26" wheels going out of fashion?

[cycle tramp]

. Perhaps they won't.... not entirely anyway..... given the strength of the 559 wheel size, and the choice of tyres, i can see the 559 rim size being adopted as the standard size wheel for e-bikes. If that happens we may end up with decent high quality wheel rims with meaty rim thickness and a high number of spoke holes for a long while yet

[Bonefishblues]

Bonefish, your link to the Ryde website shows Sputniks as only available in 700 (622mm).

The Andra is available in 700 and 26 (559).

This is why I mentioned them in the first place.

Yes I think that's the case, by the look of it.

[Brucey]

re tandem rims; any of those already discussed in this thread. I am slightly mystified by the DH19 recommendation; I can only think that this may have arisen because it has at times been available in other drillings, and it is perhaps stronger than other rims (such as various mavics in recent times). I don't think it is a particularly strong rim in absolute terms; IIRC I've seen them crack on solo touring bikes.


FWIW there is something to be said for using a heavy Andra rim at the rear with no eyelets; these can be angle-drilled to suit both Rohloff hubs and/or full-fat 13G nipples. If you go to a good bakfiets supplier they may be able to supply rims that are prepped in this way.

If you want to use 13G spokes in a (14G) eyeleted rim, you normally need to use 'converter nipples'. You can build a good wheel with these but they very commonly round off and cause problems after a few years should the nipples start to bind slightly. There is also no strength in the nipple itself; it is absolutely imperative that you don't use spokes that are too short if you use converter nipples. else you risk the tops popping off every nipple in service, which is very tedious indeed; worse than a broken spoke in a way, because you have to get the tyre out of the way to change a broken nipple.

cheers

[Bonefishblues]

Thanks, appreciated.

Re the DH19, this is why I was enquiring about those:

https://www.tandems.co.uk/m12b0s95p412/ ... im-26-inch

It seems way too light a rim (leaving aside the quality of design & manufacturing) for durable use on a tandem for my comfort.

[Sweep]

Thanks, appreciated.

Re the DH19, this is why I was enquiring about those:

https://www.tandems.co.uk/m12b0s95p412/ ... im-26-inch

It seems way too light a rim (leaving aside the quality of design & manufacturing) for durable use on a tandem for my comfort.

You may well be right bonefish - to clarify I wasn't saying they were great - and since bike manufacturers tend to save money on wheels to keep the bike's list price down I'd tend to be a bit suspicious of any wheel that came as standard on any bike that wasn't at the significantly expensive end.

Note, am not criticising Ridgeback or their great bike - just noting the realities of how the bike market works.

[Sweep]

quick google found this from those practical lancashire folk.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Rigida-Ryd ... 2456033889

[Bonefishblues]

quick google found this from those practical lancashire folk.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Rigida-Ryd ... 2456033889

Except their description is wholly wrong! That's for the 40, not the 30.

Now here's a puzzling thing. The 30 has an internal diameter of 19mm, with a max load of 130 kilobimbles, as opposed to the 40, which is 25 and 180 respectively, so why do Thorn, who are amongst the most conservative (not meant as a criticism) of makers spec it for their tandems? The weight penalty of the 40 is only 15gm, which again doesn't ring true to me.

As I say, am puzzle. Off to look at Chickens, the importer.

...who don't have the detailed spec for the 30. Off to look at Ryde itself.

...who say pretty much as I quoted above, and who also have the spec of the Andra 35, which I haven't seen stocked by anyone, but at an internal rim-rim of 22mm may represent something of a sweet spot for many.

[RickH]

quick google found this from those practical lancashire folk.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-Rigida-Ryd ... 2456033889

Of course if use the UK version of fleabay you even get pricing in pounds instead of dollars (even if the description is still wrong).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-Rigida-R ... 2456033889

[Nigel]

The various importers who supply the UK appear to drop things which are "out of fashion". Whereas other countries have ready supply of spares. I've been using German retailers for transmission spares for older bikes for some years because UK shops can't get the items.

I've just looked for 26in road tyres for one of our bikes. Found a handful of options at St John's cycles, couldn't find much else in stock at any other retailers.

The first German website I tried had over 50 different options each at prices from Euro12 to Euro50. The second had a similar range. Those German shops had 36 hole 26in rims available from a variety of makers, for both rim and disc brakes.


- Nigel

[tmac100]

who gives a monkey's what current MTBs use? I don't.

But FWIW if you want quality (strong not too heavy) 559 rims in 36h you have practically missed the boat.

Tyre manufacturers will keep on making tyres for 'obsolete' rims as long as they are selling enough to be worthwhile.

There are still lots of niche machines that use 559mm rims and tyres so between that and the demand for tyres on extant machines I don't think you are going to be completely stuck for tyres for a long while yet, but the range of choice will certainly diminish.

cheers

I totally agree. I note that in India (with how many BILLION people??) they still make bicycles with 28" X 1 1/2" rims and more tyres for them than you could ever imagine. I bought one a few years ago and it - along with extra rims/tyres/chains - is still sitting in a box waiting to be assembled. I DOUBT that the Indians give a fig about the 26" wheels/tyres going out of fashion. When I was at 2 bicycle factories in Ludhiana, Punjab, they were going all out building those bicycles and (wheels).

Yes, Brucey, folks make what sells, and damned the sooth sayers and prognosticators. If it feels good, do it. By the way, my 2006-built tourer with 48 spoke wheels is still a great tourer in outback Australia. Not interested in fashion....