Originally Posted by
bigfred
To the best of my knowledge there is no standard min/max with regard to tires for a specific internal rim width. If you were to look out in my garage you would find tires as wide as 57mm still mounted to a 19mm rim. But, at only 3.5bar vs my 25mm tire which are also mounted to a 19mm wide rim but inflated to 8 bar.
So I did quite a bit of reading, as I was saying. According to Sheldon Brown:
A general guideline is that the tire width should be between 1.45/2.0 x the inner rim width.
If you flatten out a tire and measure the total width from bead to bead, it should be approximately 2.5 x the ISO width.
If your tire is too narrow for the rim there's an increased risk of tire/rim damage from road hazards.
If its too wide for the rim, there's an increase risk of sidewall wear from brake shoes, and a greater risk of loss of control in the event of a sudden flat.
In the same article, he says the guideline is fairly conservative. Therefore, if I have a 37mm-wide tire, I should be comfortable with internal rim widths in the 19-25mm range. As I was saying, the current rim is 19mm.
Now, when I go looking for such a rim I might find a 622x19c designation (I haven't really seen this) or 700x35c (legacy system). Is that correct?