Classic & Vintage - tires too narrow?

So I took the advice of some members here and decided to purchase new wheels for my Raleigh Sprite Restoration/singlespeed conversion. To keep things on the cheap, I Ebayed a wheelset with a fairly vague description. It was simply described as a 700C, 36 spoke rims. I bought it thinking they are just like my road wheels so I ordered 700C x 23 tires. Well, I got my rims today and to my surprise, they are very wide 700C rims. Nothing like my road rims at all. The outer width is 25mm and the inner width is 19mm. My question is, can I safely use the tires I ordered on these rims? Or will I have to order wider tires?

TIA

I have a set of 27x1 1/4 wheels. I have a 27x 1 on the front and 27x 1 1/8 on the back and thay work fine for me. So it may work with 700's also but I cant be positve.

thanks... i guess i'll just wait until the tires get here and i'll check the fit to see how safe it is...

23 will probably work, but a 25 or 28 would likely be better fitting.

You might find Sheldon Brown's article on tire/rim sizing (http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html) of interest. Near the bottom of the page, you'll find a table with his recommendations on tire sizes that should be used with rims of various widths. For rims with interior width of 19mm, he recommends only tires of 28mm or wider.

yeah, i saw that when i was reading his site. i was just wondering if anybody had first hand experience on using a smaller tire that was "suggested". i'll probably go out and get a 28mm tire, but i'm having a hard time finding one that matches the front.

The chart is a bit conservative but, I think 23 may still be too narrow. You could always mount one and see what it looks like.

yeah, i saw that when i was reading his site. i was just wondering if anybody had first hand experience on using a smaller tire that was "suggested". i'll probably go out and get a 28mm tire, but i'm having a hard time finding one that matches the front.

I have a set of 700c wheels, 36 hole hubs, rims with eyelets, outer rim width is 19mm, inner rim width is 13mm. Rear hub is for a freewheel, 126mm O.L.D.

PM me if a potential swap appears in order.

Those sound like 29'er mountain bike wheels to me. My understanding is that the 29er runs a 700c diameter rim at mountain bike widths. I would try to re-sell them and get a decent set of road rims.

For a Raleigh Sprite, what's so bad about wide rims and fat tires?

For a Raleigh Sprite, what's so bad about wide rims and fat tires?

nothing is really that bad about it. it's just that the front wheel is a narrow road wheel and the back is this 29er wheel. i'd prefer they match... or at least the tires match.

nothing is really that bad about it. it's just that the front wheel is a narrow road wheel and the back is this 29er wheel. i'd prefer they match... or at least the tires match.

I thought you bought a pair?

-Kurt

I thought you bought a pair?

-Kurt

yeah... well, front wheel got damaged in shipping - i didn't get the insurance (my mistake) and so there's nothing i can do about it. the back wheel is okay. rather than spend more money, i was just going to use an old front wheel and "frankenstein" the bike a bit. so the way it is right now, front wheel will be narrow w/ a narrow tire and the back wheel will be this wide one. sad thing is that the rims are two different colours as well :(