billydonn

I have a cyclocross bike that I love to ride for general riding on paved and unpaved trails (much the type of use described by Will Dehne in another post but with more turning and braking). I am using 32mm tires and my question is this: What difference does a slightly wider rim make in terms of safety/performance?

I have used a set of road rims (narrow) for this application and the 32s are within limits for the rims, but only just barely. Making turns at speed, it feels a if I can feel the tire sidewall flex.

Alternatively, the same tires on a slightly wider Mavic A319 rim creates a much different tire/wheel profile and feels more stabile. I am very happy with this combination so far. (Minimum width tires for these rims is 28 I believe). There is almost no weight difference between the two tire-wheel setups.

With all the attention paid to tire sizes I'm just wondering why rim widths do not receive very much attention in this forum. Anyone with knowledge or thoughts in this area? I would be interested to hear.