Good afternoon everyone,

My bike is a GT traffic 2.0, (got it as a gift, honestly not sure if It is best for how I use it) I however, try to use it as a road bike. I threw some 28T tires on it to speed it up, along with a few other adjustments to the handle bars and seat to get it more like a road bike and called it a day.

I am by no means a serious rider, but I would say during the summer when I am out of school I will ride on average 30-40 miles a week. (I do occasional rides that are that are 40-65 miles as well, but those are more of a spring and fall event when it is not as hot)

However two weeks ago while enjoying a nice downhill section on a windy back road, I was going to fast into a turn, hit a patch of gravel, panicked locked my brakes, and slid into a ditch.

Surprisingly the only thing that got badly damaged was the rear wheel. But it is hopelessly bent. perhaps not a taco, but it is working on a C shape. I checked the frame, I had a bike shop look at it as well, as as far as we know the frame is still fine.

It has been a week since I have felt completely back up to riding, and I am now faced with fixing up the bike.

This is where I am realizing how little I know of bikes. Searching for a new back wheel has been most confusing. I had a 26 inch rim for the back wheel, it supported a standard 8 speed cassette on the back, It was a Sun-rim CR 18.

I was considering getting the same wheel, but now I am thinking of just upgrading that wheel and perhaps the front one as well, as they have both had considerable use already.

The problem is I do not even know where to start looking for new parts. I would like to learn about the process and also save some money so I would rather get the parts online, The mechanical side of bikes was never the problem for me.

I have searched a few online sites and found that 26 inch wheels do not seem to really be road bike wheels. it seems 650B and C are more common for that, and they also seem to cost a lot more. Also all the 26 inch rims I am finding are either saying mountain or they are carbon fiber and cost a kings ransom.

I found this Vuelta Zerolite 26" Mountain Wheelset (cannot post the link sorry)
And I cannot figure out the naming, they just like the wheels I was using albeit with less spokes and a flashier paint job and they do not look anything like actual wheels that belong on anything tougher than a hybrid bike.

I would like to get a rim that can support both my current 28T tires (I got the bontrager full kevlar ones and I want to keep them until they fail as I have not yet gotten a single flat) and also down to 23mm tires for the future, but is it even worth putting such thin tires on this frame?

So long story short,

Should I just get the same rim and call it a day? is it worth putting 650C wheels on? where is a good place to look for these parts? what even does that Mountain naming scheme mean, they look like normal rims? Is Thinner than 28T worth it? Any specific recommendations?

Is there any thing I can read up on to help with understanding this? I already read on the whole 26 vs 650C vs 650B vs 700C thing, and I am currently trying to figure out how to better identify the cassette.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read all of this any help would be greatly appreciated.

Since your bike is an 8 spd, that suggests it dates to the early 2000s, ie 12-15yrs old, and accordingly would
not have the disc brakes the Traffic 2.0s were fitted with about 5 yrs ago. I agree, best bet is just replace
the rim with an identical rim or as close as available, stick with the 26" wheels and 28 tires as the best and
cheapest compromise. There is no point in 650 wheels, though 26" ATB are very close to 650.

Re 23 mm tires, these make no sense at all for you and this bike. Even pro teams are moving away
from 23s in favor of 25/28mm tires.

IF the rim doesn't have "kinks", it may actually be salvageable.
Since you have NOTHING to lose, back of the spokes gradually and somewhat evenly, using a bit of common sense to back off the "tight" ones first.
The rim MIGHT go back into the proper shape.

I had an incident with my new to me then Globe.
I did a panic stop/nose stand where the rear wheel was about 3-4' off the ground and then bounced down hard with the bike at about a 45* angle. The wheel went semi potato chip.
It turns out the spoke tension was so uneven when built, the wheel just followed the path of least resistance.
I was able to tension/true the wheel and make it an "quite excellent", considering it was just a cheap, factory wheel.

The CR-18 is a good, strong, but slightly heavy wheel. It's my choice for most wheels I build.

The GT traffic 2.0 bikes I'm seeing online have 700c wheels. But, perhaps yours is an older model.

I'd stick with the original size, unless there is a compelling reason to change. Brakes will work much better with the original wheels. And, you can buy 26x1.5" slick tires if you wish.

650b has somewhat limited selection of fat tires.
650c also has a limited selection of skinny tires.
26" will have the broadest selection of tires available, but does lean towards the wider tires. However, there are some narrow slicks available.
In some cases, a narrow 700c wheel/tire will fit in place of a wide 26", but you'll need to change the brakes to caliper rim brakes, and perhaps other changes.

As far as a replacement wheel. What is the rear dropout spacing? 130mm or 135mm? That will help determine whether MTB (135) or Road (130) wheels will fit. Depending on the grease seals, you may be able to remove left spacers from a 135 wheel to make it fit 130 (then re-dish as needed).

One option is to rebuild your old wheel. New rims cost around $50, and perhaps new spokes. A good bike shop should either be able to build a wheel for you, or refer you out to a builder.

Or, you can build your own wheels. The first one will take some time and patience. But, building and repairing wheels are valuable skills to learn.

If you have rim brakes, its by far easiest to stay with the same rim size.
Otherwise the brakes won't line up.