Forums

Touring - 29" Wheels

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.

PDA

View Full Version : 29" Wheels

scouse

01-09-09, 03:20 PM

Can anybody comment on how common it is to find 29" wheels overseas?

Would you expect to be able to pick up parts easily for these when touring in far flung corners?

cny-bikeman

01-09-09, 03:52 PM

typo - 27"? If so not very easy to find at all.

cyccommute

01-09-09, 03:52 PM

Can anybody comment on how common it is to find 29" wheels overseas?

Would you expect to be able to pick up parts easily for these when touring in far flung corners?

29" is a 700C (ISO 622mm). Should be relatively easy to find in developed areas.

truman

01-11-09, 09:38 AM

The above is true, but I wouldn't want to count on the availability of exactly what I wanted. It's possibly you might find a 700c tire, for example, but then discover that it's actually too narrow fit safely on a wider 29er rim.

For this reason I've considered pre-wrapping and staging groups of parts to be expressed to me by someone back home in the event of a failure. For a 700c wheel, such a package might include: a backup tire, several spokes, in the various lengths needed, e.g. rear right-side, rear left-side, front wheel, etc. It also could include rimstrips, replacement loose or cartridge style bearings. Having such a box ready to go, with an address label that your supporter could fill in and drop off to you, could take a lot of stress and expense out of trying to work out a replacement, that could well turn out to be less than optimum for your needs.

tmac100

01-11-09, 11:22 AM

Why not bring a spare tire, some spokes, an extra tube and some electrical/duct tape along - along with a spoke wrench, etc. When I was bicycling in the OZ outback I had extra spokes for my 48 spoke wheel and when the rear derailler smashed into the wheel a LBS respoked and trued the wheel in a "jiffy". Mind you I had to hitch-hike 700 km to get there. Getting the RD and other parts was the REAL reason why I hitch hiked.

It took 5 days to get a chain air mailed to me in the outback. Good thing it was just a spare - but not for long.

5 DAYS!!!!!!!! How long do you think it will take for the "box of parts" to reach you? If you are in the USA there are bike shops (and used bikes/wheels for parts) everywhere - well, almost.