What tires will fit which rims?

[spinningmagnets]

E-bikers need strong rims, and most of us like tires that are a little fatter than average. One example is the CST-Cyclops 26 X 2.4-inch. Cheap, and has a good road tread.

When researching how wide or narrow of a tire can fit on a given rim, I assumed there were charts that covered everything. However, my Google-fu only found the tires/rims that were common a couple of years ago. There has been an increasing use of fatter tires, and I recently saw 3.0-inch tires, plus this last year its been incresingly noticable that the 4.0-inch "fat tires" are becoming less rare. Fat tires can also now be found as fat as 4.8-inches.

I'm just starting this thread as a place to park info as I find it, and I encourage anyone with experience to post whatever may be helpful to the group.

Four default rims for most jobs (using 36H to accomodate hubmotors) is:
(24mm / 1.00 inches) Alexrims.com DM24 in 26-inch wheel
(32mm / 1.26 inches) Alexrims.com DX32 found in a 24-inch wheel
(42mm / 1.65 inches) Weinmanntec.com found in 20/24/26 inch wheels (under "chopper")
(50mm / 2.00 inches) Rhynolite 26 X 2
http://www.amazon.com/Sun-Alloy-2-00-Lite-Black/dp/B000AO3HSI/ref=pd_sim_sbs_sg_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=0AV3Z3EF2GB9FEGVJ0X7

I found a couple of useful bits at the Schwalbe website (they make the popular Big-Apple/Fat-Frank/etc)

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Here is the tire width-to-rim guide from Surly:

• Plus tires (2.7 – 3.0˝)—Designed for use with rims 35 – 65mm wide
• Black Floyd 26 x 3.8˝—Best used with rims 50 – 65mm wide
• Fat tires (3.7 – 4.3˝) —Best used with rims 50 – 100mm wide
• Fatter tires (4.5 – 4.8˝) —Best used with rims 65 – 100mm wide

 

[spinningmagnets]

reserved...

Fat tire rims from Weinmann are available in 42, 65, 80, 100mm wide. (1.65, 2.56, 3.15, 3.93 inches)

The common 4.0-inch fat tires are generally found on 65mm-82mm (2.6-3.2 inches) wide rims (at least so far on my search), so I will assume the rare 100mm (3.9-inch) rim from Weinmann is for the 4.8-inch tires (which are also rare)

 

[Gregory]

I've always referred back to the Sheldon Brown chart on Tire Sizing Systems, but it's not quite as useful for the recent fat bike tyres.

 

[TSAR]

I've had luck so far, matching rim and tire combos that are not common, but seem to work great ( at least to me).

For example, the first one was a Schwalbe Big Apple 2.0 on a 65mm wide Surly Large Marge rim. Doesn't seem like it will work, but the balloon tire opens up and seats itself nicely with just a floor pump.

Currently running a 20 inch Odyssey 2.4 BMX tire on a 80mm wide Weinmann rim - works great! Next plan is to put a Felt berm master 3.0 on a 24" 100mm rim and see what happens.

 

[spinningmagnets]

Thanks! that is useful info...

 

[TSAR]

There are a couple of tricks that I use.
First, the tire cannot have a thick rubber tread in the middle, like the profile pic above(like Kenda Flame). If you put that on a wider rim, the tire will square out like a car tire shape. Some people actually like that look, but I find that it decreases cornering and braking traction, so I don't use them. Best results will be from tires with uniform thickness throughout (Maxxis Hookworm, Schwalbe Crazy Bob) or tread that extends to sidewalls (Duro Razorback).
Second, use the tube that fits the rim, not the tire. Let me explain: if you overinflate a narrow tube, it will become longer before it becomes wider and not fill the tire properly because it will fold. It may even push the tire off the rim. You need a tube that can open as wide as the rim for full inflation. I use 3inch tubes on 65mm rims and 4inch tubes on 80mm.
Hope this helps...

 

[Drunkskunk]

Looks good. The fat bike sizes go along with everything I've tried, though a 65mm with the 4.8" Lou, Bud, and Big Fat Larry are pushing it a little. They tend to flop around when run at low pressures. Its actually what I'm running right now, but wouldn't be my first recommendation.

 

[Bigwheel]

There is a definite trend in the bike industry towards the use of wider rims. The Surly chart looks like a good barometer but keep in mind that the sizes are the width outside to outside of the rim.

The problem I have with going overly wide tire/rim wise is that you can get some funky handling issues as a result of self steering, especially on pavement due to increased contact patch. I personally have found that a 2.2 tire mounted on a 35mm rim still steers well yet allows me to run pretty low psi which enhances traction and absorbs small bumps better without increasing rolling resistance.

 

[2old]

Don't know if this helps, but Bikes Direct puts both 26 X 3.0 and 26 X 4.0 Vee Mission tires on the Deadeye and Deadeye Monster, respectively, with 50mm rims.. If you're wondering how well they work, I think that Gridlock has the Monster and is converting with a 750w BBS02.