Is there a 650b rim width that would do 2.3-2.6 most of the time but if I wanted take 2.8-3.0 tyres?

Just thinking about getting the most out of one wheelset if I built a bike-packing bike using a Sonder Frontier frame or similar

Everyday/week duties for the wheelset would be on my Banshee Spitfire but then it would be fitted with fatter tyres for the bike-packing bike

Moon on a stick?

35mm internal width?
I’m running 2.8″ Nobby Nics on Halo Vapour 35s. I wouldn’t want to go any narrower, in fact I’d rather be on 40mm and I wouldn’t want to put 3.0″ tryes on them. However, I’d have thought they’d be fine down to 2.5″, and probably 2.3″

Edit:

In fact, from Halo’s website:

Size does matter and these 35mm wide XC/Trail wheels are perfectly optimised for 2.25 – 2.8″ tyres. With a beautifully curved profile their 30mm internal measurement provides plenty of tyre volume which helps reduce pinch flats while increasing comfort and grip.

And it turns out I’m on 30mm internal after all…

For ~3 inches, minimum 30mm internal is a musthave, so i would go for that. 2.3 should work fine on wide rims. Velocity Blunt, WTB i29 or even i35.

I’ve go for Halo Vapour 35 (in fact I have)

I’m looking to do it the other way round – mostly 2.8in with the odd 2.35in experiment.

You might find this thread useful: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/hope-tech-35w-wheels-your-experiences

I have a 2.25 rear and a 2.8 front on blunts, both fine

Halo Vapour 35 looks a good choice if buying a wheelset, although I might build my own wheels based on Hope Pro 4 hubs. I like the look of WTB Asym i35 but they are 84g heavier than the Halo rim, not sure if that would be noticeable?

Looking to pair the rims with some Maxxis Wide Trail tyres

DT do the XM481 XM521 and XM551 (30/35/40mm internal) options which are excellent rims. Sounds to me like you’d ideally be after one set of XM481 and one set of XM551 and swap between them for 2.3 to 2.8 tyres (Maxxis Minion 2.8 tyres recommend no smaller than 39mm internal rims).
For one set I guess if in your shoes I’d go with either a pair of XM521 or possibly an XM521 front and an XM481 rear and use up to 2.6 only at the rear.

Got 2 wheel sets built with Asym i35s, running 2.8 and 3.0 tyres. Have fitted a 2.4, which seemed fine, albeit I only rode it that way once

I can’t fault them, nor could the mate who built them for me, which is also encouraging

Halo Vapour 35 looks a good choice if buying a wheelset, although I might build my own wheels based on Hope Pro 4 hubs. I like the look of WTB Asym i35 but they are 84g heavier than the Halo rim, not sure if that would be noticeable?

Because WTB i35 are 5mm wider internally than halo 35. i29 would be the one to compare weight to.

Another vote for Velocity Blunt.

I’ve run 2.25 and 2.6 Nobby Nics and an Ardent 2.4 on my Vapour 35’s with no issue, however running a Vapour 50 up front with a 3-3.35 tyre.

Maxxis Minion 2.8 tyres recommend no smaller than 39mm internal rims

This information is significant, but the only source I can find for it is your post 😀
Where did it come from?

This information is significant, but the only source I can find for it is your post
Where did it come from?

Have found references to it now on images of the tyre packaging. No mention on the Maxxis product page though-> Maxxis Minion 2.8 product page

The i35 is a really nice rim but it’s fairly chunky for what it is- basically a pumped up KOM. It’s stiff but I’d suspect not hugely strong.

I’m running the Hope Tech35s on both my MTBs, a banshee spitfire with Maxxis minion WT and a genesis tarn with 3.0 spec purgatory’s.

Depending on budget I’d look at custom build with DT XM521 rims. Alternatively the hope tech 35Ws are pretty good value but not especially light and I’m not sure how durable they will be long term as I’ve already put a fairly substantial dent into one of mine.

dmorts – says so on the packaging.

Can post or link a pic if that’s useful?

Thanks, but already came across a picture of Recon packaging with the minimum width of 39mm stated

No worries!