And more importantly, if I can get "23mm wide" tires (which would probably end up being about 25mm on these rims) to mount, is this a safe configuration?It would be a shame if I could never use rims I just paid $950 for, however I consider safety to be far, far more important.Actually, tires narrower than rims have an aerodynamic advantage, there's a "105%" rule of thumb that states your rim should have width equal to 105% of measured tire width. Unfit tire size could damage the rim and put the riders in danger. 23mm soul s3.0 rims + 23mm Michelin SC Pro4 = 25mm tyre max width. But what is less considered is how much actual energy that saves, and the subsequent effect that can unquestionably have on performance.‘All the time we’re experiencing vibration transmitted through the bike to our bodies, our muscles are having to do physical work to absorb this,’ Marchment adds.
looking closely at my tyres they are definitely extending over the rim in a bit of a bulb effect. Pinching a wide tyre on a narrow rim also fails to maximise the potential for the increased air volume inside it.‘A wide [internal] rim profile allows the tyre beads to sit further apart, ideally making the sidewalls more upright, like an inverted U. More than that, the experts that Now, before you rush out to buy new rubber, there is a caveat. As to the size issue you're
Especially when you're getting straight spoke wheels which are the devil's spawn to maintain. Between all the new wheel, tire, axle, and shock standards in the past five years, you might have missed one of the most important new trends in cycling.
sign up for our newsletter to get updates on our latest products and promotions. Turbo Cottons) tyres on my 17C boras (24.2 external) and all inflate to between 24-25mm which is perfect. To be fair I havent tried 25mm tyres but they are nearly always harder to find and more expensive and presumably offer marginal benefit. Some have succeeded in convincing cyclists that a wide rim makes a better wheel and nowadays, each brand launching a new wheel has to make sure its rims are at least 1mm wider than their competitors.But what they have forgotten in their equation is the tyre. Road cycling purists are tearing out the last of their hair. This is potentially more valuable to overall performance than we currently understand, and where things start to get really interesting. Wide tyres The shape of a tyre once mounted and inflated is the most critical factor in determining how it performs, both individually and as part of that system with the wheel rim. For the answer we’ll pass the baton back to Marchment.‘There are of course some drawbacks to using even wider rims and tyres,’ he says.
Wider tyres run at lower pressures don’t only make your ride more comfortable – they can make you faster too. Looking at the data, it becomes obvious that the frictional differences between tyres are very small, but that would be to miss the bigger point.It’s Hankiola’s final statement that really opens up the wider tyre discussion – the opportunity to use a larger volume tyre at lower pressure for the same rolling resistance. The benefits were astonishingly high; as much as 40-50 watts on rough road surfaces.’Those are big numbers to bandy around – improvements that would take a considerable amount of training to achieve in terms of physiological performance, but Donzé is unequivocal on the matter.‘We’re at a point where the rider can now save on every point. The WTB Tire & Rim Compatibility Chart is used to determine what tire and rim width combinations provide optimal performance and compatibility. Check it carefully before ordering carbon rims or buying new tires.
Run a 25mm tyre on many narrow rims and you get an ice cream effect: a big, bulging scoop of tyre sitting on top of a skinny cone of a rim. What’s behind this is simply wider rims. On a side note, 25mm outer / 21mm inner rims aren't even that wide by today's standards, there are 28mm (I own a set) and even 30mm road rims available. This question is becoming recurrent and insisting... do as you please... the very nature of the rim is to make the tyre a bit bigger and a bit rounder. ‘First, there’s an increase in weight, plus the fact that going wider still would present more frontal area and hence we’d have to revisit new solutions to combat the increase in aero drag.‘For the time being it looks like 28-30mm is the sweet spot in terms of getting the best of everything, but that’s not to say we would expect that to stay that way forever.