Bike wheel size

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Carranty

Regular
Hi,

Beginner here thinking about building my own bike. I'm looking at the Manufacturer's specifications for various frames, but one thing I'm not sure about is minimum wheel width. For example, I'm considering building a hybrid/adventure bike, so am looking for frames that take a reasonably substantial tyre, but am thinking I might swap the wheels out from time to time for thinner ones, with thinner tyres, when I'm only planning on riding on the road. Is this possible? Or does using a thinner wheel cause problems?

Cheers
 

vickster

Legendary Member
You need wheels that can take thinner (depending what you mean) and fatter tyres (depends how fat)

I think most wheels that will take say a 38mm tyre will also take a 28, maybe a 25

Can you provide more details?

Presumably you’ll add proper mudguards too which is also a consideration

Personally I think chunky frames look odd with skinny tyres and loads of clearance. Went from 38 to 32 on my Boardman CX which looks fine with mudguards. I could have gone 28 but think it would look odd

If you’re only riding on road, why not just get a roadbike that’ll take a 28 or below. Adventure or gravel bikes are designed with some off road capability in mind as well as practicality with rack and mudguard fixings. They’ll never be as swift on the road as a dedicated road bike assuming the engine is up to the job
 
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OP
OP
C

Carranty

Regular
Thanks for the reply
If you’re only riding on road, why not just get a roadbike that’ll take a 28 or below. Adventure or gravel bikes are designed with some off road capability in mind as well as practicality with rack and mudguard fixings. They’ll never be as swift on the road as a dedicated road bike assuming the engine is up to the job

I'm not planning to only ride on the road, my intention is to go on weekend rides over a range of roads, towpaths and gravel tracks. I don't plan on riding on mountain tracks, so don't need an out-and-out mountain bike, hence my thinking that a gravel bike would be the best option for me. For example, 40-50mm tyres are typically recommended for such uses.

That said, during the weekdays I'll be using my bike to commute, which will mostly be on road, and I'm thinking it would be nice to have wheels/tyres which are more appropriate for this during the week. I've read that 25-32mm tyres are recommended for this type of use, so am simply wondering if its possible to switch tyres between these two types of riding. Obviously this wouldn't be as efficient as having a separate road bike and gravel bike, but that option isn't financially viable to me right now.
 

Vantage

Carbon fibre... LMAO!!!
I've rode nothing but Ryde Sputniks for the last 4-5 years which measure 19mm int / 25mm ext and they (according to Rydes tech specs) will take anything from 28mm to 57mm tyres.
That covers pretty much any tyre you could wish for. Plus, they're bomb proof.
I'd guess other manufacturers similar sized rims would have similar specs.
Don't get too hung up on the 'thinner tyres go faster' thing. It's bull crap.
I've had both vittorias hyper voyagers in 32 and 37mm sizes with no difference in performance and now run 38mm schwalbe cityjets and am just as slow as ever.
 
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