What are the Pro's and Con's of narrow rims?

[ferrus]

I'm planning on building up some NOS Campag Atek's, but have some doubts about their very narrow 20mm width. Can I use 'regular' 2 inch-ish tyres with them, I'm envisaging them squirming all over the place with anything over about 1.8'' ?

How does rim width effect tyre-profile in practice, and apart from weighing less are there any other advantages with rims this narrow?

 

[carlton dyna-tech]

I've got Campag Mirox on my Dyna-Tech 2070 (not sure how wide they are) and have some big tyres on, and they run fine.

I've also got a pair of Campag K2s fitted to my Dyna-Tech MT5. They are definitely slimmer than the Miroxs', and are shod with Conti Vapor tyres. Again no problems with squirming (and I'm no lightweight rider!).

 

[bren]

In my experience the squirming sensation depends on the tyre. I've run some wide old rigida rims in the past with cheap thin tyres which squirmed and the same rims with fat contis which ran sure as you like. Weight was the obvious problem with wider rims, but they were very strong.
My current ride has fairly thin superstar rims with contis and they feel nice and are crazy light. Rim construction seems to have moved on quite a bit.

 

[cce]

i've got 2.25in racing ralphs on on my 19mm mavic 217's. It's all fine.

 

[FMJ]

Narrow rims will mess up the (designed) profile of some edging tires.

 

[FluffyChicken]

i've got 2.25in racing ralphs on on my 19mm mavic 217's. It's all fine.

217 are quite wide, they have a internal bead width (important bit for the tyre) of 17mm
The Campag Atek's are way below that at just over 13mm (13.3mm I think) even though the external is not that much different.
Easy to measure, it's just hte distance between the inside of the bead hooks on either side.

The Mirox mention is in the 15mm

Bikepedia has all this in one of their tables, might/might not have the 217 in it, can't remember. I think they are there.

Anyway
You might find you need to run at a higher pressure or get stronger sidewalls to get stability back in practice as you say. Stick to 1.9/2.1's as per retrodays. Been a long long time since I used them.
Another thing to think about, if the tyre gets too wide then you're not hitting down the sidewall properly, which given that does the hard work of controlling shock absorption, rebound and damping of the tyre, you may rim it out much easier.

Try it and see though

 

[chrisv40]

I have a pair of Stheno's with 2.25" Rocket Rons on and I have had no problems at all.

 

[ferrus]

yeah, I've used Stheno's for years and really like them, but they're a fair bit wider than the Atek's.

Thank's for the comments guys, I feel a little more reasurred now and think I'll stick with 'em.
Any further thoughts still appreciated...

 

[feetabix]

.....be careful to make sure the canti's and pads will cope with very narrow rims.....pads will tend to dive on narrow rims......i think thats the reason the campag rims have a concave braking surface......

 

[ferrus]

good point, I'm pretty sure they'll be ok

a slightly annoying thing is that I like to swap wheels for quick tyre changes (the other rims being Stheno's and 517s) - so some judicious brake adjustment and pad positioning's gonna be needed ...along with mucho barrel-adjuster twiddling...