35mm tires on 18mm CR-18 wheels?
10-04-21, 12:06 AM
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35mm tires on 18mm CR-18 wheels?
Is 35mm pushing it for an 18mm wheel? The CR-18s seem to be well regarded for their price and I’m considering picking a set up but have never thought much about rim sizes until now. The charts and articles I’ve looked at have been a bit contradictory.
10-04-21, 05:10 AM
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The CR-18 is a hooked edge rim and should be good for tyres with even a 38mm section width. You've got a bit of extra safety factor with 35mm. If this was a non-hooked rim with the measurement across the inside of the flanges, a 35mm tyre would be right at my rule of thumb upper limit.
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10-04-21, 05:15 AM
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Sun Cr-18's with 35c Pasela's. I think they're good to go much bigger too. CR-18's were originally MTB rims when they came out. I've run upwards of 2.2's on them, no problem.
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10-04-21, 05:27 AM
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I've been running 38mm tires on CR-18 rims for years now, with no problems.
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10-04-21, 05:55 AM
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I’ve done it with no problems.
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10-04-21, 06:39 AM
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Here's my 1973 Raleigh Competition with the Surly Dingle/Dos Eno combo - Sun CR-18s laced to Surly New Track (rear) and Ultra New Track (front) hubs with Continental Cyclocross Speed 35 mm tires.
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10-04-21, 07:43 AM
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This summer, I’ve been running 35mm Rene Herse tires on over 40 year old Super Champion Gentleman rims having an id of around 15mm. About 500 mostly gravel miles, including this year’s Cino ride, with no death or destruction.
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10-04-21, 09:29 AM
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Awesome. Thanks all. Was reading reports of tires getting squishy on the rim when you get too far away from the rim size and it got me wondering. Although I’d never measured any of the rims I’ve used in the past, I just used them with 28-35mm tires and they worked so I didn’t have much perspective.
10-04-21, 09:53 AM
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Many (most?) early vintage MTBs had 22 mm rims and held 60 mm tires fine. You have a lot more flexibility than some would have you believe, although if you are starting from scratch, there are advantages to wider rims for for wider tires.
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10-04-21, 10:03 AM
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Not CR-18 but rather the stock rims on the 97 Rock Hopper. 2.2 tires If IIRC.
P1000217 by superissimo_83, on Flickr
Bit of a challenge getting the wheel removed with the brake noodle unhooked.
RockHopper_Sprung_2012_05 by superissimo_83, on Flickr
Getting the fender to not rub was a challenge
Wide Tire Commuter with Fenders by superissimo_83, on Flickr
P1000217 by superissimo_83, on FlickrBit of a challenge getting the wheel removed with the brake noodle unhooked.
RockHopper_Sprung_2012_05 by superissimo_83, on FlickrGetting the fender to not rub was a challenge
Wide Tire Commuter with Fenders by superissimo_83, on Flickr
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Last edited by SJX426; 10-04-21 at 10:07 AM.
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10-04-21, 10:58 AM
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My Raleigh C500 came with 35c Randonneur Cross tires on CR-18's. As others mentioned I have fit larger tires as well.
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10-04-21, 11:01 AM
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Wait. Is that a 1st generation Austro-Daimler Vent Noir I see there? Richard Ballentine was right to call those sexy in his book all those years ago ...
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10-04-21, 12:16 PM
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Last edited by majmt; 10-04-21 at 12:29 PM.
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10-04-21, 12:42 PM
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... and to keep it semi on-topic, those are relatively narrow Mavic Module E 27-in rims shod with Panaracer Pasela 603/32 aka 27 x 1 1/4 tires.
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10-04-21, 01:04 PM
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The "squishy" feel of very wide tires on narrow rims is mostly going to be limited to users of tubeless tires, where pressures can be low enough to cause tire-roll during hard cornering.
That's not to say that the use of wider rims won't improve the steering feedback feel, it will tighten up the lateral stiffness of the tire carcass, to good effect.
I used to race XC using 700c MA40 rims with 13mm inside width and with 45mm Panaracer Smoke tires installed.
Never had an issue since I was running inner tubes and pressures no lower than low 40's, with me weighing only 155# or so.
That's not to say that the use of wider rims won't improve the steering feedback feel, it will tighten up the lateral stiffness of the tire carcass, to good effect.
I used to race XC using 700c MA40 rims with 13mm inside width and with 45mm Panaracer Smoke tires installed.
Never had an issue since I was running inner tubes and pressures no lower than low 40's, with me weighing only 155# or so.
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10-04-21, 01:45 PM
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CR18 was a straight up MTB rim in 26" form in the early 90's. 2.1" were common back then. You can see it listed in the online Bikepro catalog.
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10-04-21, 09:33 PM
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I have built up 4 sets of CR18. Can't beat the price, looks good. But....every build was different. Two trued up right away, one I spents hours on and could not true and tension well. More modern rims seem more rigid and easier to build. The type of cross section profile affects rigidity
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10-05-21, 03:31 PM
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I’ve been using CR18’s with 35-38mm tires on my loaded touring bike for years with no issues. Here’s a handy chart courtesy of Sheldon: https://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width
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10-05-21, 05:48 PM
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That Sheldon Brown chart has always appeared far too conservative, and seemingly at odds with how some new bicycles were specified back in the day.
For example, my Trek 750 from 1990 came stock with Matrix Titan Tour II hard anodized rims. They are currently on my bench for hub maintenance, and I just measured their inner width at 13.5mm. They were originally specced with 35mm tyres. See the catalog page here: https://vintage-trek.com/images/trek/...tainspecs2.jpg. I'm about to mount new Gravel King SS tyres on those rims. I'd hoped to go as far as 32mm or 35mm, but sadly, their recipient frame (not the Trek 750) is limiting me to 28mm. The 750 frame would probably allow > 42mm, which makes that stock choice of rim width even more odd.
On another bike, I'm preparing a wheelset with Mavic 195 rims (inner rim width 13.4mm) to mount new Pasela 32mm tyres, and I don't anticipate any issues.
For example, my Trek 750 from 1990 came stock with Matrix Titan Tour II hard anodized rims. They are currently on my bench for hub maintenance, and I just measured their inner width at 13.5mm. They were originally specced with 35mm tyres. See the catalog page here: https://vintage-trek.com/images/trek/...tainspecs2.jpg. I'm about to mount new Gravel King SS tyres on those rims. I'd hoped to go as far as 32mm or 35mm, but sadly, their recipient frame (not the Trek 750) is limiting me to 28mm. The 750 frame would probably allow > 42mm, which makes that stock choice of rim width even more odd.
On another bike, I'm preparing a wheelset with Mavic 195 rims (inner rim width 13.4mm) to mount new Pasela 32mm tyres, and I don't anticipate any issues.
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10-05-21, 07:32 PM
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Hence my apprehension when I started actually looking into this. Your sentiment was shared in most posts/articles I read in relation to not only that chart but others as well. Nice to have some of these good anecdotes though.
10-05-21, 07:33 PM
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There is a wealth of information on the Sheldon site, and BF, but it seems to have a big blind spot in that there actually were high-performance 26" MTB's back in the 90's, and that, yes, 1.95-2.1" (50-52mm) on 17-19mm rims was the de rigueur setup on XC bikes, which were the predominant form of MTBs in that era.
For those of us who were young enough to have been riding and racing in that era, it's always worth a chuckle when someone worries if 37's are "too wide"
10-05-21, 07:36 PM
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I have 35s and 38s on those rims. I love cr18s for the value and I have toured many miles on them.
