Another Tire Size Question

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FinStalker

FinStalker

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Am I completely missing something here?
I have some 26x2.10 MTB tires I was trying to mount on my original Schwinn 26" wheels just to make it a roller and these tires are nowhere even close to going on these wheels. Way too small. The original tires to the wheels are 26x13/8. Tires and tubes are the only thing keeping this bee from being rideable so I'm kind of anxious to get it rolling.
 
Schwinn used proprietary measurements they coincidentally called by the same names as Imperial measurements, but don't actually match. They were like aliens speaking perfectly clearly to Americans though not actually speaking American English, but their own language that, by strange coincidence was exactly the same. You need Schwinn standard 26" tires (to fit a 597 mm rim) or the more usual 26" (559 mm) wheels to fit your tires.

Bicycle tires are as arbitrarily sized as women's clothing with any given company's reference points being a mystery worthy of Philip Marlowe.

There are at least two standards of 28", one of which is the same as 700c, which are SMALLER than what is referred to as 27". There are five different sizes called 26".

ISO is the only reliable measurement.
 
@Duchess is spot-on; get the ISO/ETRTO specs for your ride before you order anything. Or, better yet, ask here on RRB and we'll get you rockin' in the right direction.

There's a lot of different 26" tires, and there's 2 different 26x1 3/8" tires.... the "normal" one which is AKA EA3 and 650a (590mm ISO) and the Schwinn-spec which is AKA s5 and s6 (which is 597mm ISO.) Here's some cheapies by a somewhat reputable manufacturer that'd fit your current wheels: http://www.niagaracycle.com/categories/kenda-s-6-26-x-1-3-8-x-1-1-4-black-steel-tire
 
Thank You guys so much. I know I'm a little touched in the head but that had me going.
Bicycle808 I think I like that one for the front but I really want as wide of a tire as I can shoe horn in there on the rear. Do you or anyone else have any suggestions? I think I want a black side wall but a whitewall isn't out of the question. BTW that is a 3spd rear hub.


14718814_658193317673929_7609822757900269966_n_zpsd8mygblj.jpg
 
FinStalker said:
Thank You guys so much. I know I'm a little touched in the head but that had me going.
Bicycle808 I think I like that one for the front but I really want as wide of a tire as I can shoe horn in there on the rear. Do you or anyone else have any suggestions? I think I want a black side wall but a whitewall isn't out of the question. BTW that is a 3spd rear hub.


14718814_658193317673929_7609822757900269966_n_zpsd8mygblj.jpg
Click to expand...

What you wanna do is get yourself a different rear wheel then. They don't make fatter tires in the 597 flavor. Looking at your frame, I'm thinking that your bike didn't come with 597s originally; it prolly had Schwinn s7 (571mm) wheels from factory. If you're not running fenders, you should easily be able to fit a regular 26" (559) wheel with 2.125" rubber mounted out back. But, it's always wisest to bust out the ruler and take some measurements of the clearances...
 
With the smaller diameter wheel, you will also be able to fit a fatter tire since the seat stay distance will be wider farther down.
 
Yes, regardless of its possible personal prejudices against some wheel sizes, the hub has no idea what it's attached to. You'll have to calculate the new spoke lengths you'll need and you'll want to get a rim with the same number of holes (while it is possible to lace a mismatched number of holes between the rim and hub, I would recommend keeping it simple).
 
Back in the early 80s, I tried making myself my first mountain bike and quickly found out that 26 x 1 3/8 was a totally different tire size than the 26 inch mountain bike tires that I bought. 26x1 3/8 is the old three speed standard, now virtually defunct
 
FinStalker said:
OK. Here's another question for you then. Will the 3spd hub work in a 24" rim?
Click to expand...

Yep, but you'll need different spokes to lace it into the smaller diameter rim...you might get lucky in finding some esoteric lacing pattern that will fit, but spokes are cheap and time is money. It might be easier to just find a 24" wheel that's already built around a 3speed hub. Make sure that, whatever you do, the 24" rim is a 507mm, and not any of the goofy other 24"s out there (540mm, 520mm...these will be sold as "fractional" sizes, eg 24x1 3/8, 24x1 1/8, etc...)

HTH
 
It's looking like it's going to be about 10x easier to just use what I have on this build then get a little more creative on my next using all modern parts.
 

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