Kamikaze skunk

I went to Scheel's to get some new tires, the salesman sold me a couple 26"x 2", when the original equipment was 26" x 1.95". Is that risking a blowout? I'm guessing I'm being a little paranoid but my 1 1/2 year old daughter is going to be riding with so I'd much rather be safe than sorry!

Jeff Wills

No. If your rims are typical "mountain bike" style, you can fit anything between 26 x 1.5" to 26 x 2.5". 0.05" barely qualifies as a smidgen.

You and your daughter will be fine.

bradtx

Kamakazi skunk, Welcome to the forum.

As Jeff noted, there is some latitude WRT tire size. Sometimes the difference in tires marked as the same size, but from different manufacturers can vary more than .05". Enjoy riding with your daughter.

Brad

AlexCyclistRoch

I assume that tire manufacturers like using 26x1.95 nomenclature for 2 reasons:

1) It's closer to 50mm than 2.0" is

2) You don't confuse it with 26" fractional sizes, which use a completely different rim size.

20+ years a go, if you went to a shop and asked for 26"X2" tires, the first thing they would ask you is "which rim size?", since older 26" standards encompasses 3 different rim sizes; the common 559mm MTB "decimal" size, and 2 different "fractional" sizes (Schwinn and non-Scwinn), as well as even one more 26" road bike size (but these would never come in widths as large as 2"). When you just say "2 inch", you don't know if you need decimal or fractional size, but if you say "one point ninety five", you do.

fietsbob

its when bead wire diameter is off, (too loose or tight) not a trifle of width,
that the QC issue comes In.

nfmisso

If you are referring to 571mm BSD, aka 650c - yes they did. The original 650c was 39.5mm wide/tall. Schwinn also made a cruiser style bike with wide 571 tires.

26 x 1 3/4" Schwinn size Bicycle Tires from Harris Cyclery (ISO/E.T.R.T.O. 571 mm)

It is safest to use bead seat diameter when ever referring to tire size. 26" does or has referred to the following BSDs: 559, 571, 584, 590, and 597 in the past 50 years.

Kamikaze skunk

Thanks for all the replies, that's reassuring.. My dad had a front tire blowout a while back, he came out okay a few stitches later, but not something I'd want to try!

Andrew R Stewart 

To add some historical back round. Back when mountain bikes were just beginning to sell in numbers there were still some import tariffs which listed tire sizes effected. So some brands/manufacturers began to mark their tires with "sizes" that skirted the tariffs. We saw a lot of 1.6", 1.9", 1.95", 2.0", 2.1", 2.2" but little 1.75" and 2.125" tires.


Today we have some of the opposite problem in tire sizing. Using different labeled diameters for the same rim diameter. Oh well, Andy.

Andrew R Stewart 

Please understand that tire blow offs (as opposed to a flat where the tire deflates slowly) are far more often an issue of poor rim/tire/tube management WRT how they fit together and are properly assembled then miss matched rim/bead diameters. Andy.

Camilo

The tire size should be OK.

But a blowout can happen with the best tires, properly sized and installed. If by blowout, you mean a sudden, catastropic failure as opposed to a puncture that deflates more slowly. I don't mean to be a fear monger because it's a very safe sport, but without more info, in my experience, the tire blowout is unlikely to be related to a mis-matched tire, but more likely to be caused by a road hazard cutting the tire. But I don't really know.