Smallest tire for a 30mm rim

[kevinvc]

There's a decent set of dynamo 29er wheels for sale on my local Craigslist at a good price. I was trying to convince myself that they would work for my commuting / gravel / bikepacking bike. SP dynamo front and DT Swiss rear laced to Easton Arc 30 rims.

I would use 32mm tires for commuting and up to 2.5" or so for off-road stuff. All the charts I've looked at seem to suggest that I shouldn't run a tire smaller than around 40mm on these rims because I'd distort their shape.

Is that as big of an issue if I'm using clinchers as opposed to running tubeless?

[Cicli]

You could run a 32 on there with no issue.

[ofcounsel]

^^^^ I would think that a 32mm tire on a 30mm internal width rim would stretch that tire out pretty flat. Rims like the ARC 30 are optimized for 2.35 to 2.5 mtb tires. So i'd imagine you would be looking at at least 700x42 tires. Then again, I'd never tried it, so maybe Cicli has and knows.

[Cicli]

^^^^ I would think that a 32mm tire on a 30mm internal width rim would stretch that tire out pretty flat. Rims like the ARC 30 are optimized for 2.35 to 2.5 mtb tires. So i'd imagine you would be looking at at least 700x42 tires. Then again, I'd never tried it, so maybe Cicli has and knows.

I ran 32s on a set of Velocity blunts. Not great but it worked. Sort of like a 25 on a 25mm rim.

[kevinvc]

I ran 32s on a set of Velocity blunts. Not great but it worked. Sort of like a 25 on a 25mm rim.

When you say "not great", do you mean that the feel wasn't very good or was it more than that. I would use these for some mixed road / gravel touring and I don't know if I should be concerned about doing a fast descent with a loaded bike. I suppose I could use 35s if the extra 3mm make a difference, but I'd prefer not to have to use 2" tires. At that point this deal doesn't make sense and I should just keep looking elsewhere.

[ofcounsel]

Also, note that the Arc 30's are significantly wider than the Blunts, Blunts are 26.6 internal width, not 30mm internal width.

Al