How Wide a Tire

Stephen Harding said:

My old Mongoose is dead and a new Raleigh (Mojave 5.0)
takes its place.

Dang those are big tires!

Looking more closely at the Geax knobbies, I see 2.20
as the size!

I always thought 2.1 or 2.125 were as [nominally] wide
as a 26 inch tire would go. I now know there are at
least 2.20's out there to claim the max width prize.

Anyone know how nominally wide a 26 inch tire can go?
I'm talking basic production tire. No 10" monsters for
people trying to simulate dragstrip quarter mile nitro
burning rail racers in a two wheeled form.

Anything bigger than 2.20?

There are lots of 2.4 and 2.5 tire models; my guess is nothing bigger than
/maybe/ 2.7?

Bill Sornson said:

Stephen Harding said:

My old Mongoose is dead and a new Raleigh (Mojave 5.0)
takes its place.

Quoted message said:

Dang those are big tires!

Quoted message said:

Looking more closely at the Geax knobbies, I see 2.20
as the size!

Quoted message said:

I always thought 2.1 or 2.125 were as [nominally] wide
as a 26 inch tire would go.  I now know there are at
least 2.20's out there to claim the max width prize.

Quoted message said:

Anyone know how nominally wide a 26 inch tire can go?
I'm talking basic production tire.  No 10" monsters for
people trying to simulate dragstrip quarter mile nitro
burning rail racers in a two wheeled form.

Quoted message said:

Anything bigger than 2.20?

There are lots of 2.4 and 2.5 tire models; my guess is nothing bigger than
/maybe/ 2.7?- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I used to ride a specialized cannibal 2.5; wide enough to ride on the
sand at the beach at lower psi

On Tue, 26 Feb 2008 14:51:15 GMT, Stephen Harding
<[email hidden]> wrote, in part:
/

Quoted message said:

Anyone know how nominally wide a 26 inch tire can go?
I'm talking basic production tire. No 10" monsters for
people trying to simulate dragstrip quarter mile nitro
burning rail racers in a two wheeled form.

Anything bigger than 2.20?

Surley makes the 26" X 3.7" Endomorph tires to fit their Large Marge
rims for the Pugsley frame.

It's hardly a dragster. It's more like an ATV.

I'd be surprised if the DH contingent has ones wider than ~3" even in
the twenty-niner sizes.
--
zk

I had 2.5's for a while. found out they were more trouble than they were
worth. They barely cleared my front derailer.

- -
Compliments of:
"Your Friendly Neighborhood Wheelman"

If you want to E-mail me use:
ChrisZCorner "at" webtv "dot" net

My website:
http://geocities.com/czcorner

Stephen Harding said:

...
I always thought 2.1 or 2.125 were as [nominally] wide
as a 26 inch tire would go. I now know there are at
least 2.20's out there to claim the max width prize.

Anyone know how nominally wide a 26 inch tire can go?
I'm talking basic production tire. No 10" monsters for
people trying to simulate dragstrip quarter mile nitro
burning rail racers in a two wheeled form.

Anything bigger than 2.20?

SMH

Schwalbe Big Apples are available in 2" and 2.3" wide, in 26"/559.
These are a street-tread tire, not knobbies.
The 2.3" will get chain rub on many bikes with triple chainrings on the
shortest couple gears and the granny ring. There's no shoulder knobbies
so the rubbing doesn't sound too bad, but it's not ideal. Most bikes can
use the 2" wides without any problems.

....Also most full fenders do not fit over it with much room to spare.

....Also-also the Big Apple weighs a ton, it's a major drag on your
accelleration but if you want road-bump insulation and have nice wide
rims, they work very well at 25 or 30 PSI or so*.

,,,,,,,
Knobbies go wider, I don't know much about that (not having any off-road
bikes at the time) but others already said so.

----------

*-most MTB's come with rims that are too narrow, and the tires require
over-inflating as a result. You want rims that are 1.25-1.5" wide
(outside), and then you'll only need ~30 PSI in the tires.
~

DougC said:

Schwalbe Big Apples are available in 2" and 2.3" wide, in 26"/559.
These are a street-tread tire, not knobbies.
The 2.3" will get chain rub on many bikes with triple chainrings on the
shortest couple gears and the granny ring. There's no shoulder knobbies
so the rubbing doesn't sound too bad, but it's not ideal. Most bikes can
use the 2" wides without any problems.

...Also most full fenders do not fit over it with much room to spare.

Yeah, fenders!

Seems most bicyclists don't think much in the realm of
fenders. Perhaps they're simply not cool as in kickstands.

These 2.2" Geax knobbies (little baby knobs and not at all
bad running on the road) presented real problems for me in
the fender department!

I managed to just barely clear the rear wheel with an SKS
65mm (??). I had to cut notches in the sides up where the
wishbone seat stays pass next to the fender in order to get
the fender as high as possible and away from those big tires.

The front fender wouldn't go under the shock bridge so I
mounted it on top of the bridge with pipe hanger strapping.

If I ever hit a patch of muddy muck, the front wheel will
pass through fine but I'm not so certain about the rear
wheel/fender clearance. It's pretty tight!

The moral of the story I guess is to avoid the mud, which
for me and mountain bikes, isn't too demanding an imperative.

SMH

It's Chris said:

I had 2.5's for a while. found out they were more trouble than they
were worth. They barely cleared my front derailer.

Here's a winter racing rig with rims that are 2.5 inches wide.
http://parktool.com/repair/readcalvinscorner.asp?id=186

The tires are wider, but I didn't see an exact measurement. This is an
interesting page -- this guy uses 2 rear wheels (front and back) so if there
are problems with the cogs he can swap wheels.