TiHabanero

Have always toured on 700 x 32 wheel/tires. Lots of options, easy replacement out on the road. In the process of designing my next frame and am toying with the idea of featuring 26 inch wheels. Any drawbacks to this? Lack of tire choices?

TiHabanero

Never mind. I have answered my own question. Moderator please delete this thread. Thank you.

djb

not in my experience. Are there specific tires you are used to using? If so, it should be easy to find out if they are avail in 26.

I still like that 26 help a bit with lower gear inch, and are said to be a bit stronger than larger wheelsets, although that is probably pretty hard to quantify--what I can say is that my 32 spoke wheels have held up very well over three trips loaded up with 40, 50, 60 lbs on all kinds of surfaces, but Im not a heavy guy and have been using lower psi tires, both important factors.

TiHabanero

I just checked out the tire selection from Continental and it is plenty enough for 26 inch and satisfies my question. As for why, I just want to build something different than what I have done in the past. Keeps it interesting and there is no sense in duplicating what I already have.

mtnbud

I'm using Schwable Marathon Mondials on my converted mtb. I couldn't be happier with their performance.

CliffordK

You should be able to find a lot of choices in 700c & 26" (559). And, quite a few people tour on 26".

650b is also gaining support, but at this point, tires and rims are a little more limited, and it could be limiting if you're stuck trying to find spare parts at Walmart.

Trevtassie

Rather tour on 26 than 700, since I discovered the joy of really fat (like 2.4-1.5") tires. you can pretty well do what you like riding over bumps, potholes, curbs, even with a huge load, and gravel is a pleasure. Hopefully the big manufacturers (apart from surly) will get on board with some lightweight but belted lightly lugged tires

Tourist in MSN

I mostly use Schwalbe, not Conti tires. In 26 inch (559mm) I usually use 40mm wide tires on pavement tours. If good quality gravel, for example on rail to trail routes I prefer 50mm wide tires. And if I am going on a 4X4 road or something worse, I use 57mm tires. My 700c touring bike and the other 700c touring bike I used to own maxed out at 37mm tire width if I was using fenders. Thus, I only use 700c touring bike on trips that are almost exclusively on pavement.

Decide what the range of tire widths are that you likely will use, then go to a rim width chart like the one Sheldon has and figure out what inner rim widths you likely want to have from that. Then start your rim shopping. The chart I refer to is near the bottom of this web page.
https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Another reason that I like 26 inch wheels better for touring, most of my 700c bikes have toe overlap on the fenders, but my 26 inch wheel bikes have no toe overlap.

djb

good point, I forgot about that and I really appreciate this on my troll, even with the 2in tires and fenders set up with a crapload of space between the tires and fenders, so the front fender is even closer to my feet than they need to be.

jefnvk

I have bikes with 27", 26", and 700 tires. I've shopped for a bike with 650b, which at least last summer is the only one I'd quantify as even remotely difficult to source. IMO, you have to be looking for something extremely specific to not be able to find something that will suit your needs in any of those four sizes. If you are touring in America, any Wal-Mart has something that will get you by in all of those sizes.

fietsbob

Conti Travel contact, were the OEM pick on my World Tour Koga,

TiHabanero

Have the Travel Contacts on one of my commuter bikes. They have been on it for close to 10 years. Can't wear them out and yet to flat 'em. Amazing tires for sure. Going to see what I can do in 26".

Tourist in MSN

You said "designing my next frame". Do you make frames?

One of my 26 inch touring bikes has room for 50mm tires and fenders, the other has room for 57mm tires and fenders.

Just in case you decide to go to crazy places with bad roads or trails, I would suggest something on par with what I have for tire and fender clearance. There is no downside to having that clearance if you later choose to only use narrow tires.

If you are curious, I recently posted photos of my two 26 inch touring bikes at this posting.
Sloping top tube touring frame?

jefnvk

I like mine, but they have less than 1000 miles and I have both flatted them and find them to be finnicky about wanting to stay in about a 10 psi pressure range to roll nicely. They feel and work better than any other 26" I've had on that bike, but they're not quite foolproof.

All in all, I'm not swapping them out before the next tour on that bike, so they do get a thumbs up!