JosephLMonti

I recently came across this vid of a guy who has modified his Brompton to take plus tires:

https://youtu.be/oxGwZB7pA9o

I'm am wondering if others have done this or have at least thought about running wide tires...please share your thoughts

Personally, I think it would be great for making folding bikes more capable of light trail duty

tds101 

This is why I don't own a Brompton. I want one, but I want balloon/fat tires on it (and a Shimano IGH hub too,...). Oh, how I wish this was the norm,...

tds101 

Here's the link to the site for the custom Brommie mods: Eerder Metaal Home

Schwinnsta

Thanks for posting that link. It was very interesting.

2_i 

All this kind of light trail riding as in the video, as well as sand and snow riding, I do fine on regular width Brompton tires. However, for deeper sand, deeper snow and sticky mud, wider tires would have been good, as well as more space between tires and fenders. An alternative direction could be to go to 14" rims.

Schwinnsta

What size wheels is he using in the video?

Jipe

Kinetics now also has Brompton fork and rear triangle compatible with ETRTO355 wheels and wide tires like Big Apple.

Its rear triangle has an OLD of 135mm and is compatible with Shimano or Rohloff IGH.

Geepig

Very true. As with many things we need to untangle the idea of cool from that of function. Back in the 1970s, before I became aware of BMX and before mountain bikes became something different I was riding my Carlton Continental road bike off road, even with drop bars, on standard road tires. Yes the thick clay and leaf mix would jam the 1 1/4 road tires in the calliper rim brakes, but I went everywhere - and probably did not look cool doing so

Today I do have a pair of off-road tires for my 24" folders, for use while winter offroading, the kind where you slide your bike sideways down slopes, but for summer I am usually on standard road tires.

BUT.... if you want to look hot, or at least your bike to look hot, go for those balloon tires.



Tigger in the snow

Tigger not in the snow

tds101 

What size are these tires? They can't be 20",...

Geepig

No, these are 24", and they are 1.75" wide if I remember correctly. Currently the knobblies are sitting on my farm bike, where they work very well since we have only one strip of tarmac into our village and none in our yard.

When I next get a 20" bike in I do plan on using something fatter, just for the look.

tds101 

Nice! I have Schwalbe Big Apple (20x2.15" & 26x2.15") tires on a couple folders, as well as Maxxis Hookworm's (20x2.1" & 16x1.95") on some of the others. Schwalbe is comfort, and Maxxis is speed. Plus I own a 29er with Schwalbe Big Ben tires (I believe they're sized at 28x2.25", but it's the same as the 29er sized tire), and some Continental tires on my Puma Biomega Nevis (built like a TANK!!! Takes either 700c OR 29er tires as well).

Geepig

I could do with a pair of wide 24" 36 hole rims, as one of my frames has a BMX type front fork for some unknown reason, and I really fancy seeing what I can squeeze between the seat stays