Tire size???? Need help
 

My specilized Sequia has Alex 550 wheels and 700x25 tires. I want to do a couple of tours that include paked dirt trails. This is a 09 model with extended brake calipers. My question is will this bike accept 32 tires?

I'd need more information to tell for sure, the stock photo on the specialized website is of little help, but it looks like 32s will be a tight squeeze. If you could post a picture of the brake calipers on the bike, it would be helpful in giving you a definitive answer.

From what little I could dredge-up, the main issue is brake-clearance regards using a 32C tire:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4211225AAI1QL1

I did find chatter complaining that Alex rims won't answer emails and they tend to go out of true quickly - and stay that way.

This could be another example of how the bicycle industry has been cutting costs by supplying low-quality (cheap) wheels with their bikes.

If you have >5mm clearance on the sides (at the chain stays and fork blades) and >10mm clearance above the tire (at the fork crown/front brake, seat tube, chain stay bridge, and rear brake bridge) with the current 25mm tires, you can probalby fit 32mm tires.

I've ridden my road bike with 23 tires and 50 lbs of "luggage" on hard packed trails with no problems. Do you really need to change your tires? Certainly 28 wouldn't be a problem. Best thing to do is buy locally from a LBS and if they don't fit, they generally will take them off and put on the next size smaller tires.

Depends on the year, there was a year or two that were snug. Take it to a bike shop and ask. Btw, a number of brands run small. A 32 can actually measure 30 or 31.

A really nice tire, in 700 X 28C, is the Ruffy Tuffy custom made for Rivendell:

http://www.rivbike.com/products/list...product=10-043

They are very tough (as the name implies) and fast with a Kevlar-belt, yet very nimble & smooth rolling with low resistance. They would absolutely fit your wheels/brakes.

I've been running them for awhile now, and they are officially my favorite tire, of all time, in the 28C profile. Just a little suggestion.

My rule of thumb is that 28mm is the widest tire that will fit between caliper brakes.

I have a Bridgestone RB-2 with 105 brake calipers, Aerohead rims and Continental Gatorskin 28mm tires. Even if I minimize the tension on the brake cable and open the quick release, the tires will just squeeze between the brake pads.

Incidentally, the crushed limestone KATY Trail is only 2 miles from my house. The Bridgestone with it's 28mm tires is my bike of choice for riding on the KATY.

Thanks to all. I will try the 28c and see what they will do.

I don't think you should decide you need a wider tire based on any internet reading. Personally, I've gotten a little tired over the years of reading stuff about the advantages of fat tires. I wouldn't go super narrow, but 25 mm shouldn't be a big problem, really. Just make sure it's a true 25 and not something smaller. I don't know about your specific bike, but one thing I do know is that if you can fit wider tires on it, you should still ensure you have a bit of clearance, because you may need it on packed trails. The best way of knowing if it works would be to just break down and buy a cheap tire in the size you want.

If it was me, and if I really was going to ride on trails that my road bike couldn't handle with its normal road bike tires, I might consider just getting another, cheap bike for that kind of riding.

He's got 25mm tires now - and wants something wider. 28mm is wider than 25mm. 32mm likely won't work due to his having caliper-brakes. Why should he try 25mm when he HAS 25mm??

Actually a good 28C is as nimble and responsive as a 25C being ridden in rougher-than-road conditions. But it absorbs more of the shock going on. They are very comfortable sized tires. I run them on my utterly customized <former> Trek 7.5 FX on my personally handbuilt 3X wheels. That bike came with 32C tires. Bombproof and all around decent tires that they (the 32C's) were, I find the 28C has the best of both worlds of being between a 32C, and the outright speed-demon of my Conti Grand Prix 4000 S tires in 23C that live on my vintage Reynold's 531 racer: Quick, sure-footed, nimble, and comfortable.

I think the OP will be duly taken by 28's and enjoy them greatly. I sure was, back in 1982 when I first used them in the then-newish* 700C wheels.


* in the general marketplace - though 700C had been a standard in Europa for much longer.