Wheels and Tyres
Browse new and used BMX wheels and tyres for sale from riders across the UK. The category covers complete wheelsets, front and rear wheels, hubs, rims, tubes and tyres, mostly 20in with 36 spokes, 14mm rear axles for street and park and 3/8in axles for race. It is aimed at riders replacing a dented rim or a worn hub, and anyone building a wheel around parts they already have.
What makes up a BMX wheelset?
A rim, a hub, spokes and nipples, and on the rear a driver. Street and park wheels are almost always 20in, 36 spoke and double-wall, on a sealed-bearing cassette hub with a 14mm axle and a 9t or 10t driver. Race wheels drop to lighter single or double-wall rims, sometimes 28 or 32 spokes, on a 3/8in axle. Female axles matter if you run pegs, and freecoaster rear hubs let you roll backwards without pedalling, at the cost of a small amount of slack before the drive engages. Odyssey, Primo, Cult, Éclat, Salt and Alienation turn up most often.
Should you buy a wheelset or a single front or rear wheel?
Rear wheels take nearly all the damage, so most riders replace one at a time and end up with mismatched hubs, which is fine. A complete wheelset costs less than two separate wheels and gives you matching bearing quality at both ends, which is worth it after a hard year. A single rear wheel is the buy when your front is still true and the driver has started skipping.
Which BMX tyres suit street, park or race?
Street and park tyres run 20 x 2.2in to 2.4in with a low tread and a high pressure rating, often up to 110psi, so they roll fast on concrete and resist pinch flats off drops. Dirt jump tyres keep the width but add a shoulder knob for loose lips. Race tyres go narrower at 1.75in to 1.95in with a file or slick tread for the gate and the straights. Names to look for include the Odyssey Path Pro, Maxxis DTH and Kenda K-Rad.
What should you check on a used BMX wheel?
Sight down the rim sidewall for flat spots and dents from hard landings, and for the gouging that grinds leave, which also ruins braking if you run a rear brake. Look for hairline cracks radiating from the spoke eyelets, the failure that ends a rim. Rock the rim side to side with the wheel in the frame to feel hub bearing play, and spin it to hear dry or notchy bearings. On the rear, crank hard against the brake to check the driver pawls engage rather than skip, and on a freecoaster check how much slack there is before drive picks up. Loose spokes ping at a lower note than their neighbours.
Which parts are worth buying used, and which should be new?
Hubs are the best used buy here: the shell and axle last for years and bearings are cheap cartridges you can press out and replace. Rims and complete wheels are worth it if the sidewalls are clean and the wheel is true, and a used wheelset from someone who has moved on from riding often goes for around half of new. Tyres and tubes are the ones to buy new. Rubber hardens and the sidewalls crack with age even off the bike, tread on a used street tyre is usually squared off, and the saving is small next to the cost of a blowout mid-drop.
Where do wheels stop and components begin?
Anything that turns with the wheel sits here; the cranks, sprocket, forks and bars that drive or hold it are in BMX components. That split matters when you are matching a driver to a sprocket, since gearing is set by the pair, commonly a 25t sprocket with a 9t driver. Check your dropout width and axle size before you buy, because a 14mm street axle will not drop into race dropouts cut for 3/8in.