Tire Size Question
 

My bike came stock with Vittoria Randonneur, 700 x 48 tires on it. I've installed a set of fenders on it, and they are positioned as far away from the tires as they can get in order to allow acceptable room between them and the tires that are currently on the bike. I plan on likely replacing these tires with a set of Schwalbe Energizer Plus Tour HS 441.

My question is about fender clearance. Being that these Schwalbe tires have more tread depth and also have a 3mm thick puncture barrier as well. I imagine that the circumference of the tire itself will be greater than the ones I currently have installed. If that is indeed the case, they may not work with my fenders. Any thoughts and insight on this?

Trial fit. The Schwalbe carcass might have been made smaller to compensate for the tread and inner layer.

Maybe.

But my 700x32 Schwalbe Marathon Pluses were narrower than my 700x32 Conti Gatorskins, both of which were narrower than my 700x32 Conti Top Contact II's.

So I tried 700x35 Schwalbe Marathon Plus Tours which have the same "unflattable" construction plus a more aggressive tread. These 700 x35 Schwalbes are about the same size as my 700x32 Conti Top Contacts.


Short version.... IME Schwalbes really are the size Schwalbe says they are.

Get a smaller Schwalbe if the 47mm tire is too tight a fit. Use the 40mm Energizer tire instead.

If you like the size, I'd say it's worth trying one to see if it fits. Tricky because stated size can often be a ballpark estimate rather than a strict measurement, but I've noticed the Vittoria Randonneurs seem to state one size in normal language and a slightly larger size in actual measurements. 700 x 48 is listed as 50-622. Meanwhile Schalbe stays consistent, so a 47 tire is 47-622. If we assumed the actual measurements were accurate, the Schwalbe is 3mm less instead of just one. How that figures in when the tread is added, I don't know, but it's not as if the Vittoria's have no tread, just less. And Schwalbe's don't have a lot of tread, either, so it seems like it's worth a shot.

For my part, I think I was running 700 x 40 Randonneurs on my Trucker, and I was fine with that size. If you're doing pavement touring, I think you could easily drop a size. On the other hand, I also kept going with larger tires until I hit the limit of the fenders I was running, so I can understand the fat-as-you-can approach. I'd try the Schwalbe, and if it doesn't fit, try it without the fender and decide which is more important to you. If you like it, you might just want bigger fenders.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding what you mean there, but I'm referring to the "circumference", not the width being a potential issue.

Of course, but I'm trying to see if there's a way to get it figured without going through the potential hassle of refits and returns. Likely not by the looks of it.

I'm definitely not willing to give up my fenders. It looks like I'll end up having to just try and exchange if need be. I've got wide enough fenders on there to handle at least 50c wide or even a bit more.

Me too, since fenders are a limiting factor on my bike too.

In my limited experience, Schwalbes are the size they claim to be, so if a 50mm tire of some other brand fits your bike, Shwalbes probably would too.

OK, so what your saying in a bit of a roundabout way is that the 700c designation should mean the overall circumference should be close enough to the same, thanks.

Actually its 622+2xwidth designation. Having said that it sounds like the schwalbs will fit. Like you I prefer fenders and relatively fat tires. My version of fat is 35 mm.

My morning chuckle, thank-you.

Play with this it will give you expected circumference of given sizes.
Bicycle gear inch calculator

2.125 = 28.74"

Hope this helps,

-Snuts-

I like how that gives it in inches. When I set my bike computer I just use my method for finding diameter then multiply by pi for circumference. I tried measuring rollout and it was really difficult to get it any more accurate.

Happy to make you chuckle.

Now you guy's have thinking, should I have gotten 29'r fenders instead of the 700 series fenders I did install on my last build?

Roadrunner AR - MTB29 - Full-Coverage Fenders - Fenders - Products - Axiom Cycling Gear

Roadrunner AR - Trekk - Full-Coverage Fenders - Fenders - Products - Axiom Cycling Gear

Might go measure them in regards to diameter this week-end at the Bike shop (if it gets warm enough).

-Snuts-

Its always warm enough... Just sometimes uncomfortable.

Don't wait for me.

Today we will warm to -10C, with a wind chill of -32C !

-Snuts-

Holy crap, its not warm enough. I stand corrected. I'll be riding today but it it will be near 30 F.

I'm not sure if they are really different, but I did end up going with 29ers because that's what the width I wanted came listed as.

These are what I have installed, and they've been great,
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...c=1&pldnSite=1

65mm fenders. Yeah, I didn't get that your issue isn't fender clearance, it's frame clearance. My answer stands, I suspect the Schwalbe you want and the Vittoria you have will be very close, with the Schwalbe possibly being slightly smaller. But I was likely wrong about being able to change fenders. I was assuming the fenders were not wide enough, but those are plenty wide. If they are sitting flush against the fork crown and against the rear frame mounts, there's not much you can do apart from getting fenders that go on in pieces around the fork.

I did say "circumference", not "width". I know that tires very in overall circumference to some degree, so I I'll just have to try them to find out I see.