gululok

This other post prompted me to check out craig's list for bike parts, and I saw a set of 700c wheels for cheap. I'm wondering if it'll fit my bike. It's an infinity frame that came from costco with 26" x 1.95 wheels. What range of wheels can fit on this bike?


Thanks.

Rolla

There's really not a range. Replace the wheels with the same size that are currently on it. In your case, that's a 26" wheel.

If you're actually asking about tires, please clarify.

gululok

My original wheels were 26"x1.95. When I got a new tire a while ago, the LBS sold me 26"x2 tires, which worked fine.

My break cantilevers has about an inch of adjustment for the break pads, and the newer infinity bikes seem to mostly come with 700c wheels, so I thought maybe my old infinity bike can accommodate a small range of wheel diameters (tire+rim)?

Germany_chris

I cannot..

You need 26" wheels

hokiefyd 

Generally, no, there won't be enough brake pad adjustment to go from a 26" wheel (559mm in diameter) to a 700c wheel (622mm in diameter). There's a 63mm total diameter difference, which is 31.5mm on the radius. So you'd need to move the brake pads 31.5mm "up" (away from the axle) to be able to accomodate the larger wheels, assuming they'd clear other parts of the bike, like the fork and chain stay bridge area down by the bottom bracket. You can buy brake relocator pieces (like these) that would physically relocate your brakes higher (or lower) on the frame. I have not personally used those to know if they work well or not.

gululok

Ah.. stupid question I guess. Let's all just pretend this never happened.

Crankycrank

Well, not really a stupid question. How would you know unless you ask? This question comes up occasionally here so you're not alone. Here's an article and charts showing measurements of different tires/rims that can be helpful when wanting to know actual sizes of them. I looks crazy complicated but really there are mainly around 4 common sized dia. wheels that most bikes use today. Going by the "ISO" size will be the most accurate as there are several ways that tires/rims are labeled mostly due to tradition rather than useful info. Most rims and tires will have an ISO size printed or engraved on them along with the traditional 26", 700C etc. Note that 26" designates at least 5 different ISO sizes so make sure when buying tires that they are the right size for your rim as they aren't compatible with the wrong rim. Tire Sizing Systems (sheldonbrown.com)

Rolla

Not at all. Lots of people would like to replace their 26" wheels with something bigger, but the frame dimensions and rim brakes just don't allow it. Many modern bikes do enable you to run different wheel sizes, but they have to be designed that way from the onset.

cxwrench

brake.

Dan Burkhart 

There are times when wheel size conversion is quite doable. I've done a few, mostly on disc brake bikes, but also one where replacing 406 20" wheels with 451s allowed me to replace the long reach side pull brakes with shorter reach dual pivots which made braking much better. This was important, because I built that bike for my grand daughter.
Before and after wheel conversion and restoration.


My most recent conversion was an older Diamondback mountain bike I converted from 26" to 650 B. The owner wanted to go 700c, and while they would have fit, I convinced him to go with the 650B instead. It did not affect the bottom bracket height as much as going with the 700c would have, and it just looked right.