26 wheel diameter

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wheelhorseman

wheelhorseman

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So was just playing around making a "mock up" wheel to see how it would look and ran across this.

Had a junk old AMF Roadmaster 10 speed in the junk with 26 x 1 3/8" rotten tires. I took a wheel off and go to mount a 26 x 195 mtn bike tire and quickly notice the old road bike wheel is larger diameter like a Schwinn. Whats the deal? Until I checked the tire size I thought it may have been a 27" but its a 26. That mtn bike tire will not fit.

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Yeah,. the biketiresdirect guys cut'n'pasted that chart from Sheldon's site, which is a bit more informative, which means it is also a bit more confusing. Most of those sizes are rarely seen, but 4 or 5 variants of "26" inch tires/rims are pretty common. Usually, it's the Schwinn s5/s6 26x1 3/8" stuff that gets confused with the 650a/EA3 26x1 3/8" stuff...both are common sizes, and it's particularly frustrating to those who don't know, b/c the diameter is only 7mm--close enough to offer someone false hope and bloody knuckles.

Smart ppl go by the ISO/ETRTO sizes, which pretty much end 98% of the confusion. Common sense just ain't that common, but anyone can see that a 559 ain't gonna fit on a 590, right?
 
Yeah, those are 590s. You could get brand new rubber for less than $10/each, which would save the rims for you, which are probably worth more than $20....
 
In the 70s I lived in a small town that didn't have a bike shop. There was a hardware store there where I bought a 26 x 1 3/8 tire not realizing that I had 26 x 1 3/8 S6 Schwinn rims. I got the Schwinn at a thrift store. This started my hate of all things Schwinn. Now it is not so bad as you can get everything for them on the Net. Anyway, out of pure stubbornness, muscle, liquid soap, and some brute ingenuity with tools I got the 590 on the 597 rim. I remember that rage against the Schwinn machine was largely responsible for this to work. I am not nearly strong enough to do this now as I have to have the bike shop install my 700c tires as I can't get them on because of weak hands. I rode the Schwinn around for a few years and never took off the tire. I sent it back to the thrift store when I was done with it. The next guy probably had to toss out the wheel when it came time for a new tire. I did get bruises and bloody fingers putting this on. Not good for the rims as you have to spring it out so don't try this unless you are strong, have no alternative, are in a rage and stubborn. I was very lucky I didn't pinch the tube.
 
I did not get far with mounting, but I tried a 590 on the back rim of my 70's Murray. Bike was crusty when I received it and had no tire or tube on back rim. After some cussing I cleaned the chrome on the rim and saw the dreaded "Schwinn Tubular" stamped on it. :21:
 
horsefarmer said:
I did not get far with mounting, but I tried a 590 on the back rim of my 70's Murray. Bike was crusty when I received it and had no tire or tube on back rim. After some cussing I cleaned the chrome on the rim and saw the dreaded "Schwinn Tubular" stamped on it. :21:
Click to expand...

Yeah, the thing about old bikes is, you might not know what parts have been swapped over the years. Schwinn stuff is EVERYwhere. Sometimes, you get these little surprises.

I was up at one of the local co-ops a while back; some kid (looked like he was maybe 19) was cussing about changing the rear tire on his girlfriend's bike. The volunteers had given him a new tube and the new 590 tire for it. He was complaining that it wouldn't go on; they were laughing at him and they finally gave him a lever, and assured him that the tire was the right size. I got the impression they knew him, b/c they were heckling him ruthlessly, and making disparaging remarks about his manhood, b/c he couldn't get the tire on and he kept complaining.

At some point when i noticed he was bleeding from at least 2 knuckles, I decided to stick my nose into the situation and investigate. I saw the Schwinn Breeze with the rear wheel off nearby. I asked him if that's the bike. He said "yes." I asked him if the wheel was the original; he said it was, as far as he knew. I asked if I could see the tire. It was definitely a 590. I told him to stop, and i told him why. I was pretty sure he was gonna kill the 2 volunteers working that day. I was only up there for ten minutes, but he was already working on it when i arrived; probably for a while. I left afterwards. Things had gotten pretty tense, at that point.

0d99062cfd81c58b9e36bc06ae10d1d9.jpg
 
This has been a good education on tire sizing. Always knew Schwinns were different but never encountered this problem on a "regular" bike.Heres my Hampton with an S7 Schwinn back wheel and new 26 x 2 x 1 3/4 tire.
215942546a8a4c35753bb778b8df5413.jpg
43a6692a90560e19d7e8e7cdec826de3.jpg


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I learned about different size wheels with tubes. A 20" tube will not stretch enough to fit a 26" wheel.
And then, I thought, a little extra tubing (too big) can't hurt, I'll just fold it up a bit....
Now, fenders are another matter, do fenders for 559's fit 590 tires, (and vice versa).
I have found that the rim strips are the most interchangeable part.
 
Fenders are tricky b/c they cover the wheel/tire both vertically and laterally. A funny thing about bike wheels is that many of them fit a fairly similar overall rim/tire diameter. a 559x55 (26x2.125") is roughly the same diameter as a 622x25 (700c road) or a 590x37 (26 x 1 3/8") or a Schwinn s7 (571x45) or a 584x42 (650b) so vertically, it'd clear. On the other hand, 590 fenders over a balloon 26" will be too narrow to cover the entire tire (so it would'nt protect your drivetrain or your butt from road spray), and vice versa, it'd look pretty empty under there... functionally, it'd work though.

HTH
 

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