First new tyres needed in almost 20 years

"OG" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was told
that the right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought, but
on being reassured it would be OK I bought them (they can
always be returned).

Quoted message said:

That was yesterday, and on trying to fit them today I (of course)
find that they are never going to fit on the rims.

Quoted message said:

Basically, the rim diameter on my wheels is 24", and the diameter
at the wire is about 22" on the new tyres.

Quoted message said:

Looking online I'm not sure that 26 x 1 1/4 is still one of the sizes
that you can buy anymore - I can see lots of things called 700 x 23,
but I'm not sure what I should be looking for.

Quoted message said:

Any advice, and will I have to go to an LBC to buy them?

As you've discovered, not all 26" tyres and rims are compatible. For an
explanation of some of the incompatibilities, read:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html

SJS stock a range of tyres in the more unusual sizes:

sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

It's unlikely you'll find a pair in stock at your LBS unless you're lucky
enough to have an LBS that's been servicing utility bikes for 30+ years.

James Thomson

OG wrote on 15/10/2006 22:27 +0100:

Quoted message said:

After 20 years out of the saddle I did a short ride last weekend and got a
fairly loud puncture. After walking home I've decided that I need to get
some new tyres to go with the new inners.

Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was told that the
right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought, but on being reassured it
would be OK I bought them (they can always be returned).

That was yesterday, and on trying to fit them today I (of course) find that
they are never going to fit on the rims.

Basically, the rim diameter on my wheels is 24", and the diameter at the
wire is about 22" on the new tyres.

Looking online I'm not sure that 26 x 1 1/4 is still one of the sizes that
you can buy anymore - I can see lots of things called 700 x 23, but I'm not
sure what I should be looking for.

Any advice, and will I have to go to an LBC to buy them?

You might have a lot of problems finding that size in a local shop -
it's completely different from the current 26" mountain bike tyres you
will find in the shops. As you found your tyres have a bead diameter of
597mm and the tyre you got will have one of 559mm. To avoid confusion
you need to ask for the ISO designation which is 32-597.

The good news is you can get them from SJS Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OG wrote on 15/10/2006 22:27 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was told that
the right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought, but on being
reassured it would be OK I bought them (they can always be returned).

That was yesterday, and on trying to fit them today I (of course) find
that they are never going to fit on the rims.

Any advice, and will I have to go to an LBC to buy them?

Quoted message said:

You might have a lot of problems finding that size in a local shop - it's
completely different from the current 26" mountain bike tyres you will
find in the shops. As you found your tyres have a bead diameter of 597mm
and the tyre you got will have one of 559mm. To avoid confusion you need
to ask for the ISO designation which is 32-597.

The good news is you can get them from SJS Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

Bloody typical, you buy something and just 27 years later you can barely get
the spares!

Realistically I guess that means its time to buy a new bike. A pair of
tyres & inners is going to be approaching 1/4 the cost of a new bike, and be
rather nice to have > 5 speeds, and a decent centre pull brakes would be
appreciated.

I know there's a view that machines under £350 are merely "Bicycle Shaped
Toys". However, no way can we afford more than that at present - does
anyone have any suggestions for 'get out there and enjoy yourself machines'
available nationally or in the Mersey-Lancs-Staffs-S.Yorkshire area?

Meanwhile the old Halfords Espada will probably go into Warrington Freecycle

"James Thomson" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

"OG" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

It's unlikely you'll find a pair in stock at your LBS unless you're lucky
enough to have an LBS that's been servicing utility bikes for 30+ years.

Thanks James
v sad :-(

Quoted message said:

I know there's a view that machines under £350 are merely "Bicycle
Shaped Toys"

Good news is that the group-think on this n.g. puts that at £200. If you
want drop bars things get a little more expensive thobut.

OG wrote on 16/10/2006 00:50 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OG wrote on 15/10/2006 22:27 +0100:

Quoted message said:

Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was
told that the right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought,
but on being reassured it would be OK I bought them (they can
always be returned).

That was yesterday, and on trying to fit them today I (of course)
find that they are never going to fit on the rims.

Any advice, and will I have to go to an LBC to buy them?

Quoted message said:

You might have a lot of problems finding that size in a local shop
- it's completely different from the current 26" mountain bike
tyres you will find in the shops. As you found your tyres have a
bead diameter of 597mm and the tyre you got will have one of 559mm.
To avoid confusion you need to ask for the ISO designation which is
32-597.

The good news is you can get them from SJS Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

Bloody typical, you buy something and just 27 years later you can
barely get the spares!

Realistically I guess that means its time to buy a new bike. A pair
of tyres & inners is going to be approaching 1/4 the cost of a new
bike, and be rather nice to have > 5 speeds, and a decent centre pull
brakes would be appreciated.

To be honest you won't get tyres and tubes much cheaper than the
£8.99/£3.99 ones at SJS and you will generally have to replace them more
frequently than every 27 years so if I were you and you like the bike, I
would buy the new tyres and tubes for it and treat it as a running cost
(which usually turns out much more than the capital cost anyway!)

