Tom A. wrote:
Ummm...why? Well designed frames/forks and most short-reach brakes can easily accommodate up to 28mm measured width tires, and some even 30+. Mid-reach brakes even more.well, again, there's the difference between "well designed" as expressed in road race products versus what we see in triathlon.
i'm ambivalent about wider tires. i like them, theoretically, if you realize that i've come from 19mm and 20mm tires (in the 80s) to 23mm, to 25mm and now contemplating 28mm tires. i don't know what will be faster aerodynamically, in the end. i suspect it might have to do with rim shape and depth (maybe a 28mm tire is an aero dog on a 30mm rim, compared to a 23mm tire on a 30mm rim, but it might be great on a 70mm rim). i don't know how frame manufacture will be negatively impacted by the REAR tire being that big.
i don't know whether disc brakes will make bigger (wider and taller) tires easier to slide into the rear of frames or not. and i don't know whether in the end the bigger tires will be a net gain.
i have a suspicion. but i don't know. we'll see.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman