Fat tires make your Cruzbike Q45 recumbent bicycle a mud sand and gravel beast

Very few people know about the cool 24-inch wheelset that Cruzbike had custom made for the thru-axle versions of the Cruzbike Q45 and Cruzbike S40 recumbent road bikes. This 24-inch wheelset is listed for sale on cruzbike.com as 507 BMX 24" Thru Axle Wheel Set. 

This blog will tell you everything you need to know to help you decide if you should go with a 24-inch wheel for your Q45 recumbent road bike.

Here are the top five reasons you might want to buy this 24-inch wheelset for your Q45 recumbent bike:

1. They can lower the bike, making it easier to stand over and put your feet down while seated. Q45 and S40 owners below  5' 9" might want to consider these if they ever feel like they are "reaching" to get their feet on the ground.
2. They allow you to install fatter tires, up to 2.4 inches wide, which will add cushioning and traction to your ride.
3. Smaller tires can be lighter and make the bike feel more nimble, especially for city use.
4. Some new customers have reported that they make learning to ride easier.
5. Makes the bike easier to stick in the hatch of your car.

In the photo above, I have mounted the tube and tires shown below:

Not all 24-inch wheels are the same, so to avoid confusion and purchasing the wrong thing, we are strictly discussing ISO 507 diameter (24-inch) wheels.

The "507" refers to the diameter of the rims in mm, which, if you convert to imperial units, is 20 inches. We had a customer who bought the wheelset, and then when they arrived, he sent them back because the rims measured 20-inches, not 24-inches. The "24-inch" measurement refers to the diameter of the tire tread, which is approximately 24-inches for ISO 507 wheels. It will actually be more or less depending on the width of the tire.

So to be clear, these are ISO 507 wheels that are compatible with "24-inch" tubes and tires designed for ISO 507 wheels, which are one of the most common tires in the world since it is a BMX standard.

There are a lots of rough sandy trails in Florida and the fat tires are great for exploring them.

For use on the road, when you want lighter tires and your seat a little closer to the ground, I recommend these:TIOGA POWERBLOCK BMX TIRE (24" / 507 ISO) in either 1.6" width or 1.75". These tires make the bike feel much lighter and more nimble than the fat 2.4-inch tires.

Tubes: Get tubes that correspond to the width of your 24-inch tires, with presta valves (short, 32-40 mm in length). This wheelset is not "tubeless" compatible. You need tubes to go with your tires.

Brakes: You will need two 6-bolt 160 mm rotors to mount on your wheelset for your brakes to work. You can move them from your stock wheelset to the new wheelset, or just buy a new pair of rotors.

Cassette: The drive wheel uses the same SRAM-compatible 11-speed free-hub as the stock wheelset, so your stock cassette will switch straight over.

This photo shows that the 24-inch fat tires are almost the same outer diameter as the stock 650b tires. The superimposed red circles are the same size.

This is the clearance around the front fork with 2.4-inch wide tires on the 507 wheelset.

Below is a video of me riding on a beach in Florida. The best time to do this is just before low tide, where there is plenty of wide, flat beach with packed sand. Note that the tires have a smooth tread, which "floats" over the sand. This is much better than the knobbies, which dig into the sand and are much harder to drive through the sand. If you want to get an insanely hard workout, ride on the beach with knobbies. 

I hope that helps you decide. I love my Cruzbike Q45, and even though I am 6' 2" tall, I prefer it with the 24-inch wheelset (order it here). I spend a good deal of each year in Florida, and this is the bike I ride the most around town and to the beach.

 -Jim Parker (jim@cruzbike.com)