Originally Posted by AfterThisNap
Yay! Someone called me cool! 700x23 ridden practically every day on the street. No problems with brake clearance either
Let me tell you a story: I once had a DH mountain bike that I converted to mixed road/off-road use by mounting a 80mm low-end fork I had lying around. I was riding the thing with my usual 2.5" knobbies front and rear. With the crappy fork, the front tire was running very VERY close to the fork crown. Almost as close as your tire. One day, I rolled onto an empty soda can: the can wrapped around the tire, went around the wheel and *bang* - instant endo.
Since that day, I always leave as much clearance as possible at the front. If the rear locks up, I don't care, but the front, well... I don't want to go flying like that ever again.