26" rim brake wheels (559)

[slowereveryyear]

This wheel size has gone out of fashion and decent affordable wheels are increasingly difficult to find.
At 83 I don't want to buy a third bike and wonder if soon they'll be none available new.
Decathlon have some but having tried a rear I'm not impressed. Free hub very noisy, broken spokes and soft alluminium.
I've been luckier with Taylor's wheels but they have very little on offer.
It seems not long ago 26" were the thing but in reality it must be 10+ years back.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Get SPA to build you one?

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/m10b0s236p0/Wheels/Handbuilt-Rear-Wheels-(26\-inch-559)

 

[Drago]

559 is the old standard 26" mountain bike size. While not as vastly numerous as days of yore that are still,plenty to be had, including good quality wheelsets. Or buy your own rims and the hub of your choosing and have them laced together by your favoured wheel builder.

But ultimately it depends what you mean by affordable. The cheap wheels of today are as crap as the cheap wheels of a decade ago were.

 

[slowereveryyear]

I don't have the luxury of a large pension so watching the cost is a must.
The cost of the wheel from Decathlon was around £60. After 2years and around 7000 miles it's worn out.
Previously I could spend a similar sum and buy a wheel from Taylor's wheel. This would have branded hubs, spokes and rims.
Plenty of choice? Only if you have deep pockets.

 

[Mike Ayling]

Maybe look for old mountain bikes for sale in your area. Might find one with a good wheelset with some life still in it.

 

[All uphill]

Have a look for bicycle projects near you. There is a map and list on this site.

I'm confident that you will find some lightly used 26" wheels from 1990s mountain bikes, that would otherwise go in the skip.

I'd expect you could get a durable pair of wheels for less than the cost of that wheel from Decathlon.

 

[Drago]

I don't have the luxury of a large pension so watching the cost is a must.
The cost of the wheel from Decathlon was around £60. After 2years and around 7000 miles it's worn out.
Previously I could spend a similar sum and buy a wheel from Taylor's wheel. This would have branded hubs, spokes and rims.
Plenty of choice? Only if you have deep pockets.

Yeah, we have this thing called "inflation", which has been a bit of a kicker this last decade. Food, cars, call girls, their prices have all gone the same way. Theres very little you can buy today for the same price you could when Gladstone was PM. Fo4tunately my pensions are CPI linked, but even then it doesnt keep up.

A sum thet got you a quality product back then won't today.

The other side of that coin is that a quality item won't be knackered after 2 years. Buy cheap, buy twice.

Perhaps an ad in the wanted section, see if any fellow cc'ers have a suitable item going free or cheap?

 

[Punkawallah]

This wheel size has gone out of fashion and decent affordable wheels are increasingly difficult to find.
At 83 I don't want to buy a third bike and wonder if soon they'll be none available new.
Decathlon have some but having tried a rear I'm not impressed. Free hub very noisy, broken spokes and soft alluminium.
I've been luckier with Taylor's wheels but they have very little on offer.
It seems not long ago 26" were the thing but in reality it must be 10+ years back.

My FLBS has loads, mainly second hand, but some new. Their details:
https://www.bikeshednorthern.co.uk/

 

[Andy in Germany]

We can order 26" wheels at work, in several variations and quality levels. A normal bike workshop will be able to order one for you and may well have one in stock.