Tires too big for the rims
 

I have an old 1978 Schwinn metrocycle that I'm trying to fix up and the old tires I took off were 26 x1 1/4 tires I bought 26 x1 3/8. I tired to put the front tire on but the tire seems to big for the rim. Any ideas or though would be greatly appreciated thanks

There are 3 sizes of 26 x 1 3/8 tires. You bought the ones for Raleighs and others. You need tires specifically made for Schwinn S-6 rims. Currently Kenda is the only one making them that I know of. Roger

There are several 26" tire sizes. See this page:
Tire Sizing Systems

Are your tire sizes written in fractions as above, or decimals?

Look at the original tires, and see if you see a number written on the side: 559, 571, 584, 590, or 597, or 599?

You can also measure the diameter of your rim, and add about 10mm to estimate the ISO/BSD size.

Agree.. best to use ETRTO numbers , those, metric are the diameter of tire bead seat ..

Since as you found there is more than 1 fractional tire size, so using that is ambiguous..

This is great as a standard of practice, but nothing the OP has in her hands lists its own ETRTO.


These are the S-6 tires that Roger mentioned
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...8x1-1-4-37-597

The tire size was in fractions and the other number on the side was 32-597
Thanks again

That's it -- "32-597" is the critical number in this case. You'll need to find tires that use the 597mm bead diameter. Your old tires are 32mm wide --
you'll probably want to be close to that. Suggestions given earlier in this thread.

Actually a 26x1 3/8 tire at an ISO size of 590mm is smaller then the almost but not same Schwinn size 26x1 1/4 at 597mm. So the OP's statement " the old tires I took off were 26 x1 1/4 tires I bought 26 x1 3/8. I tired to put the front tire on but the tire seems to big for the rim." doesn't make sense. The 590 size won't fit on a 597 rim (or not without future removal challenges.. I've seen a number miss mounted and usually require the bead wires to be cut to remove). Andy.

The tires I bought say 37-597 I knew they weren't right

Is the tire too wide for the rim?

The weird thing is I got the back tire on perfectly. But with front I put the one side in then the inner tuber and working the other side in, every time I end up with this gap of too much tire. Honestly I started to wonder if I have the wrong size rim due to that the bike has damage that makes me think at one time it maybe had crash or something.

Do the front and rear rims have the same outer diameter? It should just take a few seconds to measure them in either inches or mm, and convert.

26X 1-3/8" are commonly found in 590mm & 597mm BSD's. (Schwinn is 597)
Sounds like you may have had a 597 rim replaced with a 590 and are trying a 597 tire.
7mm*PI is 22mm, or nearly an inch. (25.4mm)

Thank You everyone!! :)