# Ritchey Breakaway Road - biggest tires?



## bud wiser

I recognize this question doesn't have a precise answer due to the variability in tires and sizing, but approximately is OK. Help?


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## Kemmelberg

*28's work*

I put some heavy duty, wire bead Continental 28 mm tires on for a trip to Mexico. I rode on rocky goat paths in the mountains and didn't flat or have any problems. The tires were labeled 28's, but I don't know what they actually measured. They seemed even wider.


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## 55x11

get cross frame version of Ritchey, it can accept tires up to 40's, at least


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## bud wiser

55x11 said:


> get cross frame version of Ritchey, it can accept tires up to 40's, at least


Thanks, but that doesn't answer my question. I don't need to run 40s. I want to know how large I can go on the Breakaway Road frame, not a different frame.


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## 55x11

bud wiser said:


> Thanks, but that doesn't answer my question. I don't need to run 40s. I want to know how large I can go on the Breakaway Road frame, not a different frame.


Sorry, have no idea about the road frame clearances. If you already have the frame, why don't you simply measure it or better yet borrow a tire and try it out? If you needed to go above 28s, cross frame would have been the way to go, that's all I was saying.

PS: I have seen reports where in order to fit 30mm tires people had to raise the brake bridge and use steel fork to get enough clearance. So most likely the limit is somewhere between 28 and 30. Assuming you have no fenders and your brakes don't get in the way.


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## bud wiser

I don't have the frame, either one, which is why I ask. If I could fit a 30 in the road, then I'd get it. If not, I'd likely get the cross. 

With a little help from google search, I found a guy who raised his brake bridge on the road and now runs longer reach brakes and can ride a 30. But I'm not sure the max that the fork will clear.


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## bud wiser

*Biggest tires on the road frame...*

I got a road frame and am still attempting to answer my earlier question of the biggest tires that will fit. I'll post up the results here for others to view, complete with pics, when I take them. 

The limiting factor is the carbon Ritchey fork, specifically the crown which crowds the top of the tire. In the rear, I've mounted a 700x27c Challenge Parigi Roubaix clincher on an Open Pro rim. It measures more like a 29c and fit fine, with a few mm's to spare on either side of the chain stays. However, this tire was too big for the carbon fork up front. 

I plan to mount this tire on a newer, wider style rim such as the HED C2 or the Velocity Dyad and see how that works (on the rear). For the front, I've got a spare steel cross fork that has an axle to crown identical to the stock Ritchey carbon fork. I actually prefer the idea of a cross fork up front as I think it will be easier to remove it than a fork with a caliper brake. All I'll have to do is unclip the straddle cable and the fork can be removed (after the stem is off).


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## 55x11

Thanks but it doesn't answer your original question! 

I still don't get it. If you want to run thicker (say 35mm) tires why not just get XC model? Readily available and very road like geometry. Then u can mount v-brakes or calipers and have plenty of tire clearance. Sounds like you are doing it a painful way when a simple and elegant solution is available at the same cost all along.


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## bud wiser

55x11 said:


> Thanks but it doesn't answer your original question!
> 
> I still don't get it. If you want to run thicker (say 35mm) tires why not just get XC model? Readily available and very road like geometry. Then u can mount v-brakes or calipers and have plenty of tire clearance. Sounds like you are doing it a painful way when a simple and elegant solution is available at the same cost all along.


A 35mm tire is bigger than I need or plan to ride. I found a good deal on a used road frame. I'm sure the cross frame is great, but typically, I like the handing and agility of road geometry a bit better. However, I won't be racing this and would like to run a tire bigger than the traditional racing tire. Conti 28c's measure 26mm, which is doable, but I'd still like to go bigger (but not as big as 35). 

In the end, I got the frame and am now doing some experimentation. I had a spare steel canti fork with the same axle to crown at the Ritchey carbon road fork. Now I can put Challenge PM's (measure 29mm) on the front AND the rear! 

I'm not alone in this odd quest. Here's pics of a BA Road where the owner raised the brake bridge to fit in GB Cypres (30mm). 

Fat road tires are in!


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## bud wiser

*another...*

more pics. Not my bike, but my inspiration (sort of).


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## 55x11

bud wiser said:


> more pics. Not my bike, but my inspiration (sort of).


I guess if you got a frame as a good deal, that makes sense. Between raising the bridge and shopping for CX fork though, you may spend some signficant $ - and time.
The CX frame on Ritchey BAB is very similar to road geometry. The wheelbase is a tiny bit longer but otherwise it is the same road geometry and rides indistinguishably the same. It's not like some CX bikes that are totally different with taller BB and a lot longer wheelbase and different seat tube/fork angle etc. If anything, my position on CX is "racier" since headtube is shorter than my road bike, allowing for a more aero position with fairly low handlebars - probably as low as is comfortable for me.


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## 55x11

55x11 said:


> I guess if you got a frame as a good deal, that makes sense. Between raising the bridge and shopping for CX fork though, you may spend some signficant $ - and time.
> The CX frame on Ritchey BAB is very similar to road geometry. The wheelbase is a tiny bit longer but otherwise it is the same road geometry and rides indistinguishably the same. It's not like some CX bikes that are totally different with taller BB and a lot longer wheelbase and different seat tube/fork angle etc. If anything, my position on CX is "racier" since headtube is shorter than my road bike, allowing for a more aero position with fairly low handlebars - probably as low as is comfortable for me.


FYI - this article claims 28mm is the biggest Ritchey BAB (non-CX, road model) can accomodate:
Ritchey Break-Away Design a Study in Elegant Simplicity « Silicon Valley Cyclist


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