[macko]

My girlfriend is about to get herself her first "real" bike. She's looking at a very nice Felt road bike but I (we) have a question first...

Is it safe to assume that a cross tire will fit on a normal roadbike setup? I'm talking like a 700/32 tire on a bike that currently has 700/23 rubbers. I guess it all depends on the width of the fork but if it's a stupid question I'd like to hear it from you guys first.

Thanks!

 

[ire]

Its going to depend....my road bike won't fit a 30c slick tire.

 

[James]

Great choice on the bike!

On the tire, most road bikes won't fit something that big, ie if it comes with a 23c, you might only be able to go to a 25c, maybe a 27c, but probably not a 30c.
Some bikes that come stock with 25c tires have longer rear stays and forks to fit larger tires, you can go up on those, but not a lot.
Why do you guys want 32c tires? Maybe look at a cross bike, and get some slicks for that instead?

 

[SuspectDevice]

Just look for a bike with long-reach calipers (ala Shimano R650, or the Tektro ones), 32's shouldn't be an issue, but unless she is riding singletrack there is no need for knobbies, something like a Panaracer Pasela in 32 is plenty of tire for dirtroads, and the added air volume gives you plenty of puncture resistance.
The Giant OCR bikes are great, as is the Kona Kapu. Both feature calipers that will allow you run run larger tires and fenders.

Cross bikes suck if they are ridden primarily on the road.