Odd Sized Rims?

[Retmachinist]

O.K. you bicycle experts, help me out here. I bought an OLD 26" Sears Free Spirit 3 speed rear hub bicycle on Craigslist for $25. It is in very good condition. The chrome rims are perfect, since I think it has been hanging in a garage for the last 25 years. I was re-packing the bearings and going to true them up on my truing stand when I noticed the rims are 1 1/2" larger in diamater than a normal 26" rim. How is a person going to find tires for it, as I would like to be able to use the 3 speed hub on my next build. What about 27" tires, does anyone know what the rim diameter is?

John

[robin]

This is an old bike --was bought on trade for some gardening a 1946 Humber

[ocscully]

Originally Posted by Retmachinist

O.K. you bicycle experts, help me out here. I bought an OLD 26" Sears Free Spirit 3 speed rear hub bicycle on Craigslist for $25. It is in very good condition. The chrome rims are perfect, since I think it has been hanging in a garage for the last 25 years. I was re-packing the bearings and going to true them up on my truing stand when I noticed the rims are 1 1/2" larger in diamater than a normal 26" rim. How is a person going to find tires for it, as I would like to be able to use the 3 speed hub on my next build. What about 27" tires, does anyone know what the rim diameter is?

John

The size you need are 26 X 1 & 3/8 non/not S-6 If the tires say S-6 they will only fit the Schwinn S-6 Rim. You will not have much in the way of choices these days for tires of this size. You should be able to get ahold of them at the better bike shopes in your area.

ocscully

[Retmachinist]

Originally Posted by ocscully

The size you need are 26 X 1 & 3/8 non/not S-6 If the tires say S-6 they will only fit the Schwinn S-6 Rim. You will not have much in the way of choices these days for tires of this size. You should be able to get ahold of them at the better bike shopes in your area.

ocscully

Thanks for the info. I did some searching online and I see exactly what you mean. I guess I will be using some different rims on this next build, since I want to use wider tires than the 1 3/8. The main reason I had planned on using those rims was for the 3 speed rear hub. I will be changing everything on the bike, so I guess a new set of alloy rims is no big deal.

Thanks again......John

[Dan]

Wow John, nice score. Gonna make a great and classic lookin' MB.