I’m trying to refurbish my old mountain bike. It’s been sitting out in the shed for the last 4 years, and I just brought it in to see what it needs and what kind of maintainence it’s going to need.
One thing I noticed it needs is new tires and wheels. The tires are dryrotted, and the wheels have bent rims and brokens spokes. The tires are size 26X2.10. I measured the rims and they are only about 23 inches across. Am I measuring the rims correctly? Or should I just go off of the tire size?
Also, does anyone know of anyplace online where I can get inexpensive bicycle parts? I’ve went to several sites already, but they all seem to cater to the cycling enthusiast, and their prices seem very high. I just need basic parts, not specialty parts.
well, the rims are 26". You also need to know the spacing of your rear hub - take it to your local bike shop they will be able to look at it and tell you right away what size it is (135 mm is common for that age MTB)
The 2.10" bit is the width of the tire itself, that can vary depending on what you are using the bike for. If you are commuting, you prob want to go with a 1.25 or 1.5 slick or reverse tread, I have used the Conti Top Touring with good success. If you are going off road, you’ll want fatter tires with tread and lugs and all that jazz.
Bike parts online tend to be expensive, yes. Check out the local places and see if they have a used parts/bikes board (a real board on a wall in a bike shop…I cant believe I had to clarify that :)).
Also check out www.mtbr.com , they have a pretty good used section there that you can narrow down by geographic area.
Wheel size used to be marked by the outside diameter of the tire. The “26-inch” wheels were originally intended for 2-inch tall tires, so the actual rim is about 22" in daiamter. (2+22+2=26). What you have is most definitely a 26" wheel, and you need 26" tires.
This method is confusing because a “26-inch” wheel can be equipped with 1-inch tall tires just as easily, making the outside diameter 24". The modern standard is to measure the rim diameter. (Or to be exact, the dieameter of the bead seat.) The “26-inch” wheel size is now known as the ISO 559mm size.
As for mail order, have you looked at Bike Nashbar? Some MTB tires are on sale for as little as $7.
Or Bring old tire or rim to the shop and they’ll set you up.
2.1 is the tread width of that tire, nothing to do with what’ll fit your rim.
I doubt you’ll have much luck finding specific bike parts without a lot of legwork, unless they are particularly valuable or part of a package deal.
A halfway decent new bike costs $300.00, so there’s not a lot of money to be made by parting out old crappy bikes. That, and new bike components are made for pennies on the dollar in Asia.
ooh another thought, check out your local PD and see if they have a bike auction. It’s usually around this time of year, I have gotten some great deals at those. For instance, I once got a nice Trek touring bike with a child seat for 50 bucks, it needed new brake cables and that was it.
If the rims are just bowed rather than bent, then maybe replacing the broken spokes would straighten out the rim. You could also look out at flea markets/yard sales. I got a pair of wheels and a brakeset (brakes and brake levers) for about US$25 at a yard sale because the owner had upgraded, and there is a huge flea market near me that has a vendor selling used bikes and bike parts.