Road bike tyre clearances - Please help

Van Nick

Hi everyone,

I currently ride a 1980's Peugeot road bike, running 1.25" tyres with probably about 1" clearance beteen tyres and frame and it's the only road bike I've ever owned or ridden.

The time has now come to replace this bike with a new road bike and after researching the various models on offer, I'm finding it a bit of a culture shock to be suddenly looking at bikes that have been designed for 23mm tyres, with just a few mm of clearance between tyres and frame / chainstays / forks etc.

The main bike that I have been considering is the Enigma Eclipse and I understand that this offers approx 6mm of clearance in conjunction with 25mm (25C) tyres.

My main worries are as follows

What happens of the wheel should come out of true by a few millimetres or flex (as I've heard they do) or if the tyre should be slightly over inflated ? Surely under these circumstances, the tyre is likely to rub against the frame.

Secondly, I'm a bit worried about the stability, durability and safety of 25mm tyres and ideally, I'd like the option (even if I don't use it) for the road bike to take a 28mm tyre, especially if I ever need the flexibility to use the bike on a slightly rougher surface.

I'm sure that if I once bought a new road bike, I'd wonder why I ever worried about these things, but I'm really hung up about it at the moment and it's stopping me from making a purchase.

I've decided that I definitely want to go for titanium, as I intend to keep the bike for many years and I'm sure I'd be disappointed if I didn't have a road bike.

I'd be very grateful for any advice that anyone could please give me.

topdude

You will find 25mm tyres a bit different to your 1.25" but they are perfectly safe and stable once you get used to their lighter feel. As far as wheels go, if they are built correctly there is very little flex, maybe sometimes enough to rub the brake blocks but not the frame.
Also there is very little difference between 25 and 28mm tyres as they seldom end up the stated width anyway, you can get wider 25mm and narrower 28mm depending on make :?:
Anyway, once you have ridden your Enigma for a while you will not want wider tyres and will be thinking "what if i fitted 20mm tyres"

Van Nick

Hi topdude

Thanks very much for this. I was only reading last night in this month's Cycling Plus how some manufacturer's tyres of a given size are wider than others.

owenlars

Just picked up an Enigma Eclipse and done my first 250 miles. You will not have a problem either with tyres or clearances. It will all be considerably stiffer ( and lighter) than your old Peugot. They are brilliant!

Van Nick

Hi owenlars,

Now this really is an interesting reply, because the Eclipse is currently at the top of my list.

Are you riding 25C tyres on your Eclipse and could you please confirm whether the bike could take 28C tyres ?

Is there a lot of clearance between chainstays and tyres ?

I've never even seen a titanium bike, let alone an Enigma and I've got no chance of getting down to see Jim and Mark, but I understand that they are quite special.

I read one report that the bottom bracket on the Eclipse is quite "springy", but I don't know what the person meant by that.