Opinions On Wide Rims For Gravel

Image courtesy of SRAM

This week saw the release of several items from SRAM and their brands for the gravel rider. One of these items was a wheel set from Zipp Wheels. 

Dubbed the "303 XPLR S and SW", the wheels were designed as "a speed-focused gravel wheel" and are intended to be used only with two tire models that were designed in conjunction with Goodyear to work best on these rims. 

The rims are a hookless design, which will put a lot of folks off right there besides the proprietary nature of the tire choice. That all is a debate for another day. I want to focus on the rim width detail which in this case is 32mm wide internal. 

Many riders are going to read about this wider rim and how Goodyear and Zipp managed to build a tire to mate with the rim to be very aerodynamic. This sounds like it makes sense, and in reality, having that tire/rim interface be optimized for aero is an advantage to racers. But gravel riders being who they are, I know that they will want to use whatever tires they want to use, and I know tire manufacturers are not going to come to a consensus on rim/tire interface for the best aero numbers. Nope! That ain't-a-gonna happen. 

Furthermore, I have experimented with wide internal width rims and typical width gravel tires already. Now, my focus wasn't on ultimate aerodynamic efficiencies. My focus was on what that rim did to my tires, and what that resulted in when I rode my bicycle. Those things matter more to me, and I would wager that they matter more to most gravel riders, not just racers. 

So, instead of re-writing a bunch of text I've already written, I will direct you to two posts I wrote in the Fall of 2021. The first is HERE and the second is HERE. 

Essentially, for those who want a condensed version, inner rim width and tire width need to be in ranges that compliment each other. There are rims that are too narrow for wide tires and tires that are too narrow for wide rims. This seems obvious, but click and read the links, especially the first one, to get a bead on why I feel that way. 

Thanks for reading Guitar Ted Productions.