Axle to Crown of Soma Grand Randonneur 650b Canti Fork?

[Coal Bee Rye Anne]

Hi 650b Members,

For brevity's sake, I'll get to the point first and elaborate on the backstory after:

Any Soma Grand Randonneur owners have or could you possibly provide an axle to crown measurement of your fork?  It appears all GR sizes use the same fork although Soma geometry specs exclude this measurement but they have an aftermarket 1" threadless Grand Randonneur fork available on their online shop with no other measurements specified.

I'm trying to determine if this fork may fit a potential future low trail conversion.

Soma has not yet responded/provided requested details from previous tech inquiries.

Merry Sales is also lacking specs on their site (but shows the same fork out of stock.)

I'm new to this group (found my way through some cross posts on RBW and iBob groups, which I've also recently joined) and although I've never used 650b wheels/tires I'm curious about giving them a try depending on how a current bike restoration/rebuild works itself out that will allow me to get a taste of low trail with 700x35.

I've previously ridden 650a/590/26x1-3/8 on an old Raleigh Sports and if I understand correctly these are known for having lower trail and I did enjoy the handling with a loaded front basket.

As I further evaluate my current bike stable and future biking needs I have identified two frames that could be candidates for possible low trail conversions (depending on the above mention fork length) that may provide even greater utility/versatility.  One is a high trail single speed bike with 73deg HTA and just enough toe overlap to occasionally annoy me with current max fit 700x35 tires.  With more fork offset and front rack mounts with such a fork conversion this could become a more useful regular rider and errand runner and fully eliminate toe overlap altogether.  I also have a bunch of spare 26x1-3/8/590/650a tires that I'm thinking could be another useable option with a 650b spec'd canti fork (depending on brake selection and adjustment range, of course.)

I've also considered a Soma Champs Elysees fork but don't love the full chrome and would then be restricted to one frame that has 9/8" threadless and requires the 380mm axle to crown caliper braked version which further limits rack options (I already have a mini canti rack.)  So I think I'd prefer the ivory GR canti fork if the measurements match up with the intended frames.

Thanks,

Brian Cole

Lawrenceville, NJ

[Scott Arenz]

Hi Brian,

Axle to crown race is 375mm or ~14.75 inches on my GR, which is an ivory colored v2 (i.e. fork with the nicer bend). Good luck with your conversion!

Scott
Atlanta, GA

[satanas]

My v1.0 is 378-379 measured along the side of the fork, so would be a (very) few mm shorter projected directly; 375mm would be very close. Note that this fork was out of spec and has 74mm offset, not the 69mm claimed. (Offset was measured with an expensive Anvil fork building jig, so my confidence is high that it is correct.)

Later,
Stephen

[Harry Watson]

I got 375 too

[Coal Bee Rye Anne]

Great, thank you all for the replies... that’s about the height I’ll need so this just might work out after all.

Brian Cole
Lawrenceville NJ