Folding Bikes - steel vs aluminum 20" wheel

How much weight can i save if I replaced the Raleigh Twenty steel rim with aluminum rim?

And would the baby jogger 20" rims work? A little concerned since they say child should not exceed 70 lbs.

For those who mod their Twenty, where is the greatest weight savings if not the rims.

quite a bit.
I think the steel rims from an R20 are about 1kg each.

the entire thing is quite heavy. Aside from rims, you can save weight by not using the SA-3sp hub, another 1.5kg alone, seat post, saddle, handle bars and cranks.

the stock parts are almost all steel, so changing any of those to an aluminum part will save weight greatly.

Not sure, but I am sure the rims add up, along with all the other steel parts. I swapped out the stock steel seat post for a Kalloy, but I suspect the savings weren't that great because I had to get the 400mm Kalloy.

Aaron :)

I just swapped out the original steel rims on mine. It seem a bit lighter, but the real crucial reason why I did this upgrade soon after my Twenty's purchase was improving braking paired with the Kool Stop Continental Brake Pads. The rest of the bike has the original parts as these parts appear superior to what's available in my price range.

Agreed. There's no great need to replace the bars or seatpost.

But moving to alloy wheels will make a Raleigh Twenty handle better, particularly in wet weather.

Because the rims are rolling, the lighter the better. Alloy rims are also stronger. I bought a beat up but high quality BMX bike at a police auction for $8.00 and swapped the rims to my twenty. Make sure that the rims you get are 36 hole. I was lucky my stock spokes fit some rims are double walled and new spokes of a different length might be needed.

I'm almost finished with Sybil's (my R20) redo. I opted to keep the steel wheels. I did buy the Continental Kool Stop brake pads. Please tell me it will do the trick for stopping?

I expect my R20 to be heavy since I opted to keep most of the original parts. The only exception has been the handlebar, stem and pedals (those original pedals do weigh). I think I'll get an alloy seatpost and hopefully a lignter Spring (Sprung?) saddle.

I'm almost finished with Sybil's (my R20) redo. I opted to keep the steel wheels. I did buy the Continental Kool Stop brake pads. Please tell me it will do the trick for stopping?

I expect my R20 to be heavy since I opted to keep most of the original parts. The only exception has been the handlebar, stem and pedals (those original pedals do weigh). I think I'll get an alloy seatpost and hopefully a lignter Spring (Sprung?) saddle.


Yep the Kool Stops will do the trick. I run them on several steel rimmed bikes. One trick is to wipe the rim braking surface and pad surface down with an alcohol wipe every now and again to keep the braking up to par. They to take a bit of time to break in, but once they have been used a bit they are a huge improvement over the OEM stuff.

Aaron:)

the original brakes that came with R20s work equally crappy on steel or aluminum rims, with or without salmon kool stop pads. the only improvement aluminum rims will make with braking using the stock brakes is a slight improvement in wet weather stopping power, which is just about zero with the steel rims, so any change is an improvement.

the original brakes that came with R20s work equally crappy on steel or aluminum rims, with or without salmon kool stop pads. the only improvement aluminum rims will make with braking using the stock brakes is a slight improvement in wet weather stopping power, which is just about zero with the steel rims, so any change is an improvement.

+1

I found the same thing. I switched out the pads first. Not much difference. I put on aluminum rips. Still not a lot of stopping power. I finally added a modern V-brake on the front and now the stopping power is adequate.

If I had it do again I would switch to 451 rims and duel pivot long reach brakes. I did not go in this direction before due to the greater availability of 406 tires.