widest tires possible on road bike

hwttdz said:

Ok so I want to continue racing but I don't have a cyclocross bike, nor the money to spend on one, but I figure if I put wider tires on and race a category down I should be able to bluff my way through. At least it'll be fun. But what's the widest tires I can get on there, it looks like the brakes are going to be the limiting factor, they're standard shimano dual pivot calipers.

Also any good recs for a cyclocross tire?

Likely no cyclocross tire will fit due to width, height of nubby tread, and mud.
Many road bicycles don't handle 28mm wide tires with normal road tread. Each is different, but brakes are only one limiting factor.

I´ve got Conti gp 3000 700x28x on a road bike I use for night time and they fit fairly well. I´ve got ATB levers on them, so they pull more wire than normal road levers, so getting the tire out isn´t as much as a problem as it´d be with road levers since they would leave the caliper a bit closer than the ATB levers. There is still considerable clearance (these are fairly smooth tires), and I think I could get one size larger. Calipers are standard road brake style, ala Ultegra.

I thin kCalipers are the limiting factor here. Know someone with the tires you want to try?

hwttdz said:

Ok so I want to continue racing but I don't have a cyclocross bike, nor the money to spend on one, but I figure if I put wider tires on and race a category down I should be able to bluff my way through. At least it'll be fun. But what's the widest tires I can get on there, it looks like the brakes are going to be the limiting factor, they're standard shimano dual pivot calipers.

Also any good recs for a cyclocross tire?

Well narrowest cyclocross tires I've found are kenda kwick at 30, which is up in the air. I'll have to ride by the shop and see if I can try putting on one of their tires and seeing if it works.

Please post back what you find out when tryign them on. I also would like to find something with a bit of a knob for a normal road bike.

Nashbar says actual width is 25mm, so maybe there's hope.

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?category=&subcategory=&brand=&sku=7544&storetype=&estoreid=&pagename=

hwttdz said:

Well narrowest cyclocross tires I've found are kenda kwick at 30, which is up in the air. I'll have to ride by the shop and see if I can try putting on one of their tires and seeing if it works.

Keep in mind that just because a tire fits when it's clean doesn't mean it's going to when it's covered with mud.

Well it's not going to work out. One of the biggest problems is not width side to side but depth from the rim. A wide tire is also taller and on my bike it rubs against the top of the fork and I guess the bottom of the monotube on the back. With a bike with different clearances you might have different luck so I'd suggest still trying it out. So now I'm seeing how cheap I can put together a cyclocross bike.

hwttdz said:

Well it's not going to work out. One of the biggest problems is not width side to side but depth from the rim. A wide tire is also taller and on my bike it rubs against the top of the fork and I guess the bottom of the monotube on the back. With a bike with different clearances you might have different luck so I'd suggest still trying it out. So now I'm seeing how cheap I can put together a cyclocross bike.

Vittoria makes a 700x27c Master Cross that probably would've fit my old Trek 1000. I found I could run the smaller 700x28's, like a Panaracer Pasela (not the Tourguard's) but not the larger ones like Michelin or anything else really tall like the Avocet Cross K's I keep around for future touring use. I second the advice about not using cross tires with caliper brakes it in wet conditions.

hwttdz said:

Ok so I want to continue racing but I don't have a cyclocross bike, nor the money to spend on one, but I figure if I put wider tires on and race a category down I should be able to bluff my way through. At least it'll be fun. But what's the widest tires I can get on there, it looks like the brakes are going to be the limiting factor, they're standard shimano dual pivot calipers.

Also any good recs for a cyclocross tire?

I don't know what kind of cross races you are planning on doing but I have never hear of anyone doing a cross race on a road bike. They arn't built for it and you run the risk of bending your fork or wheels. You would be much better off on a mt. bike if you have one. At any rate, you should be able to put 28cm tires on your road bike although it depends on the frame.