Op here reporting back. I'd like to tell the Rest of the Story.....
As I originally said, I've found out my skills are short for mountain biking. My mountain bike is a Giant Talon 3, 29'er. It had Maxxis IKON's on it. 29 x 2.25 …. I've been riding wooded trails(which are great) and a lot of concrete and asphalt, lately. I couldn't get enough air into the tires with my hand pump. The tubes have presta valves. I wish gas stations had presta pumps.!! I weigh about 220lbs. With the large tires it was feeling like the side walls were giving out, giving the rider the impression I had a flat while going around sharp turns. Man, this really bugged me. The bike that I loved because it handled so well and gave such a soft ride was no longer performing that way. Wasn't holding a straight line, either. Now this....
Inner width of the stock rims.... 21mm. Giant has to get this right, and many other manufacturers need to improve on this too. …… 21mm inner width with a 2.25" tire. Stock. NO.!!! No way.!!! That ain't right. I don't care what any of you have to say on this. A mountain bike cannot have internal widths of 21mm. NO doubt in my mind that the sidewalls broke down. Now, the tires are great. But the tires are too big for the rims. Period. A mountain bike deserves inner dimensions of the 30mm range. If I were building mountain bikes, nothing less than 30mm internal width on a rim. I struggle with mountain biking. I ride alone and I came off the bike waay too many times. All done with killing myself on a bike. So, my mountain bike is going to become a city runner. A gravel bike you might say. I now have a 700 x 40c tire on the back rim and I'm going to put a 45c tire up front. Done. I don't need 2.25 fatties for the city.
With the larger tires I was all over the trail AND the road. I blame it on the internal width of the rims. Now, it could be that I couldn't get enough air into the tires. Fine. I still blame the internal width. The bike performed incredibly well. And then it didn't. Sidewalls broke down. Ya, its bugging me right now.
Let's hear from the experts on this.
Last edited by BirdsBikeBinocs; 07-07-20 at 08:18 PM.