Touring - Widest Tires on a Volpe

Okay, I'm stepping on the line of message board ettiquette by deleting this frommy other post and putting it here, just to be self-serving and draw more attention to the subject...

What is the widest tire you can fit on a Bianchi Volpe with fenders (and without)? Thank you.

On my 2003 Volpe I can fit 32mm tires in the rear (without fenders). Not terribly wide at all. I've got 35's in the front with plenty of room for more.

Chuckie

Thanks Chuckie. That stinks. I hope they've remedied that clearance issue since 2003. I plan to ride 35 - 37 mm tires. I've e-mailed Bianchi USA's info center. I hope they can get back to me with some useful info. Otherwise I'll get the Surly (and spend more money).

On my Volpe I routinely use 32's and fenders with no problems. I've found I prefer the 32 size over wider tires. Of course, I pretty much stay on hard surface roads all the time, too.

Purple - does there seem to be enough clearance between your fenders and tires to be able to fit larger tires, or does it look like you've pretty much maxed out?

I have emailed Bianchi a few times, they never wrote back. Let me know if you get a reply from them, I'm interested in your thread. Thanks

It sounds like two different issues you're worried about.

1. The potential maximum size tire you can use on a Volpe.

2. The maximum size tire you can use with a fender on a Volpe.

I have SKS fenders on my 2002 Volpe. The fenders are good up to 32 mm. SKS makes another 700c fender that will handle up to a 45 mm tire. You're probably not going to get 45s on a Volpe though. As for my Volpe, it came stock with 32s, and looks like it would handle 38's without a problem (though I've not tried them). Remember though my Volpe is a 2002. They may have tweaked the frame dimensions here and there.

I like the bike. It's used as a fair weather commuter and randonneur bike. The only issue I've had with it was the cheap spokes used to lace up the wheels. The wheels were Mavics, with Deore hubs laced up with cheap spokes. I broke a few before I the had the rear relaced with DT Swiss spokes. No more problems.

Purple - does there seem to be enough clearance between your fenders and tires to be able to fit larger tires, or does it look like you've pretty much maxed out?

I use the Planet Bike road fender set and it pretty much takes up enough space that I doubt a set of wider mountain fenders would fit. I think there is a little more room, but not a whole lot and anything like a 36 tire would probably be hard to fit with fenders. The 36 tire would probably fit without the fenders, though. But to be honest, I'm plenty satisfied with my current arrangement so never paid that much attention to it.

Loved the Volpe. It was on my short list. Very nice bike.

Thanks Purple and ajay. So I have two problems, not one. I love digging into the minutiae! Ajay, I was planning to get the SKS fenders too, since they seem to be universally loved. I'm a bit confused on the size that'll fit on a Volpe, though. There's a 35 mm wide version, that can fit up to 28 mm tires, and a 45 mm version that can fit up to 35 mm tires (or so). Which ones do you have on your bike?

I use the 35mm SKS fenders. Right now I have 28s on the bike but 32s will fit with these fenders. The fenders give you a lot of room for adjustment. You'll spend some time tweaking things to get everything just right. The fenders are great. A real quality product.

Ok, I think I understand everything now. In summary...

1. The Volpe can accomodate up to ~38mm wide tires.
2. The Volpe can handle 35 mm wide fenders, and 45 mm wide fenders are definitely not a possibility
3. With some manipulation, the SKS 35 mm fenders should be accomodate 32 mm wide tires.

From what I've been reading, I should be able to use 32 mm wide tires on dirt trails (I weigh 170 lbs.)