Substituting tire sizes
02-24-06, 02:34 AM
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Substituting tire sizes
I have an oldish Giant Attraction mountain bike with Kenda 26x1.95 knobby tires. Since I haven't left the pavement in years, I've decided that it's time to swap them out for some skinnier slick road tires. Will 26x1.5" tires fit on my rims? 26x1.25"? My bike budget is pretty near zero right now, so buying new wheels isn't really an option.
02-24-06, 05:00 AM
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Narrower tires will fit and it's commonly done.
02-24-06, 05:04 AM
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There shouldn't be any problems with what you want to do and you will notice vast improvements in your road riding.
02-24-06, 06:48 AM
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Should work fine as earlier posters stated. Problem is going up sometimes if the clearance is already marginal.
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02-24-06, 08:59 AM
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I put 26x1 on mine. Just be careful if you go this small, easy to get pinch flats.
02-24-06, 09:07 AM
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You should have no trouble with 1.5". 1.25" may be a bit narrow, so measure the width between the rim sidewalls and check this page:
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
02-24-06, 04:14 PM
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Depends on the rims. Some really old school MTB's had pretty wide rims. Mine (DiamondBack from 1987) has 23mm interior width rims. I've put 26x1.4" (35mm) tires on them but I don't think I could safely go any narrower. https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width
02-24-06, 04:25 PM
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A good option might be a slightly narrower tire (like 1.5) that's "dual tread" - the centersection is smooth but the shoulder has some knobs. On the road you won't be slowed by the knobs, and if you hit soft dirt you have the knobs for grip. Just remember, the tire pressure usually increases as the tire width gets narrower. That makes skinnier tires harder on the sit bones!
