WHEELWORKS.COM.AU

 Rotary Club of Maclean

2012  Tour de Woodford.

How do I know what wheel or tyre I want

The very basics

The 3 main parts to a wheel

The Rim: That is what the tyre is attached to, and will more commonly be made of Steel or Aluminium.

The Spokes: They vary in number usually depending what the wheel is to be used for. Also spoke material (carbon steel, Stainless steel and other materials like carbon, and the diameter of the spoke can vary eg: 1.5mm, 1.8mm, 2.0mm,and 2.3mm. Butted where the middle section of the spoke is thinner than the ends, then you can have bladed and even twisted.

The Hub: Steel or Alloy.                                                                                                     
Nutted  (remove wheel with a spanner)                                                                                    
Q/r: Quick release -The wheel is released from the fork dropout via a leaver.                               
The hub can be Coaster (back pedal brake)                                                                                  
Free wheel type ( the cogs or cluster screw on as one unit)                                                  
Cassette type ( the cogs or cassette slip onto a free-wheel body and a lock ring holds it in place)

To check the size of a rim.

The size may be on a sticker opposite the valve, this will give the manufacturer and may-be the size.

Also check at the valve area and it may-be stamped on the rim.

To check tyre size.

Tyres are pretty easy to read, if you look on the sidewall of the tyre you will see measurements of the size of the tyre and of course that equates to the size of the rim.

The common Mountain bike size would be,

26 x 1.75  or say  26x 1.95 (The first 2 numerals e.g.: 26 is the diameter of the tyre). And that of course would be also the rim size,26 inches-- the second set of numerals relates to the width of the tyre usually at the point to which the tread extends.

NOTE if a tyre is marked 26 x 1 3/4, it is NOT. 26 x 1.75. They are for two totally different wheels and not compatible.

On a Cross bike (hybrid) or modern road bike you could have the size 700 - ## ( ## numbers from 18 to 45) once again the first numerals are the diameter, anything from say 32 up would more than likely be a cross bike.

Send mail to townbike@wheelworks.com.au with questions or comments about this web site.
Last modified: May 04, 2012