GP5000 tyre width issue

Yeah, that’d be cool. What do you reckon @Ronan_Mc_Laughlin @Dave_Rome

Fancy a tyre manufacturing deep dive and a visit to Conti, Pirelli or Michelin?

I agree. On a previous bike with rim brakes (Look 595), I’d installed 28mm GP5000 clinchers. Initially there was clearance, but after a while, the front tire expanded and starting rubbing under the underside of the front brake.

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Ooh, I’d better watch out for that. I’ve got plenty of clearance on the front but only a couple of millimetres at the back. :grimacing:

That’s a pretty big topic and one that’s tough to answer. Loose standards (on the tyre and rim fronts), manufacturing variances, stretchy materials, and moving goal posts of desired sizing (largely related to changing inner rim width trends) all factor into this one.

These are all things that are far more tightly controlled in the automotive industries. There things are typically overbuilt for purpose without a worry of weight or whether the end consumer can install/remove them. Also, tyres are made for a specific rim size (diameter and width).

I know Ronan and I have discussed this before, and it would be a really nerdy feature without a clear or pleasing answer. Modern tubeless is a little closer to where automotive is in terms of better controlled dimensional sizing, but it’s still somewhat a mess.

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Fair enough. Hopefully the manufacturers will make it clearer over time, and I imagine wheel width will eventually settle on an optimal measurement for each type of terrain and discipline as more research is carried out. At least some brands, like Pirelli, now list their reference rim width on the box their tyres come in so you have some idea of where you’ll end up.