Mag Wheels (composite) Mountain & Single Speed bikes 26" / 700C



Jovamac

New Member
Nov 21, 2009
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Now this thread is not one of those are mag wheels better than standard spokes.


There are pros and cons.

I already have some on my mountain bike, and already know that their great, I do off road riding and plenty of street riding.
I have the dics brake compatable 6 spoke ones that can be brought on eBay for £139.99 (I have the black ones).



Now what I am after is, I wish to put some mag wheels on a fixie, there are some great one on eBay for around £170 a pair. They are flip flop fixed and freewheel, BUT the sad fact is their 26" not 700c

The axle on the rear is 120mm wide which is perfect for single speed bikes, but the wheels are 26" which is fine if you don't want to have brakes, but if you are going to use the bike in freewheel mode than you must put brakes on them.

Without changing the forks (also the front wheel is not disc compatible) can I buy a extra long reach caliper that would drop low enough to catch the rim of a 26" wheel?

Here is an example picture, my bike will be similar but a bit more tasteful just 1 colour white or green maybe.
 
ROAD calipers are available with varying REACHes ...

If you have a "true" TRACK frame & fork which will subsequently have tighter clearances, then a 50mm (?) to 63mm will probably work ...

  • a typical LONG reach caliper usually only goes to 59mm-or-60mm, so you may have to scrounge for a pair of vintage calipers OR elongate the slot that the pad is anchored in.

TEKTRO probably makes a caliper with almost any "reach" you might need ...

A few years ago, TEKTRO came out with a dual-pivot caliper which has a reach of something like 63mm-to-75mm (?) which is supposed to be suitable for using 700c wheel in a frame built for 27" wheels. If a regular "long" reach caliper is too short, then the extra-long calipers may be suitable for the frame-and wheel combination you want to use.

BTW. I think the minimum reach on a BMX caliper is 95mm, so if the required "reach" is between 75mm & 95mm then an off-the-shelf caliper may not be available!?!

  • In the worst case (?) scenario -- but, with a required reach of just slightly more than 75mm -- you can mount some MAFAC centerpull calipers whose brake pads are on a gimbaled mechanism (for want of a better description) and cant the pads downward a couple of millimeters.
 
Thanks for that, I heard about these tektro long reach ones. I would chance making a new hole on the frame. Another factor I realised that seems to come into play (I think) is the tyre that you put on the 26" wheel. 26 x 1.0 I think is to low no brake would reach that also you increase the chance of pedal strike. 26 x 1.5 or 1.75 seems to raise the height of the bike. Not sure if this really affects braking as I guess the distance from the hub to the rim is always the same, and from the caliper mount to the rim I guess never changes with different tyre sizes, only the ride height.
How could I measure it to calculate the reach I need? From where to where?

Thanks
 
The "reach" is the distance between the brake caliper's mounting bolt and the middle of the rim's brake surface. Typically, the "fender" mounting hole does double duty to mount the brake caliper. Many-if-not-most contemporary brake calipers use recesesed nuts. If the frame is older, the nut-side of the mounting hole will have to be enlarged to allow the recessed nut to nest in the frame/fork while it engages the bolt -- don't bother to enlarge the hole until you actually have the brake caliper because a few stll use regular nuts. BTW. Have you considered simply using an older (pre-1995) Hardtail OR an old 3-speed frame for your Fixie?