Skyway Retro Tuff II Mag Wheel Set - 24" x 1.75", 3/8" Axle, Black Reviews

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These rims are high quality, but they can be a lot of work to put on your cruiser.

First of all old school cruisers tend to have front and rear 3/8" axles and 1.37" x 24tpi, just like these wheels, and accommodate a minimum of a 16T freewheel.

Modern cruisers almost always have 14mm drop outs for 14mm axles on the back, because they're thicker. Skyway DOES NOT make 14mm rear wheels for cruisers, even though they do for 20" BMX's, I wrote the company and asked. I got these nice little axle adapters (Dimension 3/8 to 14mm Axle Adaptor) that seem to work fine. I didn't trust just tightening down on them (though I admit I haven't had an issue with that in particular) so I got REDLINE Alloy Chain Tensioners 14mm Black. 125341 just to make sure the axles don't slide forward, so far so good.

My bike also had a 30mm 14T freewheel from the factory, of course now that I have a 16T minimum on the back, I did the math and a 41T chainring/front sprocket would have gotten my old ratio back. I went for a 42. It hit the frame, and the local bike shop didn't want to do trial and error parts fitting, so I wound up ordering parts off of Amazon and doing hit and miss until finding the sweet spot. Right now I have a 39T front sprocket on and that's working out, actually feels good, I have a 41 on standby that I think will work. The adapter to make sprocket fit my crank axle actually pushes the thing out further from my frame skewing the drive line. I'm going to see if that shaves down the 39T sprocket with time or not. If it does I'm taking a drill press another 39T one to make a 1" hole so it will fit my bike like the factory 36T one did.

Another issue obviously with bigger gearing comes a longer chain, so I had to get a chain breaker and put a longer chain on. This is another place where some serious Voo-Doo comes in. Leave a link in and the wheel nearly falls off the back of the drop outs, take a link out and the tire rubs the frame. I had to get a half-link. I found that experimenting with gear ratio's changes the position of the wheel, I may not need the half-link if I change my front sprocket.

Long story summarized:

If you have an old school cruiser frame these incredibly awesome! A no-brainer bolt-in replacement.

If you have something newer be prepared to put some effort into making these work for you, not for the easily intimidated.

SkyWay needs to seriously consider making some 14mm/30mm wheels, possibly even some cassette hub versions. The good thing is these are made in the USA, but being made in the USA doesn't mean you have to completely shun the Metric system.

My bike was an Ike victim, it floated around my house by the tires in a literal sea of salt water. I saved the frame and most of the parts by washing it with fresh water, then WD-40, then hosing it inside and out with Gunk L512 Liquid Wrench Dry Lubricant with CERFLON 11 oz.. I saved it, but I did have to re-grease everything and the nipples on the original rims continued to corrode, changing those was not an option, I don't want to make my first spoke lacing something I want to use regularly and I've always been a fan of mags anyways so I went after these. If Skyway will release a 14mm back axle version I will buy it, especially if they pair it up with a 30cm freewheel just so I can take away all the adapters and other Voo Doo that I don't like using, I'll make use of my 3/8" leftover, I promise, and maybe even buy another rim so I have a full set.

------------UPDATE--08/15/2011---------------------------------

I had serious mechanical issues due to the VooDoo above, to the extreme I now have scars on one of my elbows due to losing a chain at a very bad time and place. I decided to actually build a bike around the rims.

I found an 11 year old frame at a local bike shop that had been sitting on the shelf unsold for a decade. The pro frame had long drop-outs in the rear meaning I can change gear ratios and not have to worry about not having room in the drop out, I just have to add and remove chain links until it's in there right. Also the drop-outs are 3/8ths to begin with.

This doesn't mean I wouldn't like to see Skyway make some rims with 30mm freewheel support and some with cog driver support and 14mm axles, but in my case I'm now making great use of great rims. The Gray Diamondback in the picture collection is actually using the same rims as the old pics of the green and black Lucky 24.

-----------Update--11/07/2011-----------------------------------

The front bearings gave out on me, I probably had 300 miles or so on the wheels, no enough for bearings to give out in my opinion. I found the replacements here on Amazon Nice Ball Bearing 1614DC Double Sealed, 52100 Bearing Quality Steel, 0.3750" Bore x 1.1250" OD x 0.3750" Width. They worked great, just make sure you know something about pressing bearings in if you decide to do it yourself.

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Discount SRAM X.3 7SP Rear Index Front Trigger Shifter Set

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List Price: $26.00
Sale Price: $20.17
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Bought these for a 1988 Schwinn that was originally a road bike. Make sure you have a SRAM derailuer or the rear will not work. I had to change the derailuer to SRAM, but now it works great. Great deal for the price.

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I installed this set on my wifes bike to replace the grip shifters that came stock. These were a great choice and the install was very easy. The new shifters are very accurate and the dual action makes shifting on the fly a breeze.

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I changed my Sram Gripshift shifters for these and love them. Took me just a couple of minutes to install and adjust. I would recommend these shifters.

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I purchased this item to replace gripshifters and it was worth it. Works better with SRam derailler rather than Shimano, but excellent buy. Anyone replacing gripshifters should consider these.

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Its a great shifter for the price, works well on a lot of different models of 21 speed bikes around