Bicycle Wheel Size?

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

My son and I did a fair bit of riding over all sorts or terrain over the weekend, and I got to thinking I was on my Brompton which runs on 16inch wheels, and does a great job on smoother roads and trails, but it's obviously compromised over rougher stuff (although it coped admirably in the woods ).

I've previously ridden 26inch and 700cc hybrids, tourers, cargo bikes and mountain bikes, but they all feel a little 'dead' to me compared to the much more lively feel of a smaller wheeled bikes I've owned, and a lot less nimble and slower to accelerate too.

On balance I think Mr Moulton had it right with the 17inch wheel, and full suspension, but given the state of our roads, I do think a good 20inch wheel is the best possible compromise for UK roads with the occational trip to the woods.

What do you think

[16VGTIDave]

The bigger the wheel, the smoother the ride. I recently tried a 29" wheeled bike, it is so much smoother than my 26" wheeled bike that I was amazed. And mine is full suspension while the 29er was rigid!

I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't ridden them one after another. I dropped 5 PSI from my tires once I was back on my bike, just to soften it up a bit!

Dave


Sent from my iPad2

[Farmman]

Hi mike

Ok I think a 20 inch wheel is most common on a bmx type bike. Struggling to picture a 16 inch wheel. You must seem very close to the ground especially after 26 inch (mountain bike) and 700 ( think hybrid). I would expect it to struggle hitting higher speeds as well

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well my Brompton does ride like a regular bike, albeit a little bit chopier on rough tarmac, and you do have to be a bit more careful when pedalling around a corner as it's not too hard to get pedal striking issues



You don't really notice the height difference too much when riding it to be honest

The reason I sugested the 20inch wheel is that most folders and Moulton's run them and there just such a fast handling wheel size imo, but not being quite as twitchy as there 16inch cousins

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

It really depends on the bike.  The frame geometry too, has a great deal to do with it.  For smaller wheels (in comparison to say, a 26" or a 700c wheel), you need to change the amount of rake in the fork to adjust the trail of the front axle.  More rake means more trail, and more trail means more stability.  In car terms, understeer.  Less trail moves you away from understeer and closer to oversteer. 

It certainly sounds like you prefer oversteer, but it does have its limitations.  Bike manufacturers have worked out a pretty good balance between stability and maneuverability with most bike and wheel sizes now.  For the kinds of riding I do most, commuting, grocery shopping, errands around town, etc., I prefer more stability, as I'm usually carrying a load, sometimes well over 100 lbs.  For this kind of use, oversteer could be potentially disastrous for me; the last thing I want to do when hauling a trailer and panniers full of groceries and a 4 year-old is dump my bike in a pothole.  Even when I'm riding recreationally, I prefer more stability, as I can easily hit 45 mph on some of the downhills around where I live.

I personally, wouldn't ride anything with less than a 26" wheel for a general use bike.

[Zed]

For me its 26inch for one main reason cost , everytime i get punctures on my 700c roadbike it cost me around £5-6 for a new tube,but i can get tubes for around £2-3 for my MTB,also i rode bmx for a very long time and find 26inch more stable than 20inch but saying that i would love a moulton    and 20inch are also a cheap tube to pick up 

[Heinz Doofenshmirtz]

For me its 26inch for one main reason cost , everytime i get punctures on my 700c roadbike it cost me around £5-6 for a new tube,but i can get tubes for around £2-3 for my MTB,also i rode bmx for a very long time and find 26inch more stable than 20inch but saying that i would love a moulton    and 20inch are also a cheap tube to pick up 

Not meaning to be facetious here, but why don't you just patch your tubes and re-use them?  I typically carry a spare tube, and when I get a flat, just swap the tube.  But when I get home, I take out the old tube, clean it and find the puncture, patch it if I can, and stick it back in my toolkit.

[Zed]

For me its 26inch for one main reason cost , everytime i get punctures on my 700c roadbike it cost me around £5-6 for a new tube,but i can get tubes for around £2-3 for my MTB,also i rode bmx for a very long time and find 26inch more stable than 20inch but saying that i would love a moulton    and 20inch are also a cheap tube to pick up 

Not meaning to be facetious here, but why don't you just patch your tubes and re-use them?  I typically carry a spare tube, and when I get a flat, just swap the tube.  But when I get home, I take out the old tube, clean it and find the puncture, patch it if I can, and stick it back in my toolkit.

I do sometimes put i dont like patching hi pressure tires, sometimes i patch up a few in my shed but too be honest im generally lucky puncture wise so prefer to fit a new tube, 

[Mike, Lord of the Spammers!]

Well I do prefer the flighty things in life

For heavier loads I just use my Yuba Mundo anyway

[Zed]

Well I do prefer the flighty things in life

For heavier loads I just use my Yuba Mundo anyway

   although your brompton is probably more stable than a short wheelbase bmx mike  i will get my moulton one day, just need a lottery win