Queequeg

I’m looking to upgrade the wheels on the cyclocross bike that I use for commuting through the hair-raising Washington, DC roads. I’ve got a set of the 28mm Michelin City tires, which seem well-designed for the rough ride.

My old wheels are the standard 19mm road width, and I was looking into some of the new wider wheelsets that are around 22 or 23mm, like the Hed C2 series, the American Classic Hurricane, a custom Velocity A23 or similar.

Anyone have any experience with wider wheels on a road bike? The current marketing around them claims that the tires sit better, and make the ride smoother, with better cornering, etc. Any truth to that?

If I’m going to mostly be using wider tires, would it be worth prioritizing finding wider wheels? Or is 19mm fine even for 28mm plus tires?

LeeG

19mm is fine for 28mm, 32mm will fit. I've been riding on a 35mm Pasela TG on an old Mavic O4cd rim. Things get weird under hard cornering just like a 2.125 tire on a 22mm rim. You don't get better cornering you simply get more comfort over bumps. It's worth getting wider rims with wider tires 22mm+ is a better choice for 32-35mm tires.

tsl

I run 28mm tires on my commuter in the three-seasons. My new wheelset uses Velocity's VXC rims, which are 24mm wide. (Sorry, the VXCs are for disc brakes only.) The difference in ride is quite noticeable.

This is provided you also ignore the advice in the Road Forum about triple-digit tire pressures. See this thread for sane inflation pressure recommendations. There is also a good article on the subject here.

The additional volume contributed by the wider rims has also allowed me to reduce my tire pressures further, which smoothed the ride even more. Between the two, my commuter rides really sweet.

Based on my experience, I'll be using A23s on my roadie's next wheelset.

Queequeg

Wow, tsl---you're a couple of steps ahead of me! I appreciate hearing your experience, very relevant. Thanks!

CliftonGK1

A 32mm tire will sit fine on a 19mm rim. I've got a pair of 32mm Pasela TGs (actually measure 30.4mm) on my DT RR1.1 rims.

If you want a wider rim and don't feel like dropping $150 on a pair of hoops for the Velocity A23s, the Sun CR18 is 22.5mm wide and under $80 a pair, or the Velo-Orange Diagonale is a whopping 25mm wide and only $100 a pair.

Queequeg

I appreciate the suggestions. I had seen that Velo-Orange has some customized wider wheels. If anyone has experience with their wheels, I'd love to hear about that as well---I have never ordered from them.

CliftonGK1

I haven't seen the quality of their wheel builds, but I'm familiar with a bunch of their other items. VO is a good company with reliable ordering and good customer service; I can't imagine they'd send out janky, crooked wheels.
They're sort of a niche company with the randonneur, l'eroica, old-school porteur market with a lot of vintage-ish gear, but aiming for a better afforabiliity than the usual Honjo/Berthoud/Watanabe/Carradice options. Most of their stuff isn't going to be the lightest gear out there, but they do their homework before offering a piece of equipment on their site. Their house branded items are very nicely built.

mickey85

I've got rather wide rims (25?) and am currently running 28's, but they originally wore 38's. Honestly, aside from weight, you aren't going to get much of a difference if you're going with 28's from the thicker or thinner rims. Once youg et fatter than that, you're talking wider rims...

Queequeg

Very helpful. It's interesting that wider rims are getting more advertising. Certainly HED is making an investment in trying to persuade people that their 23mm wide C2 rims are somehow better than the regular width ones. The new New Coke?

mickey85

Another thing - from my perspective, I"m not looking for the lightest thing out there. I commute on dirt and gravel roads, what do I need from light stuff? I commute on a 4130 cromoly frame with fat rims, a Brooks saddle and full fenders and flaps. Loaded, my 'muter is 33 lbs. If anything, I go faster on that than I do on my lighter bikes, just because I'm not as worried if I hit a pothole or what not.

If you like the look of the VO stuff, get the VO stuff - weight be damned. They build their parts to be randonneur/touring/commuting quality, not racing quality. To tell you the truth, I'd rather have the former. I can keep up on group rides with it, and can certainly blow them away when it comes to railroad tracks or the like. And, compared to their bikes half the weight of mine, it seems that mine climbs...just...a...bit...better...