Can you travel further on 700 rims?

[il padrone]

This one looks to be in my home town 

[jags]

oh man those bikes are mental never even knew there was such a wheel as a 36.i'd need a step ladder to mount it 

anto.

[Slammin Sammy]

I love the orange bike!!

Twin disks up front, Thudbuster under yer bum, and a Rohloff or some other IH.

I'm in lust! What is that thing?

[il padrone]

Not a Rohloff. Chainline shows a huge sprocket, but Rohloff sprockets are only available in 13, 15, 16 & 17t sizes.

[julk]

I used to run a 43x21 with my rohloff.
SJS supplied the 21 Rohloff sprocket...

[Andre Jute]

The Rule is the bigger the wheel the faster the ride.....

Kiwi Pete .... Having Fun Riding  

Give Kiwi Pete the I. G. Noble Prize for Bicycle Engineering Wisdom!

[NZPeterG]

Give Kiwi Pete the I. G. Noble Prize for Bicycle Engineering Wisdom!

Hi Thanks 

PS: Please Note I'm a Motorcycle Engineer working on Bicycle because they are a load more fun.... 

Kiwi Pete 

[jags]

that bike is just so wrong awful looking thing.its a bit like the chopper raleigh brough out  years ago complete disaster. pure crap .

jags.

[Daniel Beckham]

Thank you for your replies.

With so many variables with tyres, riders, road surfaces etc, etc, I know this won’t get a conclusive answer and I am sure personal preference comes into play too.

There have been days when I have stopped my bike and checked the wheels were turning OK, just simply because it felt hard work, when in fact all was wrong was I was having a bad day !

Having given this much thought I can only think the difference, if any, would be marginal and other influences such as weigh of bike, tyres and road surface etc have a much bigger influence.
For my money I will be going 26” as I still see the known benefits out way any alleged shortcomings.

[triaesthete]

 Smart move. Buck the trend 

[energyman]

The frame colour is also very important.
 

[Andre Jute]

The frame colour is also very important.
 

Road safety yellow.

[Daniel Beckham]

26" wheels ordered today!

Think the frame will be black, unless you can go further on a red frame..................

[Erudin]

Good luck with your Thorn Sherpa build, which rims/hubs did you go for?

I've been experimenting with lighter/slicker/higher tpi tyres on my 26" bikes. I didn't ride a lot of miles last year so have put on weight and am less fit than usual. Compared to my 700c bikes with their 28/25mm Conti Gatorskin/Grand Prix tyres I was finding my 26" bikes with 2 inch Big Apple and 1.9 Conti Double fighter tyres hard work and draggy.

I decided to try some lighter/slicker tyres. I got some Conti Sport Contacts 26 x 1.6 and Vittoria Randonneur Pro II's 26 x 1.5. The Sport Contacts measure 37mm wide and 36mm high on the rim. The Vittoria's measure 39mm wide and 39mm high on the rim.

Now the 26" bikes seem to roll as well as the 700c bikes, over the same 16 mile course riding at moderate effort the times are all within 30 seconds of each other. The new 26 inch tyres feel nearly as comfortable on rough surfaces as the fatter tyres they replaced, presumably the higher tpi makes them more flexible.

Tried the Randonneur Pro II's off-road on some dry trails (lots of gravel) round a local lake and they performed fine. I don't know how durable they will be but to me the low rolling resistance is worth the trade-offs.

[Daniel Beckham]

I went for Exal LX17 black rims, LX hubs and stainless double butted (not on drive side of rear wheel) spokes.

I came to this spec from reading info on forums like this one, friends and professional advice plus budget I wanted to spend.

Sure they will be better than the £50 ebay wheels I have been using for the last couple of years.