hadavid.acc

I purchased the Cannondale Street off from Craigslist today for my daughter. The bike fits her but I think it's a little on the small side. I was wondering if I can install bigger mtb wheels because there is a huge clearance/gap between the wheelset and frame; like its meant for bigger wheels. If so, I might buy a set off eBay for $100ish.

Here are some pictures...







(The bike looks so much better in person than these pictures. I'm just saying)

sv500

That bike is produced as a "kids" bike, if it feels small, i doubt adding 26" wheels will make much of a difference, it would change the handling character of the bike though. All that aside, yes i belive 26" will fit.

jimc101

Thinking the biggest issue in replacing the wheels will be the front, as it's a lefty fork, and requires a unique/propriety hub, a quick look on ebay, and you not going to get any change from $200, it is really worth vs just getting a larger bike?

Tim_Iowa

This.

Although the bike looks like it would easily fit a 26" wheel, you'd have to buy a whole new lefty wheel or re-lace the existing wheel to a 26" rim to do so.

Neither would be quick or cheap.

However, Cannondale did make a lot of Lefty-equipped mountain bikes with 26" wheels, so you may be able to find a used front wheel if you're patient.

hadavid.acc

Is is possible for me to reuse the original hubs on new 26" rims and spokes ? This method seems to be the least expensive. It also has 36h.

I just reread Tim_Iowa's comment. Aren't beginner rims around $50 a pair? Then ill relace the hubs on the rims.

jimc101

No such thing as a beginner rim, just rims at different price point for different purposes.

For replacing, yes that's possible, but you will either need to find someone who can do it, or get an adaptor for a truing stand if your doing it yourself.

You would need to budget the cost of spokes & nipples on top of the build.

Then you have the issue that the frame wasn't designed for 26" wheels, so the geometry may be thrown off, making the bike not so nice to ride.

hadavid.acc

Update: I kept her bike as is because she doesn't want to change anything as of now.

I on the other hand have a 2004 Specialized Epic with 26" wheelset. Can I change those to 650b / 27.5? Theres a set of inexpensive Haro on eBay for $112 shipped.

jimc101

Why? what benefit are you going to get from this? your going to have the issue as above for trying to change wheel size and geometry, you don't know if tires will fit (even back in 2004 anything above a 2.1" was wide), fitting any 27.5 tire will probably have clearance issues, and there are with no real benefits to this.

Tim_Iowa

Yes, since the Epic has disc brakes (and standard, non-Lefty hubs), you could fit 650b disc MTB wheels in it.

BUT

The 650b/27.5 rims are 25 mm taller, where the frame clearance doesn't change, so you'll have to fit a 12.5 mm (half of 25 mm) smaller tire on those 27.5 rims.

If you're thinking about using the Epic for city riding only, then 650 x 42 slicks would definitely make it roll faster on pavement.
But, I doubt that you could fit 27.5 MTB tires (54 mm / 2.1 inches) under the fork bridge or in the rear triangle.

SO

The 27.5 wheels wouldn't get you anything unless you want to ride a skinnier, taller tire. For city riding on the Epic, just put some 26" slick tires on it, and lock out the suspension.

hadavid.acc

Thank you very much!!

I guess we can delete/close this thread, somehow.