Choosing bike wheels

Size

While size wheel do you need for your bike?

Some frames are designed to handle a range of tire and rim sizes, while aero race bikes have little room for variances.

Do you want to run narrow road tires, or larger, like 32c or even bigger for gravel our touring? Pick a rim that is wide enough to safely accommodate these options.

Most road bikes are on 700c rims (a 28" tire), but some go for 650c (27.5") for smaller riders, or bigger tires.

Most road caliper brakes are designed for a 700c rim. Touring or gravel bikes with 650c tires could have a cantilever brake with longer reach adjustment to allow swapping between 700c and 650c tires. Disc brakes eliminates the brake reach issue, since different size wheels will still have the brake rotor in the same place.

Mountain bikes are often 26", and this size can also be used on touring/gravel bikes. However, they can also come in 27.5" and 29".

The hubs also need to fit the frame. Measure the distance between dropouts to find the "over lock nut dimension" (O.L.D.), which is total length of the hub including lock nuts.

Price

You can find a used pair on craigslist under a few hundred that will get you rolling. Don't buy if it's bent or damaged.

You can find some nice new rims around 5-600. You can find better rims under 1000. Carbon race rims can go from 1000 - 3000+.

Pick your price before you shop so you don't get sucked into paying for something you don't need.

Material

New rims come in aluminum and carbon. Aluminum works fine, but carbon can be lighter and stiffer although much more expensive.