Rim/tire combo.. basic questions

[robwizard]

Hi there! Only been a member of the forum for a few days and didn't want to clog up my intro thread with questions. Basically I am looking to build some wheels for a beach cruiser, Schwinn inspired! I have a Velosteel coaster hub for the rear and a generic chrome hub for the front. I have a choice of either 30mm or 40m rims in brushed aluminium which I would either polish or paint to match the frame. My questions are as follows. 30mm or 40mm which one will be more in keeping with the old school? And tyre wise I original wanted Schwalbe fat franks but I'm now thinking a whitewall Schwalbe returner might look more authentic?

Any advice would be well received!

Many thanks!

 

[Bicycle808]

If these are the same rims you'd linked in your intro, they're champagne anodized, and you'd need to remove the anodization before you could polish'm. You can paint over ano, though, without problems. The "front" rim, the 30mm one, has a machined braking surface, which won't matter if you paint, but will show if you polish, and won't help you score any "authenticity" points.

One thing to keep in mind is, a tire mounted on a 40mm rim will be wider side-to-side but shorter top-to-bottom than the same tire mounted on a 30mm rim. So, you'll want to bust out a ruler and see what kind of clearance your frame has about 285 to 295mm from the axle. If you can fit it, imo, fatter looks better and you ought to go with the 40mm rims. In fact, I'd take another look at it and see if you don't want to just keep the ano finish; it think it'd look pretty good, sorta like it's aged....

As for the tires, the WW Returners will look more "Schwinn inspired" than the Franks, but Franks in any color are truly awesome tires. In fact, I think the brown tread/white wall Franks on champagne ano rims will give the rolling stock a washed-out, vintage look.... paint the frames to compliment this, and you'll be off to a good start.

 

[robwizard]

Thanks very much that's all great! I didn't notice the braking surface haha!
I will have a think about the direction I want to go in then see what happens.

Cheers

 

[tonygameboy]

Try this stuff, I've had good luck painting bike parts with this primer.

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