Can you stick in a 20 inch wheel into a birdy
#26
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#27
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This thread shows a 406 Kojak is probably the biggest tire that can comfortably clear the front fork of a gen3 frame.
https://www.thaimtb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1670059
https://www.thaimtb.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=1670059
#28
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Thanks. I contacted Pacific Cycles to ask, and well, they were useless and evasive in answering the question. Kojak is 35-406 so 35mm, it seems. Too small for my taste. Oh well...
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#31
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i visited Jesler while in Taipei.
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The tire size limit for the 20"ETRTO406 Birdy doesn't come from the fold but from the clearance under the front fork (there is a little bit more space on the rear arm).
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I now have been riding with my Birdy titanium with ETRTO406/20" wheels since more than 6 months.
My experience is that with very similar wheels (same hubs, same type of spokes, same type of tires, only different rims) there is no benefit in using 20" wheels, only drawbacks.
The two drawbacks are:
- very little clearance between the fork and front tire. Impossible to use the original mudguards, with carbon thin mudguards almost zero clearance with Continental Urban Contact 32x406 (with my rims that are 25mm wide inside and reduce the tire height, these tires wouldn't pass with classic 19mm wide rims). I guess that it works with the Panaracer Minits Tough (and Lite) 32x406 of the Pacific Cycles Birdy R20 11SP because these tires are actually narrower than announced and because there are no mudguards on the R20 11SP?
- not possible to use wide 50mm tires. My experience is that one of the Birdy strong points is the possibility to mount 50mm wide tires and use it as a gravel bike which is impossible with 20" wheels.
So, I decided to go back to smaller wheels, ETRO349 with Greenspeed Scorcher for speed, ETRTO355 with Big Apple for of road use.
My experience is that with very similar wheels (same hubs, same type of spokes, same type of tires, only different rims) there is no benefit in using 20" wheels, only drawbacks.
The two drawbacks are:
- very little clearance between the fork and front tire. Impossible to use the original mudguards, with carbon thin mudguards almost zero clearance with Continental Urban Contact 32x406 (with my rims that are 25mm wide inside and reduce the tire height, these tires wouldn't pass with classic 19mm wide rims). I guess that it works with the Panaracer Minits Tough (and Lite) 32x406 of the Pacific Cycles Birdy R20 11SP because these tires are actually narrower than announced and because there are no mudguards on the R20 11SP?
- not possible to use wide 50mm tires. My experience is that one of the Birdy strong points is the possibility to mount 50mm wide tires and use it as a gravel bike which is impossible with 20" wheels.
So, I decided to go back to smaller wheels, ETRO349 with Greenspeed Scorcher for speed, ETRTO355 with Big Apple for of road use.