35c tires on a 38c rim?
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35c tires on a 38c rim?
Can a 35c road friendly tire, say a schwalbe marathon racer be safely installed on a rim that currently hosts a 38c dual sport tire?
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Short answer ---- Yes.
Longer answer ---- most probably. There's plenty of latitude for tire width on any given rim. So unless this was the widest rim that could use a 38mm tire (not likely), then dropping to 35mm should present no problem.
For reference, here's a guide to compatible tire and rim widths. Keep in mind that there fudge room to either side of the "right" zone.

Note the rim width is Inside width, and tire width is nominal or outside
Longer answer ---- most probably. There's plenty of latitude for tire width on any given rim. So unless this was the widest rim that could use a 38mm tire (not likely), then dropping to 35mm should present no problem.
For reference, here's a guide to compatible tire and rim widths. Keep in mind that there fudge room to either side of the "right" zone.
Note the rim width is Inside width, and tire width is nominal or outside
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FB
Chain-L site
An ounce of diagnosis is worth a pound of cure.
“Never argue with an idiot. He will only bring you down to his level and beat you with experience.”, George Carlin
“One accurate measurement is worth a thousand expert opinions” - Adm Grace Murray Hopper - USN
WARNING, I'm from New York. Thin skinned people should maintain safe distance.
Last edited by FBinNY; 08-24-15 at 04:50 PM.
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I have never had issues running wider or skinnier tires on 700c rims. I am currently running 35c tires on 25c rims with no issues. On another bike I was running 28c tires on 29'er rims from a big box mongoose no problem.
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Thanks for the replies.
FBinNY... very informative. I'm sure I'll be able to make the change with no issues.
FBinNY... very informative. I'm sure I'll be able to make the change with no issues.