hub spacing

Why not make the rear smaller too? But hey, the Triathlon crowd does that already. Surely you guys were around in the early to mid 80's . . . oh wait, I just remembered I'm getting a bit old here! No really, I remember well everybody playing with wheel size, mainly in TTs. 24s were used a lot (hey, doesn't EVERYBODY know this), I borrowed one once and the lower inertia of the front wheel gave it a very skittish feel that scared the daylights out of me. My faster friends got used to it, I guess! But then it seemed people decided the smaller diameter gave us more rolling resistance and negated the advantage a bit. That's when Moser did the hour on a HUGE back wheel, anybody remember what size it was? Then tri-bars appeared meaning we had to get the bars up higher, so you did end up with a long head tube. And it also looked embarrasingly silly. Oh yeah, forgot to say a smaller front wheel lets you draft closer too, you left that out. I thought about going with 650c/26 inch myself but don't because the limits in tire availability. You're right about advancement in sport, it breaks my heart how constricted things are now. I used to love cycling because it crossed human fitness with race car technological advancement. Then again race cars are so restricted now too. Oh well, if you want to talk more you can find me rambling on out front of my nursing home!

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by mjw_byrne
On a related note, why are front wheels on road bikes the same size as rear wheels? Smaller front wheel would surely mean the wheel is lighter and stronger, less rotating mass, a stiffer fork, less air resistance and all sorts of other benefits. Or is it just because the UCI says so?

This has been done. My wife had a Raleigh with a 700C rear wheel and a 650 front wheel. I don't think the idea took off though, so I guess the marketplace has already decided this issue for us. Incidentally, my wife hated the bike, she felt like there was too much weight on her arms (of course a proper fitting may have done wonders).

I am sure there is some disgruntled, bitter person who worked at Raleigh and came up with this idea. They still probably resent the world for rebuffing his/her great, revolutionary idea!