Liz loved her Casati, but felt limited by the high pressure skinny tires. This light and fast Italian racing bike made a good candidate for a 650b conversion.
Liz loves her Casati
The 650b Conversion allows her to ride with a larger tire, which means she can now ride our favorite dirt paths.
32c Gran Bois 'Cypress' tires fit the frame, with room for fenders, if desired
Before the conversion Liz’s saddle was too low to permit clearance for a Carradice Saddle bag. But now, there’s plenty of room!
Now the Carradice won't drag against the tire.
Also, there is no more toe overlap!
No more toe overlap!
Liz enjoys riding this bike more than ever. With the fatter tires, it is more comfortable over Boston’s rough roads and able to conquer many a dirt path. She can’t wait to ride it at D2R2!
Lucy likes 650b!
Some notes about the Casati set up
It sports a compact double crankset. Again, I converted a triple to a double using a chainguard for the outer ring. Due to oversized oval tubing (Columbus Oversized EL tubing ) The Casati cannot take a clamp-on derailleur. This presents a problem, as the derailleur braze on is located too high for use with a compact crankset. The problem is solved using a triple derailleur with a chainguard. Right now, gearing is 44, 32.
Another triple converted to a double.
Twelfth Bike 