What's the ideal clincher rim width ?

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Permalink Reply by Echappe Equipment on February 23, 2010 at 4:25pm

Hey Mark,
We get this question a lot at Echappe. The HED wheels are often called into question for their weight versus the performance benefits of the wider rim. We also have a good relationship with Challenge and have tried out a few combinations of HED wheels (23mm rim) and Shimano wheelsets (19mm) and Challenge clinchers. The short end of the story is that a wider rim does in fact reduce the "pinch" at the bottom of the tire and allows you to run a slightly lower pressure on a clincher. Obviously you have to try out a lot of different courses and scenarios to best match your own riding style and preferred "feel", but you can roll around with less pressure and therefore a little more grip from a wider rim.

I think this performance benefit out weighs any sort of weight difference between 19mm wheels. If you can grab more dirt through a turn, you'll carry more speed overall. And really, if you want to shed weight, ride tubulars.

Hope that helps.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Angelos on February 24, 2010 at 7:23am

Thanks for sharing your experience with various rim widths.
Mark

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Permalink Reply by Erik_A on July 16, 2012 at 8:22am

Sorry to dredge up an older thread, but would the Alex DH19's behave similarly to the Velocitys?  http://www.alexrims.com/product_detail.asp?btn=4&cat=4&id=95 and other than weight would Shimano MTB (Deore type) hubs work out OK vs an Ultegra or 105 hub?

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