well...) It wouldn't be too hard for a creative person to make a rear axle fit, but more likely, if the hub is too short, he just cranked the skewer down tight to make it work.

For the life of me, I can't figure out what in the heck a bike like that is good for. Seems like the suspension would be way too inefficient for a road bike, the tires are too smooth for a cyclocross bike, and the wheels are too wimpy for off-road riding (haven't heard the best reports about such wheels). Oh, wait. I know - it's perfect for getting a good deal, then parting it out again on eBay! Depending on the reserve, you could actually make a decent profit off of it...

Mtb 26" and 650c are very close.  Not close enough to be able to interchange tires.  

Your second guess is mostly like correct.  Mounting 650C on a mtb frame.  I knew someone who mounted Campy Vento 650c rims on his mountain bike that he rode on the road.  Cost him over $1000 to do it.  What an idiot!!!!  He ended up buy a real road bike which cost less than what he spent on his modified mtb.  He ended up selling it and taking a loss.  His loss would have lower if he parted it out.

There's nothing like the speed of a real road bike.  I do sort of miss it.  The problem is that it takes a lot of saddle time to maintain the fitness to hang with the fast guys.  Mtbing doesn't require that much fitness unless you ride with guys who don't like to wait.  The fun to saddle time ratio is way better on the mountain bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Matno]

The fun to saddle time ratio is way better on the mountain bike!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

True, but I feel a lot safer road biking alone than I do mountain biking. Therefore, when I want to ride alone (which more often than not means I just want to ride and nobody can go with me), I ride the road bike. A lot easier to get help if I crash, and crashing is a lot less likely!

Plus it's hard to beat the feel of pure speed on a road bike. You can do it on a mountain bike too (even MORE fun), but you have to have really big hills...

[jimbo]

True, but I feel a lot safer road biking alone than I do mountain biking. Therefore, when I want to ride alone (which more often than not means I just want to ride and nobody can go with me), I ride the road bike. A lot easier to get help if I crash, and crashing is a lot less likely!



Plus it's hard to beat the feel of pure speed on a road bike. You can do it on a mountain bike too (even MORE fun), but you have to have really big hills...

When I can't find anyone to ride with I head out to one of our local downhills that's climbable.  It near my favorite LBS "Shakabikes".  I park in the Shakabike parking lot and let them know when I'll be back.  They're pretty cool about keeping track of riders.  They even called me on my cell once when I didn't make it by dark.