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Wider tires on narrow rims

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Old 12-07-16, 06:35 AM
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leoho5
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Wider tires on narrow rims

Anyone have experience using narrow width rims on a folder? Many of the narrow rims recommend 1.35 or narrower tires. Anyone try to put wider tires on them? Any recommendation for the smallest rim width that a 1.50 tire would fit?

Thanks in advance.
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Old 12-07-16, 07:24 AM
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rhenning
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Not on a folder but I have used 40mm tires on a rim made for 25mm tires for a long time with no problems. A little hard to install the first time and used Presta tubes with it. Smaller valve stems made it easier to seat the tires beads. Used V brakes to get tire brake ckearance. Roger
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Old 12-07-16, 08:58 AM
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never had any problems with wider tires ... Big Apples in 2.15
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Old 12-07-16, 10:11 AM
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Rim not so fussy, you Just cannot go wider than the frame allows..

Brompton , 349 - 37 is It, unless you hire the frame/fork modified & Thor is into Dahon/Terns.

OP did not say which folder, so measure your frame clearance..




...
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Old 12-07-16, 12:35 PM
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Velocity on rim to tire width

Velocity Wheels - Hand Made in USA

Mavic on rim to tire width

https://www.bikerumor.com/2016/08/12...-best-results/

DT Swiss on rim to tire width

https://www.dtswiss.com/Resources/Te..._Dimension.pdf
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Old 12-07-16, 01:09 PM
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BITD Narrow MTB rims did not exist , they do Now. Of course this is for low Pressure .. 2" tires.. on dirt..
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Old 12-08-16, 02:21 PM
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Thanks for all the feedback. The links are particularly interesting. I have a Velocity 349 rim with an inner rim width of about 19mm which seems to be pretty standard. It has no problem fitting narrow or wide tires. I also have a Kinlin rim which has an inner rim width of only 13mm and have only fitted Kojaks (1.35). Never tried something wider due the max. recommendation. According to the linked charts, even Kojaks are stretching it on such a narrow rim. Don't think I'd feel comfortable going wider.

Cheers
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Old 12-09-16, 09:12 AM
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My own semi-scientific experiments found that tire squirm was more likely with wide tires on narrow rims.
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Old 12-09-16, 09:38 AM
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FWIW, I have 406-47 tires on CR 18 rims as supplied in Bike Fridays build of my Pocket Llama.
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Old 12-09-16, 06:27 PM
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If memory serves, the range recommended by SB is 1.4-2.5x for the rim to tire width. That is far too conservative. I use a 1.2-3.0x relationship. Currently using 42mm tires on a 14mm rim.
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Old 12-11-16, 09:52 AM
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Of all the charts out there, I prefer the one at the bottom of the page at this link for rim width (inner width) and tire width.
Tire Sizing Systems

If you have too fat a tire on a narrow rim, it can become evident at low pressure where the tire can flop side to side. I wish I had wider rims on my expedition bike because there are times I wished I could run lower pressure than I do.
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Old 11-20-17, 06:43 AM
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From recent experience it seems that if a rim has an internal diameter of < 15mm, it may not be able to mount commonly used wider tires such as Marathons and Big Apples. A 14.3mm rim from a Dahon Visc p18 can only mount tires up to 32mm! 35mm tires are not able to be mounted.

Best bet is to get a rim with internal diameter around 17-20mm which can mount a wider range of tires.
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Old 11-20-17, 01:40 PM
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Getting rim width, center drop, and wheel Diameter mixed up?
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Old 11-20-17, 01:48 PM
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I don't think so. Internal diameter 14.3mm. 32-406 & 35-406 (both labeled as 1.35")
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Old 11-20-17, 03:34 PM
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I've been running 42mm Marathon Supreme on 14mm bead width rims for several months with no problem.


Originally Posted by leoho5
From recent experience it seems that if a rim has an internal diameter of < 15mm, it may not be able to mount commonly used wider tires such as Marathons and Big Apples. A 14.3mm rim from a Dahon Visc p18 can only mount tires up to 32mm! 35mm tires are not able to be mounted.

Best bet is to get a rim with internal diameter around 17-20mm which can mount a wider range of tires.
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Old 11-28-17, 08:17 PM
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I've been putting 1.95" tires on rims that come standard with 1.35" tires. 2.125" tires on ones that come standard with 1.75" tires. RIM (outer) measures are about 18 mm and 22 cm respectively. Depth of the channel of course is important.

I've done both for over a year now with no issues what so ever (Dahon Visc and Dahon Jetstream)
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Old 12-01-17, 12:27 PM
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A wide rim will increase the inflated width of whatever tire you use on your small wheel. Even small increases in rim width give you a substantially larger cushion of air to ride on.

Unfortunately there aren't many choices of wide rims for small wheels, other than in 36 hole drillings for the BMX bikes. I was looking for a wide 28 hole 406 rim- something wider than the 24mm (external width) Velocity, but could not find anything.

I will use Box rims (28mm wide, 36 hole, 362grams) in my next project. The rear wheel will use 36 spokes of course, but the front wheel I had to figure out a way to use it with a 28 hole SON XS (74mm OLD) dynamo hub (they are not offered in 36 hole drillings). This is how I solved the issue on my first set of wheels using the Sun big ****** rim. The new Box rim is a bit narrower (27 vs 30mm), but a lot lighter (362 vs 547 grams). I'm looking forward to trying the featherweight Box 406/51 race tires with them.
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