MTB - Rim width vs. Tire width

In article , Peder wrote:

At what point would I need to be concerned about increasing rim width as I
go to wider tires? I'm now using Maxxis High Rollers 2.35 on Mavic X-139
rims. Thanks for reading.

There is a table listing recommended tire sizes for various rim widths at
http://tandem-fahren.de/Technik/Reifentips/
The text is in German, however.
The table is meant for tandem riders, but a lot of mtb riders seem to
use much wider tires than suggested by this table.

--
Ned Mantei
Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

In article , Peder wrote:

At what point would I need to be concerned about increasing rim width as I
go to wider tires? I'm now using Maxxis High Rollers 2.35 on Mavic X-139
rims. Thanks for reading.

There is a table listing recommended tire sizes for various rim widths at
http://tandem-fahren.de/Technik/Reifentips/
The text is in German, however.
The table is meant for tandem riders, but a lot of mtb riders seem to
use much wider tires than suggested by this table.

--
Ned Mantei
Department of Cell Biology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

back in my weight-weenie days i ran 26" aero road rims (sun
something-or-others) on my mtb. 26x2.0 tires stayed on just fine, and the
wheels were surprisingly durable. brake adjustment was finicky
though...skinny kool-stops were required to prevent the pads from rubbing
the bulging sidewalls when the brakes were not being applied while
preserving reasonable lever travel.

fwiw,

dookie


"Peder" wrote in message ...
At what point would I need to be concerned about increasing rim width as I
go to wider tires? I'm now using Maxxis High Rollers 2.35 on Mavic X-139
rims. Thanks for reading.

--
Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)

back in my weight-weenie days i ran 26" aero road rims (sun
something-or-others) on my mtb. 26x2.0 tires stayed on just fine, and the
wheels were surprisingly durable. brake adjustment was finicky
though...skinny kool-stops were required to prevent the pads from rubbing
the bulging sidewalls when the brakes were not being applied while
preserving reasonable lever travel.

fwiw,

dookie


"Peder" wrote in message ...
At what point would I need to be concerned about increasing rim width as I
go to wider tires? I'm now using Maxxis High Rollers 2.35 on Mavic X-139
rims. Thanks for reading.

--
Peder (Please reply to group only, email invalid)

"dookie" wrote in
.com:

back in my weight-weenie days i ran 26" aero road rims (sun
something-or-others) on my mtb. 26x2.0 tires stayed on just fine, and
the wheels were surprisingly durable. brake adjustment was finicky
though...skinny kool-stops were required to prevent the pads from
rubbing the bulging sidewalls when the brakes were not being applied
while preserving reasonable lever travel.

I've been wondering about this, ever since the topic came up.

I'm riding a '92(?) Trek Multitrack 7600 hybrid, converted to drop bars and
STI. I use it as a townie/light trail riding bike. I'm still on the
original 700c rims, which are Trek-brand "Journey", measuring about 14mm at
the gap across the top. The bike came with 38c tires from the factory on
these rims, and I've stayed in that 35-42c range ever since.

But I see from various sites online (including Sheldon's), that the
"recommended" range of tire widths for this width of rim is smaller. And
some of the aftermarket tires I've bought over the years do bulge out more
than the original Trek-branded 38c tires... like the IRC Metro II 38c
slicks I'm running now. The bulge just barely clears the canti brakes, but
it works.

Is there actually some danger or drawback in using wider tires on a
narrower rim like this? I have flats now and then, but nothing I'd
consider unusual. I'm thinking "if it ain't broke don't fix it"... but if
there is some catastrophic failure mode that could happen in the future,
I'd like to know about it.

--
Mike Barrs

"dookie" wrote in
.com:

back in my weight-weenie days i ran 26" aero road rims (sun
something-or-others) on my mtb. 26x2.0 tires stayed on just fine, and
the wheels were surprisingly durable. brake adjustment was finicky
though...skinny kool-stops were required to prevent the pads from
rubbing the bulging sidewalls when the brakes were not being applied
while preserving reasonable lever travel.

I've been wondering about this, ever since the topic came up.

I'm riding a '92(?) Trek Multitrack 7600 hybrid, converted to drop bars and
STI. I use it as a townie/light trail riding bike. I'm still on the
original 700c rims, which are Trek-brand "Journey", measuring about 14mm at
the gap across the top. The bike came with 38c tires from the factory on
these rims, and I've stayed in that 35-42c range ever since.

But I see from various sites online (including Sheldon's), that the
"recommended" range of tire widths for this width of rim is smaller. And
some of the aftermarket tires I've bought over the years do bulge out more
than the original Trek-branded 38c tires... like the IRC Metro II 38c
slicks I'm running now. The bulge just barely clears the canti brakes, but
it works.

Is there actually some danger or drawback in using wider tires on a
narrower rim like this? I have flats now and then, but nothing I'd
consider unusual. I'm thinking "if it ain't broke don't fix it"... but if
there is some catastrophic failure mode that could happen in the future,
I'd like to know about it.

--
Mike Barrs