Thanks for the answer. Seen like that, you are right, it allows to combine a commuter & mtb into one frame, it could become the “only one bike” many of us dream of. I just checked in here (http://www.bikecalc.com/wheel_size_math) that to match the same diameter in a 26″ wheel it would have to mount a 2.5″ tire, not sure if the bike has enough clearance for that. Pity I’m currently not on the market for a new bike, or this one would be a prime candidate!!

Hi Joe. I generally agree with you that 27.5″ as a replacement size for 26″ is largely unnecessary. There is one really cool aspect to it all though, and that’s the wheel interchangeability between 27.5×2.1″ and 700x35c wheels. That’s allowed brands like Masi to produce one frame that can be a bit more of a do-it-all bike. Throw in some 27.5″ knobby mountain bike wheels for the off-road stuff, and some 700c slick road wheels for the on-road stuff. Alee

I did have a DuraAce barend shifter fail on me, it lost some of the middle clicks. But it took 15 winters of storage in an unheated building in a humid location to cause it — I went through lots of shifter cables over that period. Turns out friction shifting 9 speeds is pretty tricky, so you won’t be able to shift as much as when it was indexed, but it does let you still get into the gears you need. With either barend or brifters it would be pretty simple and inexpensive to carry a downtube shifter as a backup on a long trip. Would need to shorten the cable, but you could even just coil it up at the rear derailleur in a pinch. That’s a good reason to have the downtube shifter bosses like this bike instead of just cable stops.