Looking into getting a new bike so the topic of wide rims has reared it’s ugly head!

Two of the bikes I’m deciding between come with the option of going for either a 23mm ID rim or a 30 and 35mm ID rim.  I currently ride Hope Tech Enduro rims with 2.4 DHRII’s on so would look at fitting the WT versions if I went for the wider options.  One of the bikes I tested had these tyres on and they felt really good but I didn’t get enough mileage to really get a proper feel for them, play with pressures etc.  Are there any downsides?  I found a thread from a year ago but it was full of differing opinions so inconclusive.  I know the tyre will be more stable under load but are they slower rolling?  The bike will be used for a mix of all day adventures, bike park trips and trail centres so a real mixed bag.  Or am I overthinking this and should just go for it?

30mm ideal for 2.35 to 2.8 tyres.  Not too much extra weight compared with the 35 which added to a durable plus tyre is getting to be some serious weight

30 is too small for 2.8 but ideal for a 2.4

I am running Ibis’ 738s which have impressed me so far but no long term use yet.

They look the business too and feel good to ride on as wanted them over the carbon ones for various reasons.

even though I’ve had carbon dt swiss’ in past, I prefer the subtle look, nice feeling and left me with a shed load left in the pocket feeling of the alloys.

they have a 34mm inner iirc and 38mm outer width ideal for 2.3” all the way up to 2.8” which I am running as stock build came with the NNs.

admittedly the 2.8” NNs are sluggish on road but they excell especially when weather dries out more.

I would highly recommend getting around 35mm rims to go plus light or whatever with 2.6” tyres of the minions as the Schwalbes have ludicrously thin sidewalls.

SCHWALBE – listen to your customers, make thicker sidewalls and add weight to them that’s be fine! 👍

I’m running Stans Arch Mk3 (26mm internal) on trail bike, and flit between 30mm internal rimmed 29er and 40mm internal rimmed 650b+ on my enduro/all mountain…..or whatever they’re called this week bike.  If I had to pick one set, it’d be the 30mm as it seems to work well with larger volume 2.35 to 2.6 inch tyres.  The only downside I’ve noticed comes down to tyre choice – if you run a small volume 2.3 to 2.4 tyre (like ‘old’ 2.3 Maxxis sizes), the tyre can get quite a squared off tread profile, which can make them feel quite draggy, and unpredictable when leant right over on flat corners. Go for a chubbier 2.35 (schwalbe or bontrager) or one of the new Maxxis ‘WT’ and you should be reet.

All sounding good, would be running wide rim specific tyres like Maxxis WT for definite as they are the treads I like and they say they’re designed for 30-35mm rims.

Both bikes under consideration can take 2.6″ with clearance so that’s all good.  Weight for a tyre seem to be around the 900g mark, is that too light for rocky use?  Don’t ride Lakes level of rocks but the odd section of sharp stuff does feature occasionally.

I went from Hope Enduros to Stans Flows with 2.4 High Roller 2 tyres. It did square them off a bit but it was only the rear that I noticed it pedalling but swapping to a 2.3 Minion feels better. Looked at the Hope 35w but got put off by a couple of people I ride with denting them fairly easily.

I have 30mm DT rims with 2.3 minions front and rear. No issues so far but the sidewalls do look a little exposed and have picked up some scrapes. I will replace them with WT versions when they wear out.