|   Advantage/disadvantage of wider rims | Dropout
Jan 6, 2004 6:32 PM | | I am currently running mavic 223 on my bike, but have started using larger tires. I know for most of their cross country and cross mountain rims Mavic suggests a max tire size of 2.3. I have also been told that running a 2.3 on a narrower rime, vs a wider rim changes the footprint of the tire (which makes sense). How big of a difference does this make to how well a larger tire performs?
Is it worth switching from a narrow rim to a wider rim to improve tire performance? If I wasn't concerned about weight would it be worth it? If I was concerned about weight would it be worth it?
Looking at the figures the difference between one rim and another is only millimetres, so does the increase make a big difference?
Thanks |
| re: Advantage/disadvantage of wider rims | airwreck
Jan 7, 2004 12:08 AM | | I find that I can run lower pressure and pinch flat less with wider rims. For me, that makes it worth it. |
| bigger volume & footprint = safe at lower pressure | seb at work
Jan 7, 2004 7:08 AM | | With a bigger effective tire volume and the same pressures, the same force will produce less verticle compression. That's why you get less pinchflats with wide rims, and its also an advantagew for 29" wheels. 1mm in width probably won't make a big difference though. If your tire has a 40mm casing (measured on your "skinny" rim)and you make it 1mm wider with a wider rim, thats less than a 3% increase in volume / footprint.
However, the difference is certainly noticable with a rim that is, say, 24mm wide vs one that is 17mm wide.
Aside from the ability to handle lower pressures, wide rims are also a better platform for tires with stiff sidewalls, because the sidewall will be in a more vertical position, and more of the tread is forced into contact with the soil. Stiff sidewalls thus can help cornering traction and help a bit to prevent pinchflats, if your rims are wide enough. I think that over all, this is probably the more signifigant factor in the popularity of wide rims for agressive riding. |
| hey seb-Whats your favorite wide rim ? | jasonwa
Jan 21, 2004 5:48 PM | | with your favorite stiff sidewall tire ? |
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