Fnhon Gust: Wheelset and Tires

The Fnhon Gust will require a 16 inch wheelset, as it is a small folding bike. For 16 inch wheels, there are actually two sizes, 305 and 349. 305 was used by Dahon Curve D3, and it is quite small. 349 is larger, and is also more common. It is used by Bromptons as well.

This bike is designed for 16 inch, 349 wheelsets. This means it will be smaller than 20 inch folding bikes, which are either 406 or 451 sizes. These numbers refer to the rim diameter.

For this bike, the wheelset was bought from AliExpress, and it came surprisingly fast. The cost was around SGD 300.

An all black wheelset was desired, and this wheelset seems to fit the bill perfectly. One more thing to take note, the Fnhon Gust uses rim brakes (caliper or V brakes), so don't get a disc brake wheelset. The OLD of the frame and fork is 74 mm front, 130 mm rear.

All black 16 inch 349 wheelset. 20 spokes for front wheel, 24 spokes for rear wheel.

Double wall rim, with hooked rims.

Black spoke nipples as well. Even the brake track is black, not sure if it will last after some usage.

Inner rim width is a narrow 13 mm, which is really narrow by modern standards.

External rim width is almost 19 mm. Also very narrow by modern standards.

Rim height is only about 18 mm, also very shallow.

With a narrow rim and short rim height, this should keep the weight of the wheelset low. That is the one of the few advantages to having narrow and short rims.

The rims are laced to standard Novatec hubs, which are normally of good quality, are affordable, and relatively lightweight. It is similar to what I used last time, the Novatec A551SB.

Front hub is A211SB, with 74 mm OLD. Straight pull lacing pattern is used for the front wheel.

There is a small gap between the rubber seal and the hub, not sure if this is normal or not.

Rear hub is Novatec F162SB. Straight pull lacing on non-drive side.

Looking pretty good with all black components. Drive side uses cross lacing pattern.

11 speed compatible freehub, important if you want to use a 11 speed road cassette.

The rear freehub has 27 clicks per round, which means 13.3 degrees of engagement angle. This is an unusual number, as a more common value is 18, 24 or 30 clicks per round. I did check a few times so the value is correct.

I forgot to measure the weight of the wheelset, but we can calculate it later, since I did weigh all the parts that go onto the wheels.

Rim tape is provided, 22 grams for a pair.

Quick release axles are included with the Novatec wheelset, 101 grams for the pair.

Next to a full sized 700C wheel (622 mm diameter), the 16 inch wheel (349 mm diameter) looks so small!

Schwalbe Kojak tires are selected for this bike, for a balance of speed and comfort. It was hard to find as it was out of stock nearly everywhere, due to it being a common size with Bromptons.

32-349 Kojak tire. A width of 32 mm is a good width for small wheeled bikes, as narrow tires on small wheels will require high tire pressures, which makes the ride very bumpy.

Each tire weighs 249 grams. These are with wire beads, which will be heavier than those with kevlar beads.

16 inch inner tubes, Schwalbe SV4. It can actually be shared with the slightly larger 18 inch, 355 wheels. This is what was used on the Tyrell IVE.

Inner tube is 84 grams each.

As expected, the tire will bulge out over the narrow rim, but I think it is OK since I have been using this combination for a long time, on the Dahon Boardwalk and Dahon MuEX.

During tire installation, I found that one section of the tire refused to seat on the rim properly, despite inflating and deflating a few times. I had to use the Schwalbe Easy Fit, which is a soapy solution that you apply on the tire bead, to lubricate it as you install the tire. With this, the tire was able to seat on the rim properly.

Schwalbe Easy Fit, with a foam applicator for easy usage.

Schwalbe Kojak tires installed! Managed to achieve the all black look. Size looks normal, until...

...next to a full sized road bike wheel, it looks tiny! The road wheel is from Ascent Bikes.

Front wheel with inner tube and tire and rim tape is 706 grams.

Rear hub with inner tube, tire, rim tape and Dura-Ace 9000 11-28T cassette is 1114 grams.

Front wheel weight with rim tape = 706 - 249 - 84 = 373 grams

Rear wheel weight with rim tape = 1114 - 249 - 84 - 195 = 586 grams

This gives a wheelset weight (inclusive of rim tape) of only 959 grams, which is pretty good. The low weight mainly comes from the small wheel size, and also the narrow and short rims.