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Found Need some 26x1.375 ISO 599 tires!!

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MrMonark13

Wore out three sets of tires already!
Looking for a set or individual tires in rideable shape. Matched set would be nice, but I’ll take whatcha got! These are for my 1939 New World

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I believe those listed above are 590mm bead seat tires, which are too small for these rims. Those are for the English lightweights.

Unfortunately, he's looking for the American sized 599mm or perhaps 597mm tires, which offer fewer choices. The Kenda K23 37-597 would be about the only new choice available readily in the USA. There is another, smaller 597mm tire available in England, but the shipping is costly.
 
I believe those listed above are 590mm bead seat tires, which are too small for these rims. Those are for the English lightweights.

Unfortunately, he's looking for the American sized 599mm or perhaps 597mm tires, which offer fewer choices. The Kenda K23 37-597 would be about the only new choice available readily in the USA. There is another, smaller 597mm tire available in England, but the shipping is costly.
Thank you for pointing this out. I was aware of the oddity of the S-7 tires but did not know Schwinn used a proprietary size for these as well.

Funny, I went back to the listing and right there at the very bottom of his description it states, “Will not work on Schwinn rims”. Good catch😉
 
I can’t believe there are even more facets of the “Schwinn Lightweight Wheel Curse” gem that I haven’t heard of, but @Schwinny and @SirMike1983 started schooling me on this over the weekend. I don’t want to hikack this thread, but when did the lightweight rims flip from 599 to 597, or was it a difference between the regular prewar New World rims and the optional Schwinn Superior rims? The stock rims on my 41 New World are 597 right?
 
The 26 inch "lightweight" bike sizes:
599mm="American"=26x1.375
597mm=650=26x1-1/4=26x1-1/4x1-3/8
590mm=650A=26x1-3/8
584mm=650B=26x1-1/2

The easiest way to remember them, I think, is to use the bead seat diameter in MM measurement. That measurement gives you an idea as to how close together the tire fittings are, and whether they will work. Using the nominal/imperial size can be very confusing.

Old American lightweights used the peculiar 599mm "American" size. The tires usually say 26x1.375. This is the size most common on pre-war lightweights (including Schwinn). Schwinn moved to 597mm after WWII. The other manufacturers stuck with 599mm after the war initially but eventually went to 590mm so their bikes could use the common English import tires. These tires are not made any more. Fortunately, many (though not all) 599mm rims will also accept 597mm tires. Some even have a stamp inside the rim saying they will work with both sizes.

The 597mm size is called "650" in the French system. This size was known in England as 26x1-1/4 and in the US additionally as 26x1-1/4x1-3/8. In England, this was a popular size for "clubman" type bikes and similar sportier lightweights. In the US, Schwinn adopted this size for its post-war rims. Tires came in basically two sizes, a club tire (32-ish mm) and a touring tire (37-ish mm). The 597mm tires will often work on 599mm rims with some persuasion. The 597mm will NOT work on 590mm rims. The Kenda K23 37-597 is the only commonly available new tire in the US today. There is a bike shop in England selling 32-597 club tires as well on a smaller scale.

The 590mm size is the size used by most English 3-speeds in the USA. This is the common size that the Raleigh Sports and similar bikes used. The later American-made 3-speeds from Columbia/Westfield use this size as well. Tires are still widely available. The Schwalbe, Panaracer, and Michelin tires are worth a look if you want something better the Kendas or Duros in this size. Widths on the tires vary quite bit. The Schwalbe and Panaracer tires tend to run wider. You cannot use these tires on the Schwinn 597mm rims or the old British clubman rims.

The 584mm is the French 650b "randonneur" size. It was also used as the tire for some of the rod brake British roadsters that had 26-inch wheels. Some American bikes did use this size - tandems, welterweights, etc. It will not fit on any of the other rims sizes above. It was a dying size for awhile, but has had somewhat of a renaissance. There are several tires available, including some very good ones from Japan.
 
I would like a set of period correct tires - the bike is all original and I won’t be riding it often. It would be neat to find a set of the “war tire” stamped tires, but I’m open to anything that was available while they were manufacturing them
 
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