RandomHajile

I’ve ordered a pair of these new Schwalbe Billy Bonkers tyres, I should have them installed this weekend for a test ride

Jipe

These are BMX tires, not meant for road use which could mean poor puncture resistance (protection level 6 of 10).

Note that the Schwalbe European website doesn't mention "PunctureGuard" for the classic sidewall Billy Bonkers, both are rated "Performance" ??

modenaPDX

Can you detail how you converted to an XDR freehub? I am a beginner to wheel building and I want to build a wheelset based on SRAM Red AXS and I was under the impression that I can't just put any XDR freehub body on any hub.

Jipe

I build a new set of wheels using an XDR compatible rear hub, a Hope RS4 135mm OLD 5mm quick release.

The rear wheel of the Birdy disc is standard 135mm OLD 5mm quick release.

I also build new front wheels because I changed the wheel size, I have now two sets of wheels with XDR hub, one in ETRTO349 (Brompton wheel size) and one in ETRTO406 20" wheel size.

The front wheel hub for a Birdy disc is a little bit more difficult because even if the 100mm OLD is standard, the disc mounting on the right side and closer to the center of the wheel than on a standard disc brake front wheel, so a specific Birdy disc front hub is needed.

Some rear hub have an exchangeable freewheel (its the case of the Hope) but none of the rear hubs mounted on the Birdy have that (excepted the Pacific Cycles 11SP Birdy with Hubsmith wheels).

glye

Then I recommend this PDF book. It is very detailed, but easy to follow. I taught myself wheelbuilding this way, and have ridden many thousands of km on my own wheels without trouble. (no affiliation)
https://www.wheelpro.co.uk/wheelbuilding/book.php

True, there's no general compatibility here. You have to check with the hub manufacturer about which freehub bodies will fit.

modenaPDX

I can get a front Hubsmith wheel and a Hubsmith XDR freehub in my country, but the rear wheel is oddly unavailable. This led me down the path to custom build. I am really disappointed to hear that the front wheel is non-standard. The reliability of a big name like Hope or DT Swiss is important to me, and mismatched front and rear hubs is a no go. Would you happen to know of any other manufacturers for a matching front and rear hub using XDR freehub?

glye, thanks for the book recommendation. I'm not ready to build anything myself, and I look forward to learning more!

Another question, is there anything special about the brake calipers? Assuming the caliper is compatible with the rotor size, can road or mountain calipers be directly swapped? Looking at SRAM 2 piston mountain at the moment.

Thanks for all this information. What a great asset you guys are here.

glye

Nothing very special, I think. (As usual you have to match brakes and levers, so for mechanical brakes if you have mtb levers you need mtb brakes, and vice versa, since road and mtb have different cable pull.) For brake disks I think you can only use the original size. Bigger would interfere with the frame, and smaller wouldn't reach the calipers.

Jipe

Besides Hubsmith, I do not know any brand having a Birdy disc front hub and a rear XDR hub or a conversion to XDR freewheel.

The Hubsmith Birdy disc front hub is for straight pull spokes what indeed look quite different from a normal spoke rear hub.

The disc mounting are also different, the Hope rear hub is for centerlock disc while the Hubsmith is for 6 holes disc.

Ridea has also a Birdy disc front hub with normal spokes, 24 or 32 spokes and 6 holes disc mounting: https://bikegang.ecwid.com/#!/RIDEA-...nly/p/43204258

But no XDR freewheel for the Ridea rear hub (as far has I know).

You should also take care of the number of spokes of both hubs that should match your rims.

The Hubsmith Birdy disc front hub I found is only available in 24 or 28 spokes. I am afraid that it won't be easy to find an ETRTO355 rim with 24 or 28 holes.

Valeria Lopes

Hi there,
This is expensive because it's made (handmade) in Spain.
It's really hard to find someone who accepts doing new and different stuff.
It's a huge challenge for them (and really expensive of course like many other things).
Quite tiring to deal with these people but for the moment it's the solution I found and little by little people who use other bikes/scooters are contacting me to have one.
Tks for mentioning it! :-)

Valeria Lopes

It's for tubes from 35 to 45mm so the gap must be filled with rubber, no problem!

Jipe

What are you talking about?

The last post discuss Birdy wheels and disc brakes.

timo888 

In your previous post you said "this" and now you say "it" and we have no idea what you are referring to. Did a picture fail to get attached to your first post?

tds101 

The birdy folders aren't manufactured in Spain, and you apparently have no idea what about what you're talking about. Are you a bot?

Valeria Lopes

I'm talking about the universal front carrier adapter which is manufactured in Spain.
I make it so I know what I'm talking about.
I didn't make it thinking of Birdy though.

Jipe

This Valeria adapter doesn't fit on a Birdy, there is just no place on the headtube to mount it !

Winfried

https://www.valeriasbikeaccessories....-bicycles.html

Incidently, does it fit a Strida?

timo888 

It is still early in the morning here, and maybe later in the day my mind would be less foggy so I would know the answer to my own question, but ¿what does this blurb from the product page mean? "All you need to start wearing your bike."

Geepig

Take a deep breath - not everything is well in translator land.... I work as a translation editor, so welcome to my world

The Spanish site says: 'Todo lo que necesitas para empezar a vestir tu bici o patinete.', from which Google Translate gives: 'Everything you need to start dressing your bike or scooter.'

Valeria's Barcelona - you need a real native editor: not someone from Spain who worked in London for a bit, but someone who understands marketing copy. This is your business they are being negative about, but at least you can see it and do something about it.

Jipe

The sepcs says "BICYCLES WITH 35/45mm HEAD TUBE" .

I am wondering if the block and bag won't pivot around the head tube ?

timo888 

Just to be clear, I'm not "being negative" about Valeria's business; my only criticism was directed at the lack of clarity in the postings with their unclear referents ("this" and "it"). Regarding the phrase on the website, it was puzzlement not negativity. I believe the other posters were commenting on the non sequitur nature of the post.

Winfried

Besides the tube diameter, the adapter might prevent folding, as the front+rear tubes are very close to each other.

If it does work it'd be a nice add-on for Strida riders.

Schwinnsta

In my opinion, so long as it tightens against the head tube, it will develop sufficient friction to prevent turning. I built a home made luggage block that for my Swift, shown here, and it works well. I rubberized the surfaces that touch the bike to prevent damage to paint mainly but it also increases the friction. I have ridden the hell out of it and it does not turn. I think Valeria's works on the same principal so it should work. The lateral forces that would cause it to rotate are small unless the bike falls over, or something like that.

Geepig

My comments were not directed at you nor were they intended to imply you were being negative, and I apologise if they sounded that way. They were actually aimed at the person running the business. If you bought a bike that was 95% OK, but the 5% meant that something broke you would not be too pleased. Well, when it comes to translation it is the same - when people are distracted it does influence sales. The fact you thought to mention something is good, because when you have a business and pay for a foreign language site it helps that it is as smooth and factually the same as the original. I have seen it too often when no one says anything, and then the business cannot figure out why their sales are lower than expected in that market.

RandomHajile

schwalbe list them as MTB tyres

which makes sense as it says they’re for crushed gravel and tarmac/cement etc

300grams for a 2inch tyre is ideal as nice and light and as it’s a folding tyre can just carry a spare when out on a trip vs carrying a wire tyre

Jipe

If you look atthe European Schwalbe website https://www.schwalbe.com/en/mtb-reader/billy-bonkers, the use cases are clearly BMX and not MTB or road use.

Schwalbe website has no BMX category, only:

• City/Tour
• Road
• Gravel/Cross
• MTB
• Winter

BMX tires are included in the MTB category.