"To fit HB-575 rim"

VS

The factory-install tires of my trusty 12-year-old MTB are in their dying
days, so I decided to replace them. Upon arriving back at home with the
new tires I noticed that there's a text printed in their side: "to fit
HB-575 rim".

So, what's the significance of that? What is a HB-575 rim? Did I buy a set of
tires that require some special kind of rims --- rims my old bike probably
doesn't have?



555

Ryan Cousineau

In article <c65s4r$kgt$1@oravannahka.helsinki.fi>,
VS <vsinkko@cc.helsinki.fi> wrote:

> The factory-install tires of my trusty 12-year-old MTB are in their dying
> days, so I decided to replace them. Upon arriving back at home with the
> new tires I noticed that there's a text printed in their side: "to fit
> HB-575 rim".
>
> So, what's the significance of that? What is a HB-575 rim? Did I buy a set of
> tires that require some special kind of rims --- rims my old bike probably
> doesn't have?

Never heard of it, and it's probably nothing.

Everything I needed to know about tire sizing I learned from Sheldon
Brown:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Your MTB is virtually guaranteed to use ISO 559mm tires, commonly known
as 26" tires, and commonly designated by their decimal inch width: 26 x
2.1 would be a typical size for a cross-country mountain bike tire.

My first thought was that 575 might be an ISO rim diameter (like that
559 above), but the page doesn't list an ISO 575 tire, which almost
certainly means there is no such thing.

MTB tires are probably the most commodified, common type of tire around
here, and even in Finland I suspect they would at worst be second most
popular after whatever the preferred utility-bike size is locally. It's
too cold for road bikes right?

Look on the sidewall for the size. You should be able to see something
like 50-559 (this would designate an MTB tire with a nominal width of 50
mm, aka 26 x 2.0), and another number that's somewhere between 26 x 1.5
and 26 x 2.5 (might be wider, but I bet you couldn't fit it into a
12-year-old MTB frame if it was).

Share & Enjoy,
--
Ryan Cousineau, rcousine@sfu.ca http://www.sfu.ca/~rcousine/wiredcola/
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club