bike frame for 700 or 650 wheels ? How to make sure ?

bduc61

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I have sourced this nice fillet brazed frame in France, but the chainstay is so short I am wondering if the bike was meant for 650 wheels. It may actually be Columbus EL with weight of frame at 1865g and fork at 675g but I am also unsure.
Anyway it seems highend as the fillet brazing looks ace
Chainstay is 400 mm

and shortest distance between the axis of the wheel till the nearest seattube point is 344mm

See a picture of the frame and one with a 700 wheel with a 23 tyre

I know that sporting frames have often been designed with very short chainstay for more rigid and responsive behaviour but here the margin is so little I have doubts about it being designed for 700 wheels

Is there a way to make sure ? by the dimension of the fork ?

What do you think ?



 
My Gios is as close as that too! Fitting an older 80's tyre something like 700c x 18mm - 19mm - 20mm
width will give you a little more room to spare at the seat tube, a close fitting rear wheel looks mint
right up until you pick up a stone and it gets dragged down the tube! Marking the hell out of it.
 
The brake bridge is the test. If it was intended for 700c, as I suspect is the case, then a standard reach brake will line right up.

Super short stays were all the rage in the early 90s.
 
Fork for a 650 front will be around 35cm from dropout to point where the fork enters the headtube - measured in a straight line. Variance is for the different styles of fork crown but 35ish is about on the money - any more and it's 700.
 
700c by the looks of the wheel to brake bridge gap
700c forks by the looks of it too...as mentioned above, 650c forks are about 35cm
My two 650c forks are 34cm and 35cm

Tight clearances are rad!
 
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