Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.RainmanP
10-03-01, 12:41 PM
A good wheel is one that fits the purpose. The wheel itself, ie the rim, spokes and hub, not the tire, does not have much to do one way or the other with the ride EXCEPT to the extent that the width determines the width tire that can be mounted. GENERALLY, the wider the tire, the softer the ride because a wider tire is rated for lower maximum pressure so the "softer" the tire.
The wheel structure just needs to be appropriate to the purpose.
If you are a small rider riding a bare bones road bike on decent roads, you can use a standard road rim with few (20, 24, 28, whatever) spokes.
The heavier the load, the sturdier the wheel should be. I am a larger rider and often carry some load on my commutes so I ride 36-spoke wheels built on Mavic T519 touring rims and 105 hubs with 28 mm tires, 700X28c or 622X28. My old Schwinn Voyageur came with 40 spoke 27 inch wheels because the bike was designed for loaded touring.
I am having some new wheels built for my old Bianchi Brava road bike using Mavic MA3 rims and 105 hubs. Even when I commute on this bike, I don't carry much cargo, but I am still using 36 spokes and will mount 25 mm tires because the streets around here can be kind of rough.
So evaluate the use, road quality, and how much weight the wheels will support and go from there. But don't feel like you need to run out and get new wheels because yours seem like more or less than you need. Just ride what you have until there is some reason to think you need more. If you start breaking spokes, that is a clue. :D
A given rim will accomodate a range of tire widths. Mavic's website gives recommended tire widths for each rim. The T519, for instance will accomodate tire widths from 28 to about 35 mm. As and experiment, I have mounted 25 mm tires, and they worked fine.
Frames are designed for specific wheel sizes though there can be a little leeway, depending amount of adjustment in the brakes. For instance, a frame designed for 27 inch wheels (630 mm rim diameter) MAY accomodate a 700 wheel (622 mm rim diameter) IF the brakes have enough vertical adjustment to reach the slightly smaller rims. Also be aware that you can't necessarily put wider-rimmed wheels on a road bike with caliper brakes because the brakes may or may not be able to be adjusted wide enough to accomodate a wider rim. Some will, some won't. Same going the other way, ie trying to use a very narrow rim on a frame with V-brakes. In either case, the brakes would need to be considered before trying to use a wider or narrower rim than the frame was intended for. Like many things, it's pretty much a case by case thing.
Does this give you a start?
Regards,
Raymond
The wheel structure just needs to be appropriate to the purpose.
If you are a small rider riding a bare bones road bike on decent roads, you can use a standard road rim with few (20, 24, 28, whatever) spokes.
The heavier the load, the sturdier the wheel should be. I am a larger rider and often carry some load on my commutes so I ride 36-spoke wheels built on Mavic T519 touring rims and 105 hubs with 28 mm tires, 700X28c or 622X28. My old Schwinn Voyageur came with 40 spoke 27 inch wheels because the bike was designed for loaded touring.
I am having some new wheels built for my old Bianchi Brava road bike using Mavic MA3 rims and 105 hubs. Even when I commute on this bike, I don't carry much cargo, but I am still using 36 spokes and will mount 25 mm tires because the streets around here can be kind of rough.
So evaluate the use, road quality, and how much weight the wheels will support and go from there. But don't feel like you need to run out and get new wheels because yours seem like more or less than you need. Just ride what you have until there is some reason to think you need more. If you start breaking spokes, that is a clue. :D
A given rim will accomodate a range of tire widths. Mavic's website gives recommended tire widths for each rim. The T519, for instance will accomodate tire widths from 28 to about 35 mm. As and experiment, I have mounted 25 mm tires, and they worked fine.
Frames are designed for specific wheel sizes though there can be a little leeway, depending amount of adjustment in the brakes. For instance, a frame designed for 27 inch wheels (630 mm rim diameter) MAY accomodate a 700 wheel (622 mm rim diameter) IF the brakes have enough vertical adjustment to reach the slightly smaller rims. Also be aware that you can't necessarily put wider-rimmed wheels on a road bike with caliper brakes because the brakes may or may not be able to be adjusted wide enough to accomodate a wider rim. Some will, some won't. Same going the other way, ie trying to use a very narrow rim on a frame with V-brakes. In either case, the brakes would need to be considered before trying to use a wider or narrower rim than the frame was intended for. Like many things, it's pretty much a case by case thing.
Does this give you a start?
Regards,
Raymond