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25mm rims? Whats the verdict?

by chilievans
Tue, Apr 14, 2015 20:02
6

Thinking of changing my Ultegra wheelset to these 25mm rim wheels http://www.superstarcomponents.com/en/arc22-ultrawide-wheelset.htm

Before I pull the trigger is Anyone running 25mm rims and what are the advantages/disadvantages and would it be worth changing from my current set?

If you're new please join in and if you have questions pop them below and the forum regulars will answer as best we can.

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6 comments

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tandellcycling | 9 years ago
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Now,the rims on the market are wider and wider,u shape 25mm wide rims will be better control when biking,one more,good at handling crosswind,this is my feel after i change 25mm carbon rims instead of 21mm before.

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OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
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You don't say why you want to change to 25mm rims? Do you intend to run 25mm tyres?
Firstly, 25mm tyres will run just fine on rims designed for 23mm tyres, technically they are not quite so aerodynamic but the marginal gains are not worth an upgrade. However if you just want some new wheels then it is worth it.

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fukawitribe replied to OnTheRopes | 9 years ago
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OnTheRopes wrote:

You don't say why you want to change to 25mm rims? Do you intend to run 25mm tyres?
Firstly, 25mm tyres will run just fine on rims designed for 23mm tyres, technically they are not quite so aerodynamic but the marginal gains are not worth an upgrade.

True - but the benefits to comfort and grip can be quite significant however.

OnTheRopes wrote:

However if you just want some new wheels then it is worth it.

Absolutely 1

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olic | 9 years ago
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Mine are around 25-26mm at the brake track (FLO 30s and 60/90s). I run Conti GP4000s 23mm tyres on them and they are great. You can run lower tyre pressures and they have a v smooth flow between the brake track and the tyre which makes a significant aero saving whilst also giving you increased comfort/grip from the wider profile. I can't see why you would run wider tyres as you'd end up with the whole 'lightbulb' profile on the rim reducing this effect.

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joemmo | 9 years ago
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I've got the H+son archetypes which are quoted at 23mm width. With a 25mm tyre on the profile is noticably rounder than on my older DT 465 rims which tended to be rather tall and pear shaped. Ride wise, they feel good but I won't claim at 38.8% percentage increase in lateral grippiness or any other bollocks. I've run 28s on them and have dropped about 5-10psi in the pressure without any negatives that I can detect.

So yes, they're good but its a marginal gain

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fukawitribe | 9 years ago
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Not quite the same but i've been very happy with 23mm (ext) / 17.5mm (int) rims. Running Vittoria Open Pave 25mm they come up at ~27mm at the widest point, Vredestein Fortezza Tricomp 23mm @ ~25mm, both of which run very nicely and seem to be more comfortable and smoother than running on my previous 15mm internal rims, in particular the Vredestein. I've been running about 5-10psi lower in general than on the narrow rims without apparent penalty (quite the opposite).

In theory they should be giving more volume for a given tyre than a narrower rim, but at the same weight - in practice i'd not disagree with that although these things are notoriously subjective. FWIW I wouldn't go back to the narrow rims.

As for whether it's worth the swap for you - i'm afraid I don't know... I made the swap because the wider rim wheelset was lighter, wider and tubeless ready so the (quite small) cost of a second hand set made sense to me.

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