Rock_Bottom

I'm looking at buying new wheels for an old Redline Pro Styler, and I have no clue what I'm doing. What is the difference between 36 and 48H wheels? Why would you choose one over the other? What does FLANGED mean? I've seen it describing other things than pedals Is having sealed hubs important? I have heard good things about Dan's Comp, but is it safe to assume that anything in the magazine is an OK choice?
What about tires? If I am going to be doing street and trails and basically everything, including racing, would I want to get high pressure tires or low pressure?
Thanks for all your help.

haro_rider09

for me the terrain determines the tire pressure but i think everyone likes it different

BMXTRIX

Okay - lots of questions, lots of answers:

FIRST: You can't race or often even be on tracks if you have pegs on your bike due to insurance and safety concerns! If you aren't planning on competitively racing, then build your bike up for strength. If you are actually going to go out and competitively race, then any street you do on your bike will likely damage your bike and make it slower on the track. Freestyle is incredibly abusive on bikes and good freestyle bikes build around strength, not weight. Racing is all about cutting the weight appropriately.

1. 36H and 48H refers to the number of holes in the rim and the number of spokes on the rim. Racers usually use 36H or less rims because of the weight savings, while most (most!) freestyle riders use 48H rims because of the added strength from the rim.

2. Flanges are the parts that flare outwards on either side of the hub. The generic term 'flange' from www.m-w.com : "1 : a rib or rim for strength, for guiding, or for attachment to another object <a flange on a pipe> <a flange on a wheel>
2 : a projecting edge of cloth used for decoration on clothing <a jacket with flange shoulders>" Some flanges are bigger than others the bigger flanges are called high flange, the smaller flanges are called low flange. You add weight as the flange size increases.

3. Ads in magazines are designed to sell you product regardless of the quality of the product. Dans will not advise you of product quality, they will only sell it to you if they have it. So ALWAYS ask prior to purchasing a product if you are unsure of the quality of it.

4. If you are going to ride street then get high pressure tires. You can always take air out of the tire, but high pressure tires have added material (weight!) that allows them to hold better to the rim and to not pop when you put upwards of 100PSI in them. I personall run about 105PSI in my tires with no problems at all... but I ride flatland.

Rock_Bottom

Thanks BMXTRIX, you rock.
One more question. Is $40 shipped a good price for a pair of GT Alex DX 2418 sealed wheels? Are they even worth buying?

BMXTRIX

Man, without more info I couldn't answer that. GT doesn't make wheelsets... They make a few hubs, but the rims would be from another company. In the BMX world though, good wheels typically cost between $100-$200.00 so $40.00 is really, really, really inexpensive.

Likely not worth buying, but I have sold stuff really cheap before because I was done with it and wanted to help someone out.

Do you have a photo or link or some other info on the wheelset?

blackbike

if money aint a problem get ur wheels custom made with sum good custom cut spokes like mine, u mite wana get 48 spokes on the back and 36 on the front becase if ur riding free style a heavy front wheel is bad but u need 2 keep ur back wheel strong, i say u shuld get odyssey hazard lite rims there doble walled strong and lite which is all u can ask 4 and sealed hubs r the way to go if ur a serious rider these days theres no other way to go, that way ur bearings wont get wasted if u dont carry tools to tighten your cones