Langster

[ride4him]

Does anyone have a Specialized Langster? If so what is the largest tire you can fit on it? I've been told that I cant go any bigger than a 700x25 by a response on this forum and a lbs.

 

[alfeng]

Does anyone have a Specialized Langster? If so what is the largest tire you can fit on it? I've been told that I cant go any bigger than a 700x25 by a response on this forum and a lbs.

FWIW. Since your Specialized Langster is supposedly a TRACK bike, there isn't any reason to expect it to accommodate a 700x28 tire ... unfortunately, asking again in various Forums isn't going to change the clearance.

BTW. You probably do NOT want to get Continental tires because their 700x23 easily has the circumference of some (e.g., Michelin) 700x25 tires ... having said THAT, perhaps a Michelin 700x28 might fit.

Regardless, you have do have options if you really want to use larger tires because of the rough roadway you are encountering:

• you could get a late-70s to early-80s steel frame, and respace the rear to 120mm (presuming you want to use your current wheelset).

If you don't want to respace the rear triangle on a different frame from 126mm to 120mm then choose a frame from the early 70s for your SS road training.

• BUT, a more satisfactory solution (what I would probably choose to do if I were in your situation) would be to simply buy a ROAD fork for your Langster. The road fork will have more rake AND consequently may have clearance for a 700x28 (or, larger) tire. The geometry of the frame MAY be changed, slightly but you may find that changing the 74º headtube angle to a slightly slacker angle to be beneficial for road riding.

Of course, you may want to add one-or-two links to your chain so you get more clearance for the rear wheel.

NB. SOME/MANY road forks (particularly, many Carbon Fiber forks) do NOT have clearance for a 700x28 tire ... some do. I want to say that Colnago's forks DO have clearance for a 700x28 tire, but I haven't tried to fit one, so maybe not. I think most steel forks will have clearance for a 700x28 tire. Of course, a fork for a 27" wheel will have clearance for a 700x32-or-larger tire.

 

[spinerguy]

FWIW. Since your Specialized Langster is supposedly a TRACK bike, there isn't any reason to expect it to accommodate a 700x28 tire ...

Incorrect statement. Langsters are utilitarian/commute city errand by design. Can they be ride at a track? yes but who wants to compete with a porker? Aren't they about 23-24lbs?
There's clearance on the rear but as other have mentioned, problem is fork clearence. Typically these (carbon) barely admit a 25mm tire.
True track forks accomodate 20-23mm tires but you can always file the lawyer tabs to fit a 25mm tire, as I've done to my Electron.

If you must ride a fat tire, I'd recommend to go with a CX fork.