Thread: Tyre size help
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Old 03-31-14 | 02:16 PM
  #8  
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Tim_Iowa
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Joined: Jun 2013
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From: Cedar Rapids, IA

Bikes: 1997 Rivendell Road Standard 650b conversion (tourer), 1988 Schwinn Project KOM-10 (gravel/tour), 2013 Foundry Auger disc (CX/gravel), 2016 Cannondale Fat CAAD 2 (MTB/winter), 2011 Cannondale Flash 29er Lefty (trail MTB)

Yes, you would be OK with any 700c tires (622 is the actual rim diameter in mm, btw).

The smaller tires will lower the bike a little (40mm = 2mm lower than stock). This becomes a big deal if you lower it so much the pedal scrapes. On your hybrid, you can probably lower it a cm before you get into trouble. Thus, 32mm may be a sane minimum. It depends on how high the cranks are (aka bottom bracket height). Most hybrids have medium to high bottom brackets.

The larger tires will raise the bike a little, by the same reasoning. The limit for large tires is the clearance of the frame. If you put a 2 inch / 50mm mountain bike tire on your rims, it may rub against the frame on the sides, on the top, or hit the brakes. Look at your current tires and measure how much clearance you have wherever the bike frame/brakes come closest. That should give you a rough idea how much bigger you can fit.

In this range, a few mm won't make too much difference in the ride.
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