bikewhorder
Riding a '38 Autocycle Deluxe
So while I was at Copake I was talking with Tim (steeletj) about economical solutions to putting tires on these old 28" wheel bikes and it came up that we both had the same idea to try modify the original wood clad rims to accept 700c tires. The thought that someone else could beat me to my own idea was all I needed to put a fire under my ass to give it a try (perhaps this has been done before, but I have never heard of it) and I after about two hours of tinkering with it I had my 700c x 35 Kenda Quest tires mounted to my guinea pig wood clad rim.
It wasn't too hard to do, I just made a jig to hold a router the correct distance off the side wall that conformed to the outside curve of the rim. The only real mistake I made was I got impatient to get the tire on and used a great deal of force with the tire levers, but then getting the tire back off was almost impossible because the now exposed metal lip was catching on the tires bead. Eventually I did get it off and rerouted the rim a little deeper so that it came off with very little effort and can be installed without levers. The final depth was about 5/16 below the outside circumference of the rim, though 11/32 would probably be even better. the metal cladding on the rims is very thin and is easily damages so its important that the tires mount easily.
The only bummer about this process is that it requires disassembling the wheel because otherwise you will be routing into your nipple tops, and I was hoping it could be done without un-building the wheel. I didn't disassemble my first wheel but some of the nipple tops actually popped off as I routed through them.
I'm thinking that once I get the system down I'd be willing to provide this service for anyone who would like to be able to mount modern tires on their old rims but don't feel confident enough to do the mods themselves. I don't know exactly what I would charge yet, but if we're just talking about bare rims I think $50 a pair might be enough to make it worth my while. I have yet to do a set of wheels completely and go for a ride, so maybe this will result in an epic failure and it will all prove to be a dead end idea. I have a feeling it'll be just fine though, so long as I don't go trying to huck some major drops on these wheels. -Chris
It wasn't too hard to do, I just made a jig to hold a router the correct distance off the side wall that conformed to the outside curve of the rim. The only real mistake I made was I got impatient to get the tire on and used a great deal of force with the tire levers, but then getting the tire back off was almost impossible because the now exposed metal lip was catching on the tires bead. Eventually I did get it off and rerouted the rim a little deeper so that it came off with very little effort and can be installed without levers. The final depth was about 5/16 below the outside circumference of the rim, though 11/32 would probably be even better. the metal cladding on the rims is very thin and is easily damages so its important that the tires mount easily.
The only bummer about this process is that it requires disassembling the wheel because otherwise you will be routing into your nipple tops, and I was hoping it could be done without un-building the wheel. I didn't disassemble my first wheel but some of the nipple tops actually popped off as I routed through them.
I'm thinking that once I get the system down I'd be willing to provide this service for anyone who would like to be able to mount modern tires on their old rims but don't feel confident enough to do the mods themselves. I don't know exactly what I would charge yet, but if we're just talking about bare rims I think $50 a pair might be enough to make it worth my while. I have yet to do a set of wheels completely and go for a ride, so maybe this will result in an epic failure and it will all prove to be a dead end idea. I have a feeling it'll be just fine though, so long as I don't go trying to huck some major drops on these wheels. -Chris
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