Tyre Size/Wheel Size?

[Bruce]

I have bought a pair of ZAC2000 RIGIDA 26" Wheels. I would like some advice on picking the correct tyres/tubes please. Etched into each wheel are '19 x 559' . Could someone please advise me what these numbers refer to and which size tyres/tubes would be suitable.

Many Thanks.
Regards.
Bruce
P.S. They have Presta Valve Rim Holes.

[Jordan300]

Well 559mm would be the standard 26" wheel, so most 26" mtb tires should fit on there up to 2.3 inch thickness.

[jr14]

19 is the rim width in mm. This is a rather skinny rim, and Sheldon brown's site recommends 1.1" to 1.75" tires.

Those are rather conservative estimates though. You could probably go as high as 1.95", but no higher. You risk sidewall failure, or having the tire unseat from the rim, which could cause a blowout.

As for tubes, any tube with the right valve that's rated for the tire width with do fine.

[Bruce]

(01-17-2010, 09:25 AM)jr14 Wrote:  19 is the rim width in mm. This is a rather skinny rim, and Sheldon brown's site recommends 1.1" to 1.75" tires.

Those are rather conservative estimates though. You could probably go as high as 1.95", but no higher. You risk sidewall failure, or having the tire unseat from the rim, which could cause a blowout.

As for tubes, any tube with the right valve that's rated for the tire width with do fine.

Thanks very much for the advice. Point taken.
It's mainly for road use so Continental 'Town and Country' 26*1.9 should be o.k.? Thanks again.

[jr14]

(01-17-2010, 01:13 PM)Bruce Wrote:  

(01-17-2010, 09:25 AM)jr14 Wrote:  19 is the rim width in mm. This is a rather skinny rim, and Sheldon brown's site recommends 1.1" to 1.75" tires.

Those are rather conservative estimates though. You could probably go as high as 1.95", but no higher. You risk sidewall failure, or having the tire unseat from the rim, which could cause a blowout.

As for tubes, any tube with the right valve that's rated for the tire width with do fine.

Thanks very much for the advice. Point taken.
It's mainly for road use so Continental 'Town and Country' 26*1.9 should be o.k.? Thanks again.

Yeah, I don't see why not. Sounds like a nice cruising tire. Should be pretty comfy. Good Luck!

[JonB]

A little hint:
I find a tube is a tube, and you can (usually) get away with a cheap £2-4 (couple of Dollars tops??) supermarket-type inner tube, especially if you're just running on roads.

Just buy the cheapest tube you can find, I'm lucky in that my University MTB club is sponsored by Continental so we get tubes at £2 a go (they retail around £4-6ish), which is about as cheap as they come.

I'd advise trying to get a tube with a width equal to the tyre width, but I've run a 1.9 tube in a 2.3 high volume tyre and it doesn't seem to have had any adverse effects....

[Joe_W]

Well, the range for MTB tubes is quite large so you can get away with that. Road tubes come in increments of only a few mm, especially the higher end ones. Latex tubes can save some rolling resistance + they are said to be more puncture resistant. They are more expensive and cannot be patched, though. They also don't keep the air well, you have to refill every day.

[Jordan300]

(01-17-2010, 09:25 AM)jr14 Wrote:  19 is the rim width in mm. This is a rather skinny rim, and Sheldon brown's site recommends 1.1" to 1.75" tires.

Awesome, I didn't know what the 19 was for, now I do.