Originally Posted by
billydonn
I have a cyclocross bike (Wayzata) that I love to ride for general riding on roads an paved and unpaved trails. I am using 32mm tires and my question is this: What difference does a slightly wider rim make in terms of safety/performance?
I have used a set of road rims (narrow) for this application and the 32s are within recommended limits for the rims, but only just barely. Making turns at speed, it seems as if I can feel the tire sidewall flex.
Alternatively, the same width tires on a slightly wider Mavic A319 rim creates a much different tire/wheel profile and feels more stabile. I am very happy with this combination so far. (Minimum width tires for these rims is 28 I believe). There is almost no weight difference between the two tire-wheel setups.
I note that HED is marketing slightly wider rims even for road tire profiles, touting supposed performance benefits. I was just wondering if anyone has experimented and/or put any thought into this? Does the rim width really make the difference I think it does?
As long as the tire fits that size rim, Sheldon Brown posted a
chart on this years ago, he states on the same page about too wide or too narrow, and I will not bother to repost that here. The primary reason for one tire over another is you need a wide enough tire so that with your particular bicycle, rider and load you can get a high enough pressure in the tire so that it doesn't squish down more then about 15%. Rim width would then be based on the required tire width. Although there is another thing to concern yourself with and that is that the frame and brakes will open far enough to accommodate that width tire.