Originally Posted by
50voltphantom
Another neat thing about running the same width rim as the tire you run is that you can remove the wheel without having to release the brake. Pretty minor, but I like it.
It's often said that wider rims are some kind of "revolution". My thinking -- it's just that rim widths are catching up to the wider tires we're now using.
Rewind to 30-40 years ago, and 18-23mm tires on 20mm rims were the standard for road bikes. So with the tire being roughly the same width as the rim, you had the same aero benefit and ability to remove/install the wheel without needing to touch the brakes that we talk about now.
