What's the widest tyre I can fit on a 700cc road wheel?

jcfpants
jcfpants Posts: 14
edited July 2008 in Workshop
I'm wanting to swap my fixed wheelset onto more of a roadster type frame setup and I want a wider tyre to put on the wheels - I can't really afford a new wider wheelset. I've currently got 700x23c tyres on the wheelset but want to put more of a cruiser type tyre on the wheels. What's the widest tyre I can fit on the wheels? Cheers for any help.

Comments

  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    It depends on the width of the rim.
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  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    Assuming a standard narrow rim that you might get 23s with (pretty much any road race rim will be this width), 28 is about as wide as you should really put on. It also depends how much frame/fork clearance you have.
  • leguape
    leguape Posts: 986
    Depends on fork/frame clearance and rim width. Given that you can get cyclocross tyres and touring ones that go to 35 mm on a standard 700c road rim then you should be able to run those but only if you've got enough clearance on the new frame. Road frames these days aren't generally big on clearance, nor are forks. For example the Easton EC70 fork struggles to get a 25mm through on a Fulcrum rim, but just about does on a Mavic which is slightly narrower
    http://www.atomicecho.com/cycling
  • aracer
    aracer Posts: 1,649
    As always, Sheldon has something to say on this (he seems to recommend no wider than 25 on narrow road race rims). http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width
  • blorg
    blorg Posts: 1,169
    I have put both 23s and 35s on Open Pro rims. 35 is beyond what is recommended but worked fine.
  • Monty Dog
    Monty Dog Posts: 20,614
    Plenty of people run cross tyres up to 37mm on standard road rims - tyre pressure isn't so high so less risk of blowing them off the rim. I run 32mm on Open Pros without any problems.
    Make mine an Italian, with Campagnolo on the side..
  • meagain
    meagain Posts: 2,331
    I run 32mm on Open Pros without any problems.

    Seconded. Just think of mtb rims which happily run from 26x1 to 26x2.3. Manfrs didn't spec anything like as restricted range of tyre sizes for mtb rims as for road ones because they knew that that was what the market wanted!
    d.j.
    "Cancel my subscription to the resurrection."
  • Ken Night
    Ken Night Posts: 2,005
    Continental have a table

    622x15C will take up to 32's-like others, I've run 37mm cross tyres on these
    622x17C are supposed to take up to 37mm

    Open Pros are 15C
    “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best..." Ernest Hemingway
  • jcfpants
    jcfpants Posts: 14
    Cheers guys,

    I normally take Sheldon at his word, but most of you seem to think that 32mm should be fine.

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