Tyre option on new wheels

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Some rims do specify a minimum "recommended" tyre size. Mavic are one brand ive noticed

 

[e-rider]

Can I put 700x23 road tyre on new wheels that have arrived with 700x25 slicks?

yes but..... this might change the handling of the bike slightly, although speed and resistance will be approx the same. Did the wheel come with 25s or the bike?

 

[e-rider]

Glad someone else brought this up as I think I might have just dropped a b*llock with this!

My bike came with 25mm Contis, which I have now worn out. I have just bought some 23mm Schwalbe Durano S Etapes to replace them, because they were going for just £20 each and get good reviews online. As others have pointed out, 25mm have advantages over 23mm - I would have chosen 25mm tyres if the Durano S came in that size, or if I had a bigger budget to spend on a different type of tyre. As I'm skint and the Duranos only come in 23mm, that's what I got.
But the catalogue quotes my Fulcrum rims as 17c, and Scwhalbe's safety guide says 25mm is the narrowest tyre this rim can take -

http://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_info/tire_dimensions

Wish I had thought to look at this before buying the rubber!
So, people above are telling the OP he can go ahead with 23mm tyres but if he has 17c rims like I do isn't this bad advice?

23s will be fine, the 17c you quote is probably the outer width, not the internal???

 

[EasyPeez]

23s will be fine, the 17c you quote is probably the outer width, not the internal???

Nope. It's 17mm ETRTO. Around 23mm outer width.
I'm not going to dispute with you that 23mm tyres will be fine as I've only been riding road bikes since Spring and haven't tried putting 23s on a 17c rim; you might have done this and found it to be no problem? But Schwalbe and Sheldon Brown both have it down as an unsafe combo, so I'm not going to risk it. The shop were good enough to swap my Durano S for standard Durano 25s at no extra cost.

Useful info. here for anyone who's weighing up what tyre size their rims are compatible with. Cheers.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Implications_of_Rim_Width_2803.html

 

[HLaB]

My summer wheels are 17mm ETRTO and I tested a frame that my 25mm tyre wouldn't fit in so I emailed the manufacturer to ask if it was OK to fit a 23mm, they replied yes, in fact all their test wheels a ran like that and they've never had a problem; I ran the 23mm for at least 2,000-3,000 miles with no problem either. I never bought the frame though. IIRC Sheldon admits somehere his table is a bit conservative and my experiences would agree with that ;-)