Rabid Jackal

Since we'll be doing some off-road pedaling this summer, I'm swapping out the slick tires that came with our new bikes for rubbers with a bit more bite to them. I'm sure there must be a simple way to release the brake levers to accomodate the installation of the wider tires, but I don't want to make any assumptions. We're dealing with Shimano M431 w/Tektro alloy levers on one bike and Avid SD-3 w/Tektro adjustable reach alloy levers on the other. Any possible suggestions? Thanks

BCRider

If you're using the same rims then there's no need to let anything out unless the tires rub on the arms of the brakes. It's very unlikey you'll need to do anything at all but at worst you'll need to swap around the cup washers on the ball and cup stacks so the thicker one is on the inside of the arms rather than the outside. Then just loosen the cable clamp and let a bit of cable slide through and retighten. That last bit will compensate for the wider arm spacing. If you notice any badly kinked or broken strands then new cables are pretty much a must do. If they are just squashed they should be fine. But kinked or broken strands is bad news. But seriously you should not have to do anything at all.

Check your rim width and compare it with some specs on available rims. If you've got a narrow rim then you don't really want to mount up more than a 1.95 wide tire. If your rims are in the middle of the rim range and along the lines of Rhyno Lites then up to around a 2.35 will be fine with the classic 2.1 being ideal. If you have wider than that I'd say you shouldn't be running a street slick on it...

Rabid Jackal

Thanks, BCRider. After making a bit of a mess of my front brakes and seemingly puncturing the front tube of my wife's bike, better judgement overcame ego and I trotted them off to the local bike shop. Cape Able Bike in Kennebunkport, Maine deserves a big shout out!