Forum menu
So I just completely a slightly experimental build.
It's a 2014 Genesis High Latitude LT -- nice steel 650b hardtail, nothing fancy -- that I've built rigid with two sets of wheels. One set is a pair of skinny 29er wheels, the other a mix of 27.5 rear and 29 front, both with big 2.4" Schwalbe's on them. I'll grab a picture tonight.
The idea is that I have a fast light XC (almost gravel) bike with the 29ers on it, but a quick wheel swap turns it into something slacker and more trail-orientated.
As I expected the rear clearance with the 29er wheel is tight... There is actually masses of clearance around the chainstays and laterally at the seatstays. But there's only 3-4mm between the top of the tyre and the seatstay bridge. The pic below isn't mine, but you can see the bridge.
Part of me thinks this will be fine, as it's the side-to-side flex of the wheel and frame that I'd expect to cause rubbing issues when clearances are tight. I wouldn't expect much upwards flex. And the tyre is a 2.1" Thunder Bert with basically no tread, that's unlikely to pick up mud and rocks.
The other part of thinks I'm wrong and should swap for something even skinnier out back...
I know I won't die, but advice appreciated... 🙂
https://www.pinkbike.com/photo/11495410/
That wouldn't worry me at all. I've had a tyre very tight on the chain stay; So tight that the flex was enough to wear a hole in through the metal. Clearance on that bridge is totally different. Not a problem. (All IMO)
Whats the worst that can happen, a stone jams in locking up the back wheel and sending you straight over the bars. I run a clearance of around 2-3 mm on my track frame which I used off road and it hasn't happened yet...
Yea, true, I think the title of this post is a bit misleading actually, as I'm hardly worried something bad is going to happen.
All I really want is to finish this (or any) bike, ride it and not feel obliged to p**s around changing bit for quite a while...
Here it is...
Chainstay clearance is great
But seatstay clearance is even tighter than I thought now the tyre's been stretching for a few days... I reckon only 1-2mm space left...
Given that the whole reason I have steel frame is the apparent comfy ride, I assume there is going to be at least a few mm's of flex... So I ended up switching the Thunder Burt for a 40mm Terrene Ellwood this morning. The Terrene actually comes up closer to 45mm, so there's barely 5mm difference between that and the Burt, but clearance is much better