1926 clencher rims 26"

[ajones]

I have a 1926 ariel running on 26" clencher rims and tyres.
About 3 years ago the rear tyre came off at 30mph and jammed up the rear end throwing me down the road.
I have not been friends with the bike since then, but now i'm addressing the dammage.
It has a big flat spot ground in to the rim by the 70 yard slide down the road.
A warning to all, make sure these type of tyres are fully inflated...
A question to the group.. Does anyone have a soare rim? Or should i change it to a beaded type rim? Any thoughts welcome..

[Roger Gwynn]

By a clencher rim do you mean beaded edge rim as commonly used up to the mid twenties. The rims that replaced them and are the type in common use today are known as 'well' or 'wired on' rims. In 1926 only the Model A was listed with beaded edge, the others were wired on although as usual either could be requested. Beaded edge tyres do have a poor reputation and you wouldn't loose any conquers points for changing them

[ajones]

Are the 'well' rims available in 26" or would they be replaced with a 19"?

[ajones]

Are the 'well' rims available in 26" or would they be replaced with a 19"?

[will_curry]

Early tyres sizes can be somewhat confusing. I'd expect a tyre designated 26" x 3"1/2
to fit a 19" diameter rim. The 26" refers to the outside diameter of the tyre and the 3"1/2 to
the height hence the inner diameter is 19".
I've seen tyres like that marked with something like 'To suit a 19 inch rim' on the sidewall.

I can't see anything about wheel sizes for the 1926 Ariels in the literature but my
memory suggests they were fitted with 19" rims.

[nevhunter]

For safety I rarely run Beaded edge tires You must have the absolutely correct rim and inflate them to about 40 Psi and not ever stretch them getting them on The later wired on drop centre tires are better use 19'' rims and a slightly large section rear tire on a WM 3 rim to run a bit softer and ironout the bumps a bit better. If the bikes a lightweight go a bit smaller WM2. There's plenty of tire options for that size. I think they are referred to as "CLINCHER " for the BE. we and ours have had a few come of the rim with mainly Veteran bikes .Nev

[ian williams]

i have beaded edge [clincher] tyres on my little old flat tanker , they do need to be pumped up hard to stay on the rim or else theyll come off , over 40psi is needed .
they are not very good in the wet going round bends at speed and can slide .

i cant go very fast on my bike , say 20mph max really so it isnt too much of an issue having that type of tyre on there .

i think the americans use the term clincher but here in the uk we know them as beaded edge .

mine have been on the bike since the late 1980s and are still good , but i keep bike mostly locked away in a dark shed , i do have a spare pair of new tyres which are as old but i think mine are around 24 inch as they are smaller than the commonly used size and so im not sure where i would obtain new ones these days if i need any .

cheers
ian



.

[ajones]

Great info, thanks all.
I imagine that a 'well' rim would also be easier to allign to run true, the beaded edge ones are rather challenging because the spokes don't run central to the rim and can cause the rim to twist when tensioning the spokes.

[nevhunter]

There's not much difference when spoking them if the spokes are bent as needed near the hubs. The rims should be dimpled as the originals are. GOOD Beaded edge rims are actually spring steel and extremely hard to straighten when buckled. The USA veterans are usually 28 x 3, 36 spoked and 40 spoke after about 1918. That's only a generalisation.Check if in doubt.. Some early cars used the same size tires. Nev