Exercise Bike Wheel

[morton]

I was taking apart an old Schwinn exercise bike and thought it would be a shame to toss that nice shiney s2 wheel, but what about that solid tire.

Is the wheel worth saving and is there a practical way to remove that solid tire?

Opinions welcome.

 

[island schwinn]

Find a way to heat it up and the tire should expand and soften.then work it off.

 

[GTs58]

If you leave the tire on, you won't have to drill a valve stem hole in the rim.

 

[unregistered]

I’ve used a hacksaw before. Eats through the rubber quickly but closer to the bead is a challenge. Think I switched over to sidecutters at that point...

 

[morton]

The tire is extremely thick and heavy. I used an abrasive disc to slice down to the side of the wheel but there is stil a lot to cut. I was thinking of cutting diagonally to remove most of it then perhaps the side cutters mentioned would finish the job.

I might also try a sawsall rather than a hacksaw but that still leaves a lot to remove once down the to rim.

I don't think heating it would do much as the tire is so thick/ridgid. I thought about using a propane torch once I cut to the rim but was afraid I might warp the wheel.

There doesn't seem to be any quick and easy way.

 

[BFGforme]

Easiest way to do it is, find the right wheel!

 

[detroitbike]

I thought all the exerciser wheels were S-7's

 

[island schwinn]

Early wheels were S2 without a valve stem hole.some were 36 spoke,so people drill a stem hole and use them on Stingrays.

 

[morton]

The one I have is a 28 hole s2 without hole. I don't need it but like I said, pains me to throw away a nice shiny wheel when maybe someone else could use it.

 

[Danny the schwinn freak]

I have used them several times in the past. They are like an S-2 as far as the diameter goes, but they are narrow like an S-7. I have used a hacksaw successfully and as I got close to the bead, I pried the two halves apart and split it the rest of the way. They are great to use because they usually have excellent chrome on them. Drilling the valve stem is easy. Here are a pair of 28 spoke ones I used on my little guys cruiser clone. As you can see, he is very happy with the outcome.