Originally Posted by
byrd48
The front most caliper arm hits the top of the tire on the tread. I'm not too worried about the inconvenience of tire changes, the larger concern is if the cable broke or disconnected while in motion, the calipers would open up and engage the tire. The best outcome would be shredding the tire and the worst would be head over heels. Having said that, in 12k miles of riding, I have never had a brake cable failure.
Yes, if the cable broke between the two arms of the brake it would contact the tire, but all you'd have to do is wrap the cable around one arm then mount both sides with the mounting bolt to hold the brake in a semi-open, semi-closed position. (By "arm" i mean where the cable runs through)
In theory, your tires are too big for your bike. In reality, it's not as bit of a deal as you'd think.
Brake cables don't really break... unless neglected for decades. Just make sure to inspect the cable every once in a while.