Rolling With Info On Wheels
Bike wheels have the ability to spark plenty of heated discussion and contemplation amongst riders. The saying ‘don’t reinvent the wheel’ almost doesn’t apply to the bike world, where this humble invention is constantly getting re-designed, re-worked and re-developed.
However, diversity aside, all bike wheels tend to fall into one of three main categories – road, BMX and mountain bike.
Road Wheels
These tend to be thinner and lighter than the other two types of wheel, and are usually found on road, urban and hybrid bikes although road wheels tend to be more narrow than the other two so as to reduce rolling resistance. As a general rule of thumb in this category – the lighter the wheel, the higher the price.
BMX Wheels
So as to cater for the jumping and stunt work that is often part of the BMX parcel, BMX wheels tend to have increased strength. Wheel sizes range so as to cater for kids as well as adults.
Mountain Bike Wheels
These wheels are stronger, more resilient and traditionally thicker than their road bike counterparts. However, increasingly ‘29ers’ coming onto the market can have the same sized rims as a road bike wheel. One feature that is common to mountain bike wheels is the inclusion of a disc brake, whereby the disc rotor uses an integrated bracket to attach to one side of the hub.