I really, really can’t make my mind up whether getting new wheels with a 25mm internal width would be counter-productive.

I’m on 30mm id rims, have been for a couple of years since this made sense at the time since that’s where everything was headed, haven’t ever noticed game changing performance due to volume or support, I prefer the feel of a narrower tyre that tips in to the turns more easily and cuts into the soft stuff, I prefer precision over comfort, I have to run stw and swinley fb high pressures for the predictability, support and for the tyre to not come off the rim.

Just to flip it around, are there benefits such as tyre profile and weight savings to be had with narrower rims?

What size tyres are you running? I’ve got 25mm on my full sus, 30mm on my 29 hardtail. Both running 2.4 tyres and the difference really isn’t huge in terms of tyre profile (and theres very little in rim weight either).

Just to flip it around, are there benefits such as tyre profile and weight savings to be had with narrower rims?

I have 25mm rims and 30mm rims.

With 2.2/2.3 tires I dont nitice much difference, unless with very low pressures on my rigid bike.

With 2.4 and 2.6 tires, I much prefer the wider rims for a nicer profile and lower pressures.

Depends what size tyres you run.

I have a mix of 25mm and 30mm rims. Find that a wider front squares the tyre up more and prefer it, on the back the narrower rim makes the bike turn better (for the same tyres).

XC wheels are 25mm front and back
Trail wheels are 30/30

I found 30/25 front/rear to work well. The wider front with a slightly squarer profile and a stronger, narrower rear with a more rounded profile at the rear.

XM481 front and EX471 rear. Also, the same weight, more even stiffness front to back, and a less dent-resistant front rim isn’t a problem. The EX471 seems to be stronger than the EX511 too.

I use 25mm ex 471 rims as 30mm rims square off the tyres I prefer to use.

i used to swear by Mavic XC717s
17mm internal.
the thought of it makes me pucker up, man, the noughties were a crazy time.

Perfectly happy with 25/26mm rims and 2.3/2.4 tyres. Got Arch MK3 on the hardtail and Hunt XC wide on the FS and never wished for any wider, had 30mm rims previously and they squared off my preferred Maxxis tyres too much. Like others, I ran XC717s back in the day, even my Crest’s which were considered wide for XC at the time were only 21mm ID, the original Stans Flow was 25mm and DH riders swore by Mavic 823’s and 721’s for years. Telling that a lot of DH riders still ride the DT EX471 as well.

Im typically 2.4 wide wt maxxis.

2.5s are too big for me.

For xc / light trail, 25mm are fine. I run that width front and back on my Anthem with Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.35 up front and a Racing Ralph 2.25 out back. 22psi front, 26psi rear. No issues whatsoever.

With more heavy duty 2.5 / 2.6 trail / enduro tyres, I’d want 30mm rims.

The other interesting thing is what tyres you’re using and whether they’ll continue to work well with narrower rims!

I was reading up on Maxxis WT versions and they’ve basically moved the blocks so that they’re optimised for 30-35mm rims (rather than 20something which is what the older versions were designed for).

Maxxis are doing WT versions of their existing tyres, but other manufacturers are just optimising their new releases for the wider rims that are fitted to modern bikes.

Not strictly true any more with Maxxis and WT. Initially, they were a standalone thing, now any Maxxis Tyre that is 2.4 wide or over is WT and will be marked as such. Any less than this is “regular”. FWIW. I’ve got 2.4 Dissector/Rekon on 25mm rims on the Spur and never felt like I needed a wider rim for more support, that’s running 23/25 ish PSI and 165lb me.

i used to swear by Mavic XC717s
17mm internal.
the thought of it makes me pucker up, man, the noughties were a crazy time.

Mavic 231s on XT hubs, 1.9″ Ritchey Z-Max or Onza Porcs, jumps for goalposts…

I have no interest in running tyres over 2.4/ 2.5 so anything between 25mm to 30mm is fine by me, I think a bigger tyre and rim upfront makes perfect sense though. Downhillers still run 25mm rims where every hundredth of a second counts over the most brutal terrain so the trend of wider rims and plus tyres seems to be a strange direction to take trail riding, I haven’t ridden anything anywhere that required 2.8 tyres and 35mm rims.

My jeffsy has 22.5mm rims and I’m running a 2.35 magic mary up front and a 2.3 DHR rear and it seems fine to me, although I’ve never had anything wider so don’t really have anything to compare it to.

When you’re battering down a descent, focussing on everything ahead of you, you aren’t going to be thinking “god, I wish my rims were 5mm wider”. And, in my experience, if you run narrower rims you’ll puncture less and they’ll be stronger for the same weight.

I found 30/25 front/rear to work well. The wider front with a slightly squarer profile and a stronger, narrower rear with a more rounded profile at the rear.

Me too.

Currently on 2.4 Michelin Enduro’s on my FS and a Magic Mary / Minion SS on my HT.

i didn’t really notice a huge difference between 25 and 30mm rims (using Vigilante 2.3), and then I happened to get a new set of wheels with hookless rims, in 30mm, and that made a big difference – other wheels and rims were all normal hooked rims. Not sure what it is – perhaps the sidewall sits more upright or something. Also felt like the sidewall was better suported and managed to drop from 25psi up front, to just a smidge over 20. same tyres, sealant and the whole thing.

That all said, i’m still using the wheels with the 25s, and never really wish that i had either of the other wheels on, not so much that i could be bothered making a swap anyway…

And, in my experience, if you run narrower rims you’ll puncture less and they’ll be stronger for the same weight.

Good point. All my friends who constantly complain about punctures or torn sidewalls are running wider 30mm+ rims.

Think some manufacturers make 27mm wide. Worth having a look as so many tim producers now.

And, in my experience, if you run narrower rims you’ll puncture less and they’ll be stronger for the same weight.

Good point. All my friends who constantly complain about punctures or torn sidewalls are running wider 30mm+ rims.

I’ve wondered about this – certainly seemed to be complaining more about torn sidewalls and I wondered if because the tyre is squarer they’re more exposed? On the other hand, hard to separate stuff out – “now I’ve got wider rims I can run lower pressures without pinching” but the sidewalls get torn? Or is it that the people running low pressures and wider rims are just more rad?

I haven’t ridden anything anywhere that required 2.8 tyres and 35mm rims.

i’ve got 40mm rims and 2.8 tyres on the eeb – its stupid! cornering in teh dry is like cornering in the wet! unless you pump them rock hard. Luckily i’ve only had 1 dry ride in 3 months – haha!.

i need to get a new narrower wheelset for summer. or a new boost fork for teh HT to swap stuff over.