charbucks

After trying everything I can to make my brakes functional in the rain, I'm thinking I really just need aluminium rims. I've tried different brake pads (harder material), playing with toe-in, sanding down the surface of the steel rims, and I still have very little stopping power in the rain, as well as crazy squeakiness when it's dry.

The bike is a 1980 Apollo Galaxy 5, with 24" wheels. It's kind of an unusual size, so I'm not sure where to scrounge rims. Can I just take the wheels from a kid's mountain bike? I'm guessing not, because the tires are so much skinnier, but I have no idea. I'd also like to convert it to a singlespeed eventually, if that has any impact.

Here's a picture:

Andycapp

Check into 24" bmx "cruiser" rims. It's been said that wheelchairs use 24" wheels as well. Performance/racing chairs are sure to use some nice stuff. Check out our new Jr road-bike thread for some more info on small road bikes and a look at some really nice ones as well.
-Andy

puchfinnland

i have aluminum wheelchair rims that are 540 x 19mm, they are off an aluminum high end wheelchair.

sailorbenjamin

What's the bead seat diameter? There are several kinds of 24" wheels, each with a different brake reach. See this chart;
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
If it's 547mm you may be able to squeeze a 26" mountain bike rim in there with skinny tires, like maybe 26x1.00

puchfinnland

squeeze?!

look at the pic!- you could fit your _ _ _ _ between the tyre and the fork crown!
I bet they will fit
-but then how tall is the rider of the bike?

charbucks

Thanks for all the replies!

Thanks for pointing me to that thread, and to the wheelchair idea! I was sort of hoping to be able to find new wheels that I could just drop in, but I'm guessing that no matter what I'll have to build up the wheels. It's good to learn how to do that, right?



I'm not entirely sure. It's 24x1 3/8, so either 540mm or 547mm. I'll have to take a tape measure to it. Is there a reason I'd want to put 26" mtb rims on it instead of kid's 24" mtb rims?


I'm 5'3". The bike is definitely small for me, but not by much. However, the wheelbase is so short I'm guessing there might be a toe overlap issue with bigger wheels, which would be annoying. I hadn't even considered the option though, so that's something to think about.

buldogge

There are Alex R390 24" rims on Ebay usually...alloy, but black...32H.

Trakhak

Agree that there'd be no significant gain in changing to 26" wheels.

Measuring with a tape measure might not yield useful information; the tire bead seat diameter is the most useful dimension, and that's hard to measure. Simplest thing would be to take one or both of the wheels to a shop that stocks 24 x 1 3/8" tires and see what fits. If you find one that fits, be sure to note the ISO dimension molded into the tire sidewall (540 or 547); that's the number you need for ordering the correct aluminum rims.

By the way, 24" cruiser rims are 24 x 1.75" (ISO 507)---not interchangeable with your rims.