When you convert a bike from 26 1 3/8 would you convert to 700c or 26"? (Assuming you didnt want to keep your 26 1 3/8)

Its sort of in the middle

I'm voting for 650B.

What kind of riding do you want to do? What kind of tires do you want? What kind of bike is it?

why are you "converting" it? in my experience most 10spds with 26x1 3/8 wheels were rather lowend bikes. 700c may not even fit the frame.

It definitely depends on several factors, but I think the main one would be brake reach. Most bikes made for 26 x 1 3/8 wheels will take 700c but may require smaller reach brakes and you may have to lose the fenders (mudguards). 650c might require only a minor adjustment. I'm not sure you'll be able to get any brakes to reach to a 26 x 1.75 rim; if you find anything that fits it'll certainly have a long reach and will be relatively weak. Still... worth a try.

Not enough specifics to opinionate.
Why in the world would you want to convert a bike originally 26 x 1 3/8?
Everything else is more expensive, except maybe mountain bike stuff, which would hardly work anyway.

Weight savings, perhaps? I'm thinking of doing the same to my Schwinn LeTour, which has Schwinn S-6 (26 x 1 3/8) rims. The ISO of 650B rims are about 1 cm off, so one should be able to use the same brakes without issue. My girlfriend's bike also has 26 x 1 3/8 rims (steel, even!), and the weight savings from only a new wheelset made her a lot faster in the saddle.

Yeah, it's expensive, but people have done worse.

Well conversion to alloy wheels of the same size is great, I'm doing it too, and 650A to 650B is certainly do-able and expensive, but all you gain is a few fatter tire choices.

I should shut up, conversion for any reason at all is purely the owners choice, and I'm all for freedom and liberty.

FWIW I tried to fit a 700c wheel to a 26 x 1 3/8" Huffy last summer and it didn't fit.

This would apply if you are working on a 1986 huffy wind sprint.

Actually it is a huffy but it had 26x 1 3/8" wheels which were garbage I dont want to bother remaking wheels of some old standard so im converting.
I bought 26" rims but then realized 700C would fit. The issue is that 700C with 28mm tires will fit nicely but 700x38 wont fit vertically. I wanted to have cushy wheels.
And yes the caliper brakes on the 26" wheels are weak.

It's a Huffy? Get rid of it and start again with better material for upgrades.

its a Huffy sportsman... from england... havent figured out what year yet. its not a crap huffy

Oh, OK. So why do you want different size wheels?

Rebadged Raleigh Sports, most likely. 700C's should fit, though the front tire and fender may be of questionable clearance.

-Kurt

Well I needed 40h rims for my sturmey 3 speeds and it was hard enough finding 40h rims in a normal size. + there are more choices in tires, liners etc.
I've now realized I could have gotten 40h EA3 tires but its too late and i already feel stupid, I thought 26" tires were approximately the same radius as 26x 1 3/8".

OK so how can I make my braking not suck with my 26x1.x" wheels on my calipers?

Why did you ask if you can mount 700C's, if you've already painted yourself into a corner with 26"/559mm rims?

-Kurt

Well I might do this again, 700C might be just as bad. I was curious about what the experienced people do

Sorry to say but I would reverse directions. Put those wheels back on a mtn bike.You're in TO and there's many shops that could find an EA3 rear wheel to fit your bike for 20 or 30 bucks. Try Urbane Cyclist on John Street...Warren Cycle at Queen and Logan (go in and look at wheels hanging from the ceiling, there was a laced AW up there)...the shop in Kensington Market...there's (was?) another on Richmond St, ask a courier for cool shops...another good spot was in the factory on Logan just south of the railway tracks below Gerrard. They're all over that town. I've got an NOS 40 hole endrick for you but it will cost $50 to ship from NS.

PS I've been away for 3 years so the locations may be different but the game remains the same. I think there's more 3 speed hubs in that city than anywhere else outside of England.

Really it will be that bad?

The reason braking "sucks" is that you have steel rims. You can put Sun aluminum rims on it that fits 26X1-3/8 and it brakes right now, but honestly, how fast do you need to stop? I have a Phillips Sports (same idea), and you just kinda learn to deal with the braking. You're not going that fast anyway, and if you start braking early enough (with wet rims, assuming), it'll dry the rims and you won't have to worry about it too much.

I honestly kinda like riding it with the steel rims. It's like the difference between driving a car with manual drum brakes vs. driving a car with ABS disc brakes. You learn to look 3 cars ahead.

+1. OP will never find a decent pair of brake calipers with enough reach for the 559's, and I dare say he wouldn't be interested in converting those wheels to drum (might as well get a 40-hole CR-18 at that rate).

-Kurt

No they are aluminum rims people were saying that the calipers would be so long that they would suck.. leverage and whatnot.

I was basing my comment on this statement, and guess I just misread you. With calipers, you either find stiffer calipers, or braze on some cantilever posts. Either way, it seems way too much work for this...

Stiffer calipers eh? How do you test caliper flex?

You can certainly fit 559 tires wheels. Like others have said, the BMX style long reach brake calipers(maybe as little as $20 new Ebay-usually in gaudy colors-gold /red/blue) will flex a lot.They will work "ok" with sticky pads, but they will never be great.
Plan B might be to put on a 1" Chrome Moly Trek 26' fork with "studs" for V-brakes .Of course this will cost another $35 or so, and it won't match the Huffy.It will also be a fork with a lot less forward curve, and almost certainly a different color. You will now have a good front brake.

You can do it-559- but the long reach brakes won't be great. You will have a wider choice in tires-limited by clearance of course. The 559 wheels will be cheap-especially if you go with bolt on wheels(maybe $20 with functional-probably original- l tires).

It will be maybe $40 with the wheels/tires brakes.Add another $35 for a 26" V- brake fork-another 5- $10 for a V- brake. $80 for the conversion with "good" brakes or $40 for "adequate" barely adequate- brakes. Is the frame bike worth the upgrade/change?

Luck
Charlie