veganbikes

Yes I was very much being facetious. If anyone truly believed that holy moly I would be blown away. I mean that is probably about one of the craziest things one could type.

cyclic_eric

Perhaps lowering the tire pressure will give you another 0.5 mm of clearance? I check with a few websites to consult for advice on pressure.
Most recommend 15 - 20 psi lower in the front compared to the back tires, and generally lower pressures for larger tires.
Have you ridden the bike yet? I also like to fit larger tires, but some of my bikes feel better with 25's than 28's.

Kontact

I don't see anything wrong with sticking a tiny spacer in the fork dropouts. It will work just like a horizontal rear dropout with adjusters. I'd used a blob of epoxy and a short section of a nail or wire. It will come out with pliers.

More effective than extending the brake, but that is good, too.

79pmooney

Different brakes have different clearances on the underside. I just set up my second Pro Miyata with it's original very close DiaComp brakes. First thing I noticed if that there is much more clearance under the brake then there was with the Cyclones (also, very close) I was using before. With both brakes, I had to push the pads all the way up. You could barely turn a 25c by hand with that rear Cyclone. Spin? Maybe a 1/4 rev at most. So it's only seen 23c's. But with those DiaComps, 25s would fit easily. Those brakes are not lower than the bridge.

Campy doesn't have the market cornered on stopping. I'd look to find a caliper with better clearance and do my riding with peace of mind. (Put the Campys away. When you are tired of 30c, you can re-install them. Or make those Campys work. The pro hockey players of the days before face shields all knew that no front teeth was fast.)

Kontact

Another thing to try is using the centering screw and manually centering the brakes can get them to have different clearances. (Start by checking that the caliper is pretty much in the middle now.)

Russ Roth

This is the answer.
Looking at the pics there just doesn't seem to be a sufficient amount of clearance for the seat stays to what I would feel comfortable with and the fork legs don't look any better.
I would seriously consider just going down a size. I do think your idea of the spacer on the caliper will move it out enough to not have the tire rub, but I'd hate to think what a small pothole, or just the wrong bump, that sends your wheel a couple mm out of true will do to your paint job. Its steel so wearing though the frame isn't an issue but the paint will be.

GamblerGORD53

Get a SA drum brake. LOL.

rosefarts

There is acres of clearance for the frame and the fork. Enough so, that without brakes, this frame would probably mount knobby 35’s, if you’re into that sort of thing.

The issue is 100 percent the mounting point of the front brake. If the hole in the crown was 5mm higher, this entire travesty of a thread wouldn’t exist.

I’m honestly impressed with those older Campy brakes, due to their slim design they fit a wider tire than about anything else I can think of. I can’t think of anything I could replace them with that would offer more clearance.

base2 

I think the none of this is a good idea.

Anecdote time:
I once met a guy on a group ride with a Cervelo set up with minimal clearance just as the OP. The tires rubbed everytime he layed power down or turned, or leaned, or the bike otherwise flexed in some way as he was riding. I told him that as I rode behind him I could see that this was happening to his super nice, expensive bike. The third time I opened my mouth saying that he really ought to address the issue he snapped a negative retort and cautioned me against speaking to him further. I let him be. I had said my peace on the matter.

A few years later, his Cervelo frame was on a hook in the back room at a bike shop I had newly hired in to. Missing paint & holes in the frame exactly where you would expect. What a waste.

Go to 28's. What'll you do after a few rides and the tire relaxes a bit? That tiny fraction of clearance you have now, may not be there after a few rides. If you are absolutely bent on these tires, at the very least, a wider rim will lower the circumference a tiny, tiny bit.

RCMoeur 

Try (carefully) securing the front axle a few mm down in the dropouts and adjust the pads. A properly clamped quick release axle should not move at all once set, and is more than strong enough to take the shear load. John Allen experimented with this on rear axles (which see greater loading), and even ones with 0 mm of axle protruding from the locknuts didn't move or shift once the QR was tightened.

tFUnK

Shimming the dropouts is an old hack, though not one I have tried personally. I forget the material or object of choice, but a search might yield a feasible solution.

Kontact

But:

slow rollin

Just get a 28 for the front and save the 30 for the rear. The 2 watts you save by having a bigger tire will get cancelled out as it rubs the crap out of your caliper. The only reason you would need that size tire is if a smaller one at max pressure can't support your weight, in which case a road bike wouldn't be your ride.
or get a new caliper.

I had a bike that could barely fit a certain 32 on the front. Was fine in the stand. Put my weight on it and she rubbed, so out she came.

On another bike I can hear the sand/dirt rub against the caliper and it not a fun time, sucks to clean too. Think I just run lower pressure on that bike now.

70sSanO

if you want to keep the brakes, just swap out the fork.

Since the frame is hand built, have a fork built to match but will allow the tire clearance to run the tires you want.

It’s a 2001, compared to the price of current bikes, how much could you possibly have invested in it?

John

smd4

Except they’re non-adjustable. And will change the steering geometry, however slightly, by effectively lengthening the fork. It’s my personal opinion that this is a dumb idea.

Just use the tires the bike was meant to use. If you want to ride a bike with wide tires and don’t want to take shortcuts, then buy a bike meant to accommodate them.

By way of example: The Cinelli website says a Supercorsa can take 25 mm tires. Feel like your life will be miserable unless you can run 30s? THEN DON’T BUY A SUPERCORSA!

shelbyfv

IIRC a section of spoke is traditional.

Mr. 66

The last time I addressed this situation I ground down an alloy spacer into a bevel that created a rise to the calipers when tightened.

Kontact

Never seen these before, eh? Adjusting location in a horizontal dropout also changes the bike's handling.

But increasing the fork length by even 5mm will only increase the trail (the handling thing you can feel) by 1mm. So I think the OP is safe from careening off the road because of going to 30mm tires plus 2mm of spacer thickness.

I suppose you warn people about the handling danger of going from 25 to 28s?

smd4

Of course I've seen those.

I don't "warn" people about anything. Just not a fan of silly shortcuts like you're proposing. "Glue some crap in your dropouts!" Please.

Kontact

So you would prefer to drill and tap the dropouts?

The whole point of the spacers is to make inserting the wheel to the correct depth quick and repeatable. Just like horizontal dropouts where the screws aren't structural or necessary.

If the OP wanted a permanent change, that would be a different story.

smd4

"So you would prefer..." Stop re-interpreting what I wrote. It's not a good look.

What I wrote was, "Just use the tires the bike was meant to use. If you want to ride a bike with wide tires and don’t want to take shortcuts, then buy a bike meant to accommodate them."

Koyote

I've taught college students for 37 years, and I've heard crazier stuff just this week.

Aubergine 

Surely we can all agree that an excuse to get another bike is a good thing, right?

smd4

Exactly! That will be my excuse when the time comes.

Kontact

What you wrote was "Glue some crap to the dropouts." Your problem is that you can't articulate what is wrong with adding a small spacer to the fork dropouts and keep changing what your objection is. First it is that they aren't adjustable, then that they negatively impact handling, then how they are held in.

Why not say "I don't like it" instead of making objections that you can't sustain for more than one post?