OTOH if you want an excuse for a new bike you've got one ;-)

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

Mark Thompson said the following on 16/10/2006 02:16:

Quoted message said:

Good news is that the group-think on this n.g. puts that at £200. If you
want drop bars things get a little more expensive thobut.

But it might be worth adding that if you see a BSO in Halfords with full
suspension at that price, and think "Oooh - that looks nice and comfy!",
you will probably regret buying it :-)

The Ridgeback Rapide Motion looks a decent bike for £200 (if you can get
past the migraine-inducing website at http://www.ridgeback.co.uk/ )

--
Paul Boyd
http://www.paul-boyd.co.uk/

Tony Raven said:

To be honest you won't get tyres and tubes much cheaper than the
£8.99/£3.99 ones at SJS

Do more expensive tyres last longer than cheapies?

But anyway, if you consider the cost of bike bits against the money you
save on car journeys, public transport and gym membership they're all
cheaper than free.

POHB said:

Tony Raven said:

To be honest you won't get tyres and tubes much cheaper than the
£8.99/£3.99 ones at SJS

Do more expensive tyres last longer than cheapies?

Yes. In my case currently up to about 5 times the miles per pound and
plenty of life in them yet. I'm using Nokian AWS and Schwalbe City Jet.
These have each lasted several years and are not expensive at around 11
quid each.
I did have a pair of cheap tyres on (8 quid) which lasted 3 months
before they were worn out.

Chen Shin is anglicised chinese for 'Cheap Sh**'.

Quoted message said:

But anyway, if you consider the cost of bike bits against the money you
save on car journeys, public transport and gym membership they're all
cheaper than free.

...d

POHB said:

Tony Raven said:

To be honest you won't get tyres and tubes much cheaper than the
£8.99/£3.99 ones at SJS

Do more expensive tyres last longer than cheapies?

Not if they have less or softer "rubber" - for low weight, and high speed
and grip.

~PB

My local Halfords had these in stock, just check on the sidewall for the
inscription 32-597

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OG wrote on 16/10/2006 00:50 +0100:

Quoted message said:

"Tony Raven" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

OG wrote on 15/10/2006 22:27 +0100:
> Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was
> told that the right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought,
> but on being reassured it would be OK I bought them (they can
> always be returned).
>
> That was yesterday, and on trying to fit them today I (of course)
> find that they are never going to fit on the rims.
>
> Any advice, and will I have to go to an LBC to buy them?

Quoted message said:

You might have a lot of problems finding that size in a local shop
- it's completely different from the current 26" mountain bike
tyres you will find in the shops. As you found your tyres have a
bead diameter of 597mm and the tyre you got will have one of 559mm.
To avoid confusion you need to ask for the ISO designation which is
32-597.

The good news is you can get them from SJS Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

Bloody typical, you buy something and just 27 years later you can
barely get the spares!

Realistically I guess that means its time to buy a new bike. A pair
of tyres & inners is going to be approaching 1/4 the cost of a new
bike, and be rather nice to have > 5 speeds, and a decent centre pull
brakes would be appreciated.

To be honest you won't get tyres and tubes much cheaper than the
£8.99/£3.99 ones at SJS and you will generally have to replace them more
frequently than every 27 years so if I were you and you like the bike, I
would buy the new tyres and tubes for it and treat it as a running cost
(which usually turns out much more than the capital cost anyway!)

OTOH if you want an excuse for a new bike you've got one ;-)

Thanks Tony,
I've got plenty of excuses for a new bike, it's just the wherewithal that's
a bit tight at present. :-(

As it happens, we're down in Somerset next week, so a trip to SJS at
Bridgewater seems like a good idea.

in message <[email hidden]>, OG ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

After 20 years out of the saddle I did a short ride last weekend and got
a fairly loud puncture. After walking home I've decided that I need to
get some new tyres to go with the new inners.

Went to a chain to ask for a pair of 26 x 1 1/4 tyres and was told that
the right ones would now be 26 x 1.5s. Hmm, I thought, but on being
reassured it would be OK I bought them (they can always be returned).

There used to be an old UK standard referred to as 26", used mainly for
womens' bikes, which is /not/ the same as the American 26" standard used
by modern mountain bikes. The two sizes are not interoperable, as you have
found.

Your wheels are /probably/ 32–597 ERTRO; this is considerably bigger than
an American 26 x 1 1/4, which is 32-559 ERTRO. The '597' refers to the
bead seat diameter in millimetres, and is as you say very close to 24".

You will almost certainly not get 32-597 tyres at a normal bike shop as the
size is now very rare. You will, however, still get them from specialists
like St John Street Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

A final word of warning. Although your bead seat diameter probably is 597mm
(and you should be able to measure this), there are two other obsolete
so-called 26" standards which it might be: 590mm (37–590) and 584mm (40
584). These are even rarer.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

[ This mind intentionally left blank ]

in message <[email hidden]>, OG ([email hidden]'😉

Quoted message said:

I know there's a view that machines under £350 are merely "Bicycle
Shaped Toys". However,  no way can we afford more than that at present -
does anyone have any suggestions for 'get out there and enjoy yourself
machines' available nationally or in the Mersey-Lancs-Staffs-S.Yorkshire
area?

