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I find myself a little “Goldilocks’ed” at the moment.
I built this up towards the end of last year with the plans of keeping it rigid. As such I went with a Pro5 Fortus 30 and 26 wheel set up to run a 2.6” front tyre and a 2.35” rear tyre.
Before I finished building it up with its rigid fork I found a Fox32 on eBay.
I downsized the front tyre to a 2.35” and sized down the rear to 2.2” (I actually struggled to realistically fit a 2.35” in the back). The wheels now anppear overkill for the tyres on them.
It’s a weighty build … heavier than my comparable HT 🤔 The fork is portly but it’s not one of the OEM ones (AFAIK) so not silly heavy.
My only other boost wheels are wider rimed than the above @ 35mm and much narrow Tech Enduro ones at 28(?)mm external 23(?)mm internal.
If I plan to run 2.2 to 2.35” tyres where is the sweet spot rim width wise?
Recommendations for wheelsets very welcomed to!
I think 30mm id has been the go-to for modern 2.35 tyres for a while now..No need to go narrower on an MTB.
Hmm. Interesting.
Your 23mm internal rims will be fine.
I have been running that width of tyre on both 25mm internal and 18mm internal rims this year. Both have been fine and I would choose 25mm if buying new wheels, but would be quite happy with 23mm.
What chakaping says... 30mm internal is IMO a bit wide for anything under about a 2.5"... 25mm internal is ideal for most 2.2-2.35" tyres, but 23 would absolutely be fine too...
Just simply learn to wheelbuild it's not that difficult 😉
But seriously, even I can do it.
Get some lighter weight rims, and easier too if they're of the same ERD, so you can then re-use existing spokes with the rim-swap method.
I have 25mm rims on my gravel bike, 45-52mm tyres. 30mm rims on the MTB, 2.3 - 2.6 nominal but the 2.6s are more like Ardent 2.4s, about 60-62mm.
For a bike like that I'd err on the slightly narrower side for tyre profile for harder surfaces and pressures at the higher end of the right range - I'm assuming it's a bike you want a bit of pep from and will ride on lanes and easy tracks more than you would a HT. 25mm?
It’s a weighty build … heavier than my comparable HT
Drop bar STIs can be weighty vs MTB equivalents, the rest is all HT kit so seems about right. I'd put the rigid fork on there and try it out once you had chance to ride with a sus fork. Maybe some faster 2.25 tyres like a Terreno Dry (ok it's optimistic at this time of year .. but amazing tyres on bikes like this when it's not too wet)
Another 'what chakaping says'. I've tried 35mm internal with 2.5-2.6 but didn't like the profile it gave the tyres, felt very solid and not cushioning so perhaps I needed even wider tyres. Dropped back to 30mm front / 25mm rear (EX511/471 combo) with 2.4-2.5 tyres and happier.
23mm internals will be fine for you.
I really like a 23mm(ish) wheel on that sized tyre. 30mm is the fashion right now, but Chris Porter was saying that even on 2.5 tyres some of his testing showed that narrower rims performed batter in some MTB situations. Unless they’re something like Maxxis WT tyres which have been designed specifically for wider rims then I’d just use what you have.
Thanks all.
@jameso - I run Terreno Dry tyres (40mm) on a bike at the moment and am really impressed with them - I hadn't realised thy did wider tyres so will take a butchers.
I'm rebuilding my Solaris with DT Swiss XM421 - 25mm inner, to run 2.3-2.4 tyres. I can swap in the 30mm DT XM1700 wheels off a FS bike and also have 35mm 650+ wheels with 3" tyres.
In answer to your question - 25mm.
My 2.35 are looking good and riding well on those rims
I assumed I HAD to have 30mm internal to run 2.40 tyres. I then switched to 27mm Roval Control and found zero difference in tyre width or (seemingly) shape or in the way the bike goes.
I’m running 2.35/2.4 Schwalbe on 27mm roval and 25mm Xm421. I’m happy with them. I had 30mm rims years ago and didn’t care for the squarer profile of the tyre. Tyre profiles may have changed since then, I know Maxxis do wide tyre for example, but I like a rounder profile
Anything from 23 - 30mm internal works just fine.