What road bike tyre and spoke sizes are most common

barrymanilow

Hi ,

A friend of mine who runs a touristy bike rental business wants to have a stock of road bike tires and spokes on hand to expand the business into a type of seasonal emergency road bike repair hub . So I just wanted to ask the roadies here which tire sizes and spoke sizes would be the most common.

Now that I have your attention I'd also like to ask what the most common issues with a road bike might be that result in it being brought into a shop by someone who doesn't tinker/work on their own bikes?

Thanks for any help,

Barry

07Lapierre

Most common issue must be punctures!

magicbastarder

to be honest, when i read your post, i thought 'what is someone who runs a bike rental place needing to ask his mate to ask the internet what sort of issues cyclists face?'

if i broke a spoke, i wouldn't be bringing the wheel to a bike rental shop to fix, unless there was no option of an LBS nearby; and as mentioned above, a good stock of inner tubes is the main thing.

robyntmorton

As others have said - tubes. Millions and millions of tubes. Chain quicklinks should also be useful. Anything else is beyond the remit of a bike rental business.

That said, anyone involved in a bike rental business should know this kind of thing already, which begs other questions. I'll leave it there though.

Wishbone Ash

I'd imagine 23/25mm tyres (700c) would be the most popular on road bikes.

iwillhtfu

On the flip side to some comments above. If your mate is competent or willing to learn and interested in setting up a maintenance service fair play to him.

Rental bikes need more regular servicing than the majority of bikes on this forum and the bikes are essentially what brings in money so a poorly serviced bike will only become a head ache.

I'd happily bring my mtb to the lads at biking.ie if I needed something done.

Also I assume your mate isn't on boards which is the reasoning behind you asking. No such thing as a stupid question but plenty of stupid answers readily available. No point ordering in a stock of 28mm tires when for the majority they don't use/fit

Where is the location of the bike rental business it may also be an idea to stock some my tyres if near any trails.

As above though 23/25mm I wouldn't just stock premium brand pick up some cheap brands also that will get a lad home also worth keeping a few old tires as good will freebies for lads that get caught out without money.

After that serviceable items. Chains/quick links/cables/spokes/perhaps a couple of universal rear deraileur hangers I think I saw such a thing posted recently.

After that good coffee, comfy seats and nice cake will certainly grab an audience. It will all hinge on location though.

Chuchote

Good question, actually, and good answers from @Iwillhtfu. In a scenic area particularly, a local bike hire shop with a sideline in sales and repairs (and of course good coffee and cakes) could be a good business.

OP, maybe go and talk to the bike shop in Clifden, which is this kind of combination, though I think without the coffee and cakes.

barrymanilow

Thanks for the posts , look she rents bikes and over the summer often passing road cyclists in trouble (mid cycle, not driving) and touring cyclists see the bikes for rent outside and come in asking for tubes , tyres and with the odd broken spoke , she's decided to get a few bits in instead of just turning them away.The bikes she rents are all hybrids and electric bikes so racers are a bit out of her field of knowledge.

Carawaystick

The thing about replacing spokes is that the most likely spokes to break are on the cassette side of the back wheel,
which requires a chainwhip and cassette tool. but you can get the two of these for 20 euros, and whatever about spare spokes, it's ulikely a passer by will have these.