This has come up several times recently; I recommend the Claud Butler
Classic, which is a very nice little utility bike which retails at £200
including mudguards and rack; there's a very similar Dawes model, the
Mojave, which I'm not personally familiar with but other people have
recommended. There are a lot of really bad bikes under £350 retail, but
they aren't all rubbish. Under about £160 there are very few that are not
a waste of money.

If you're anywhere near Leeds, the Edinburgh Bicycle Co-op now have a
branch there, and their 'Revolution' own-brands are exceedingly good value
for money.

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
Das Internet is nicht fuer gefingerclicken und giffengrabben... Ist
nicht fuer gewerken bei das dumpkopfen. Das mausklicken sichtseeren
keepen das bandwit-spewin hans in das pockets muss; relaxen und
watchen das cursorblinken. -- quoted from the jargon file

In article <[email hidden]>
Simon Brooke <[email hidden]> wrote:
<snip>

Quoted message said:

there are two other obsolete
so-called 26" standards which it might be: 590mm (37?590) and 584mm (40
584). These are even rarer.

37-590 (26 x 1 3/8) isn't particularly rare - it was the standard size
for three-speed roadsters (after the demise of 28" wheels) and is still
listed by Schwalbe and Continental.

Simon Brooke said:

There used to be an old UK standard referred to as 26", used mainly for
womens' bikes, which is /not/ the same as the American 26" standard used
by modern mountain bikes. The two sizes are not interoperable, as you have
found.

Your wheels are /probably/ 32-597 ERTRO; this is considerably bigger than
an American 26 x 1 1/4, which is 32-559 ERTRO. The '597' refers to the
bead seat diameter in millimetres, and is as you say very close to 24".

You will almost certainly not get 32-597 tyres at a normal bike shop as the
size is now very rare. You will, however, still get them from specialists
like St John Street Cycles:
sjscycles.co.ukcategory 26 (597) 201.htmOpen ↗

A final word of warning. Although your bead seat diameter probably is 597mm
(and you should be able to measure this), there are two other obsolete
so-called 26" standards which it might be: 590mm (37-590) and 584mm (40
584). These are even rarer.

one of those two is the classic 26x1 3/8. I think it is the 584 (I have
an old roadster with that size of tyre. - fortunately in excellent
condition). The other is 650B or 650A or some such and is the size used
on some old kids racers.

You might find that 597 is 26x 1 1/8 and 590 is 26 x 1 1/4 - best to
measure the rim circumference to get a diameter then deduct about 6mm
to get the bead seat diameter.

...d

David Martin wrote on 17/10/2006 08:52 +0100:

Quoted message said:

one of those two is the classic 26x1 3/8. I think it is the 584 (I have
an old roadster with that size of tyre. - fortunately in excellent
condition). The other is 650B or 650A or some such and is the size used
on some old kids racers.

You might find that 597 is 26x 1 1/8 and 590 is 26 x 1 1/4 - best to
measure the rim circumference to get a diameter then deduct about 6mm
to get the bead seat diameter.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires.html tells you all you need to
know. AUSHTA

--
Tony

"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using
his intelligence; he is just using his memory."
- Leonardo da Vinci

"David Martin" <[email hidden]> a écrit:

Quoted message said:

Simon Brooke wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Your wheels are /probably/ 32-597 ERTRO; this is considerably
bigger than an American 26 x 1 1/4, which is 32-559 ERTRO.

You mean 26 x 1.25" in the latter case. 559 widths are expressed as inch
decimals, not fractions.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

A final word of warning. Although your bead seat diameter probably is
597mm (and you should be able to measure this), there are two other
obsolete so-called 26" standards which it might be: 590mm (37-590)
and 584mm (40 584). These are even rarer.

590 (26 x 1 3/8"😉 is actually by far the more common of the three.

Quoted message said:

one of those two is the classic 26x1 3/8. I think it is the 584

590

Quoted message said:

(I have an old roadster with that size of tyre. - fortunately in
excellent condition). The other is 650B or 650A or some
such and is the size used on some old kids racers.

584 is 26 x 1 1/2" and 650B. It used to be used on utility and delivery
bikes in the UK, and utility bikes, tourers, and tandems in France.

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html

James Thomson

On Tue, 17 Oct 2006 09:03:48 +0100, Tony Raven <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

David Martin wrote on 17/10/2006 08:52 +0100:

Quoted message said:

one of those two is the classic 26x1 3/8. I think it is the 584 (I have
an old roadster with that size of tyre. - fortunately in excellent
condition). The other is 650B or 650A or some such and is the size used
on some old kids racers.

You might find that 597 is 26x 1 1/8 and 590 is 26 x 1 1/4 - best to
measure the rim circumference to get a diameter then deduct about 6mm
to get the bead seat diameter.

http://sheldonbrown.com/harris/tires.html tells you all you need to
know. AUSHTA

Well, not *all* - the 14 x (mumble) tyres on one of the steeds in the
cellar here are not on the list...