21mm rim 32mm tire

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Gerrit Van Wijk
My rim has an inner width of 21mm. Is it safe to fit a 32 mm
(1.3 inch?) tire?

Probably. I run 35mm tires on 23mm rims (inside width) with no problems.

gerrit van wijk said:

My rim has an inner width of 21mm. Is it safe to fit a 32
mm (1.3 inch?) tire?

No problem. The most common mountain bike rims have
*external* widths of about 22mm, and are routinely used
with 2" tyres.

James Thomson

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Gerrit Van Wijk
My rim has an inner width of 21mm. Is it safe to fit a 32 mm
(1.3 inch?) tire?

Sheldon has a presentation that covers this issue. See:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
According to the chart in that article, 32 mm is too narrow for that rim. I suggest you read the article and draw your own conclusions.
I think there are sensible and safe limits in each direction.

Here are some of the important points:
"Although you can use practically any tire/rim combination that shares the same bead seat diameter, it is unwise to use widely disparate sizes.
If you use a very narrow tire on a wide rim, you risk pinch flats and rim damage from road hazards.

If you use a very wide tire on a narrow rim, you risk sidewall or rim failure. This combination causes very sloppy handling at low speeds. Unfortunately, current mountain-bike fashion pushes the edge of this. In the interest of weight saving, most current mountain bikes have excessively narrow rims. Such narrow rims work very poorly with wide tires, unless the tires are overinflated...but that defeats the purpose of wide tires, and puts undue stress on the rim sidewalls."

My own opinion on your specific combination sounds OK. Let's see if Sheldon will add some additional insight.

Thanks for your replies. Maybe I can make a deal with my lbs
to try them for half an hour or so. "It's the only way to
make sure".