24” wheel experience?
#26
Senior Member

Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 2,548
Likes: 574
I not only focus on rolling resistance, there are other advantages for a folding bike and a not folding bike.
For a folding bike, 20" wheels allow to have wider tires that not only roll better but roll smoother on bad road surfaces and of road without having a too big overall wheel diameter that increases the folded size (I am pretty sure that Helix limited the tire width to 40mm to also have a not too big overall wheel diameter and keep the folded size small, the
Helix fork for instance has almost no clearance above the wheels).
Another effect of smaller wheels is reduced wheel inertia that gives a more reactive bike that accelerate faster which is interesting for city riding with a lot of speed variations due to crowded roads and lots of traffic lights.
Lower inertia is also good when there are many uphills and downhills, race road bike uses low rim height and low weight wheels for mountain races to reduce inertia and high height rims, heavier wheels for flat high speed races where cyclist are riding in grouped.
For a folding bike, 20" wheels allow to have wider tires that not only roll better but roll smoother on bad road surfaces and of road without having a too big overall wheel diameter that increases the folded size (I am pretty sure that Helix limited the tire width to 40mm to also have a not too big overall wheel diameter and keep the folded size small, the
Helix fork for instance has almost no clearance above the wheels).
Another effect of smaller wheels is reduced wheel inertia that gives a more reactive bike that accelerate faster which is interesting for city riding with a lot of speed variations due to crowded roads and lots of traffic lights.
Lower inertia is also good when there are many uphills and downhills, race road bike uses low rim height and low weight wheels for mountain races to reduce inertia and high height rims, heavier wheels for flat high speed races where cyclist are riding in grouped.
#27
Senior Member



Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,760
Likes: 2,117
From: Madison, WI
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
Yes, true and there are also several touring tires (meant for cargo bikes with ETRTO507 wheels) but all 50mm wide or more.
What is missing is 40mm wide or less high performances tires (there was a Schwalbe Kojak with decent performances when the Helix project was started in 2015, but that size was discontinued by Schwalbe), its the reason why Helix asked a small company to make a special narrow lightweight tire for Helix but, as far as I know, its only available from Helix?
Note also that most BMX tires since they are not meant to be used on open roads have a limited puncture resistance.
What is missing is 40mm wide or less high performances tires (there was a Schwalbe Kojak with decent performances when the Helix project was started in 2015, but that size was discontinued by Schwalbe), its the reason why Helix asked a small company to make a special narrow lightweight tire for Helix but, as far as I know, its only available from Helix?
Note also that most BMX tires since they are not meant to be used on open roads have a limited puncture resistance.
But a quick search found that Airnimal lists a Kenda K-West 507X40 on one of their bikes, my folder is a much earlier version of this bike model that I built up with drop bars:
https://airnimal.co/products/joey/commute
Found that tire at a few suppliers, but would involve tariffs to import them.
And some years ago I bought some Intense tires as spares, have not installed them yet. But a five minute internet search tells me that the company that made Intense is long gone.
So, looks like 507X40 is extremely rare with only one tire model available, that is from Kenda.
#29
Senior Member



Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,760
Likes: 2,117
From: Madison, WI
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
#30
Senior Member

Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 2,548
Likes: 574
While searching for the Kwest on the Kenda website (didn't find it?), I found two narrow BMX tires in ETRTO507 the Konversion Pro 40x507 and the Happy Medium Pro CX 32x407 but both without puncture protection so not really for road use.
#31
Senior Member



Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 12,760
Likes: 2,117
From: Madison, WI
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
While searching for the Kwest on the Kenda website (didn't find it?), I found two narrow BMX tires in ETRTO507 the Konversion Pro 40x507 and the Happy Medium Pro CX 32x407 but both without puncture protection so not really for road use.




