Picked up this old Lynskey Helix on fb marketplace, took it to the shop to get fixed up and the mechanic put 28mm tires on. Clearance is maybe 2mm. I can wedge a 3mm wrench through but it doesn’t slide through without a little force. Do you think this is too tight? Considering using a 25 in the front so I can ride in wet conditions without getting mud rubbing. It’s a little tighter on the brake caliper than the fork.
Also, anything I can do to get another mm or so of clearance?
by Mysterious_Lawyer_65
20 Comments
Put Pirelli 26s on it. 28 is too big. Any little rock will be a problem. 26 should be the happy medium
Brother… what clearance? I am the first one to push clearance, but that is suboptimal.
If you truly want to run 28’s then it’s probably time to start looking at a new fork. Carbon does not play well with abrasion, and that whole ‘3-5mm’ thing is really best estimate for most things. Everything on a bike flexes from time to time during normal riding, but if you start cranking hard on a climb out of the saddle, your wheel *will* tilt, it *will* flex, and it *will* rub.
Cozy
If the closest contact point is the caliper then you’re fine, just be aware that you’ll likely scratch up the underside of the caliper with these tyres. Flex combined with road dirt will wear them down, but you shouldn’t notice any of that rubbing while riding
How’s the rear? If it’s good in the back you can always find a fork with some more clearance. Origin 8 make a couple carbon forks that clear 28c nicely and have the axle/crown measurements for older “25c max” frames.
What clearance?
I once put chain pins with a glob of grease to secure top clearance for wider tires in my drop out before my axle…
Not good
10/10. I think bikes look better with tire sizes closest to the max clearance. Looks like it was meant to be ridden that way
Unclear
What’s your vector, Victor?
Send it
Had this same clearance or less on a CAAD10 for several years. It’s fine. Could sometimes hear some road grit tickling the balls of the brakes on rainy days, but it was fine.
If this was a middle school dance that fork and tire would be separated so fast
Balls out risky, according to my opinion.
Doesn’t matter on a road bike imo
I’ll give it a solid bad out of 10
im on similar clearance on my jp bikepacking setup tt-x38.
the advertised clearance is 32C, but i pushed a measured 33C front n 36C rear 😅
as ppl say, ‘SEND IT!’
https://preview.redd.it/ihipvi2kn1kh1.jpeg?width=4080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ff8ff4c83cc4f37dfcd66203200555255d61acc9
Not enough for me.
It’s fine. My track bike has less clearance and that thing gets ridden hard in all weather.
All these commenters saying otherwise clearly weren’t around in the early 2000s when this type of clearance was the norm.