Kenal0

I have the xero XS4-R lite wheels on my bike with Michelin Dynamic 700-25 tires.
Can I put a 700-23 tire on this wheel?
Thanks
KL

cryogenic

sure... i don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to. There's only 2mm difference. I've never seen a rim that could take 25's but not 23's.

Kenal0

Thank you

alanbikehouston

If your rim was designed for an "ideal" fit with a 25mm tire, both a 23mm tire and a 28mm tire should fit rather well. But, if your rim was designed for a 28mm tire, the 25mm will be a good fit, and a 23mm will not be a good fit.

I was reading some "fine print" on one of my rims, and it stated that the rim was a "17mm" and it was designed to fit tires ranging from 23mm to 28mm. It is a "perfect fit" with my 25mm Continental tires. They go on easily. They can be removed easily. The sides of the tires integrate perfectly with the sides of the rim. And, zero flats this year (a "bad" fit between a tire and rim can be a factor in getting flats.)

The 17mm measurement is the interior measurement of the rim from where the left bead seats to where the right bead seats. And, the 25mm tire that fits "best" has a marked width 8mm wider than that measurement.

My 25mm tire has an exterior width of about 23mm or 24mm, and so the sidewalls of the tires are parallel to the sidewalls of the rim, which has an exterior width of about 24mm. There is a "smooth" integration of the sides of the tires and the sides of the rims.

If I were to force a 32mm tire onto that rim, the sidewalls would be bulging out well past the sides of the rim and getting the tire OFF the rim might turn into a wrestling match.

Stubacca

Sounds like a Giant OCR-2... it'll be fine with 700x23s.

Stubacca

A 700x25 would be the smallest tire I'd want to put on a 17mm rim... a 700x28 max sounds hugely conservative. 28s are my preferred size on my 17mm rims, 32s in the winter, even 35s have worked well.

You can safely run much larger than 700x28 on a 17mm rim without putting undue stress on the rim or sacrificing handling, but a tire as narrow as 23s might be risky. I don't understand the issue with the tire protruding past the edge of the rim...

Sheldon Brown has a table showing recommended rim width/tire width combinations here.

alanbikehouston

Different companies have different systems for sizing both rims and tires. What one rim company would call a 17mm, another company might label as a 19mm. Likewise, a few tires marked 25mm actually measure as 25mm...most measure closer to 23mm.

The rim I was referring to was labeled as providing a good fit for tires "marked" 23mm to 28mm. And, in actual practice, it is a dead-on "perfect" fit for Continental 25mm tires, which measure 23mm to 24mm in width.

So, "general" sizing charts are limited in their practical use by the lack of accurate size markings on rims and tires. On my particular rim, Weinmann was helpful in provided tire size recs that were perfect for THAT rim.

Because company measurements are not reliable, sometimes the best thing to do is "trial and error". Even changing "brands" of tires can make a difference in fit. Some folks have reported a difference in fit between the SAME tire in its folding version versus its non-folding version. Trial and error.

Stubacca

So the simple lesson would be measure it yourself...

In any case, if the outside width of your rim is 24mm, it's highly unlikely the interior is less than 17mm... 700x28 is still incredibly conservative. Just because the manufacturer wrote it does not make it a perfect recommendation.

bobthib

(From Sheldon Brown's site, credit to Georg Boeger)

Which tire fits safely on which rim?
[all dimensions in millimeters - measure rim on the inside]

Tire sizing

Scroll down about 2/3rds of page.

Note: This chart may err a bit on the side of caution. Many cyclists exceed the recommended widths with no problem.