I think you need to compare them relatively - are you in the 25mm, 27mm or 30mm internal width camp?
To me, a 30mm IW and 40mm EW rim profile with a 40mm tire is the perfect match and it will give great characteristics on larger tires also. If you have a rim that is not that wide, its a great choice (safer also) for tires smaller than 40mm.
Nextie offers rims in the 22, 24, 25 and 30mm IW profiles while Reserve offers rims with a IW of 22, 25 and 27mm. Reserve rims are also all drilled (not tubeless/hole-less). Nextie can be hookless or hooked, reserved are only offered in “semi-hooked.”
IMO the reserve wheels are porky for the price they have on them, that’s just my opinion. The Reserve 40/44 are 1376g for a price of $2500 while a Nextie wheel set at 1297g will run you about $1600 before shipping.
It comes down to comfort level, you may be surprised at how many rims are either the same or come from the same OE manufacturing mold/manufacture.
I’m wondering if it’s the combination of the Internal Width and the Tire Sizes being used, or the actual design of the specific rims.
A 32mm IW is a good amount of stretch changing the tire profile a lot as compared to 25-27mm. Hell, I’ve been running 2.2" Race Kings on my XC Bike on a 25mm wheelset and they work great from a performance and durability perspective. I have the exact same rims for my MOG, just considering something more aero for my second wheelset.
Actually, two different guys puncturing in that post - both John Borstelmann and Juri Hollmann. Might be shorter to count the number of pros that rode those tires and made it out in one piece.
I’ve been running wide rims (3T Discus, LB WG44) on gravel for quite a while and have had no major issues with punctures. Various tires including Pathfinders, Racekings, Gravelkings, G One RS.
I think in the case of the Zipp the issue is with the rim-approved tires. And because they’re hookless, at least in theory you’re locked into their limited list of approved tires. This has struck me as a terrible idea from day 1; I’d never consider a wheel set that so drastically reduces tire choices.
I also wonder if some pros are running pressures that are just too low. Wider rims should allow lower pressures without tire squirm, but just a couple PSI too low and it’s pinch flat city, especially in race conditions where speeds are high you can’t pick your line carefully.
Do we actually know if the flats are all on “Approved” tires? Are people ignoring the Approved tire list? I.e. - is it a crappy list of approved tires, or again, rim design / width that’s driving the issue?
I’m pretty sure that if you race with the pressures that Zipp recommends, you will have a lot of snake bites. The pressure Zipp is recommending seems more suitable for people having an easy Sunday ride on smooth gravel (to the cafe) with a clear view of the terrain ahead.
I think from what I have seen on various socials, whether it was what they ran in the race can’t confirm. Cromwell, Bottas were running Schwalbe G-One RS but not sure of the size. Voss was running Schwalbe Pro One road tires in size 38, Borselman looks to be running the Xplr Goodyears
I think there is a lot to be said in pressures and in tire width. I run a 30mm ID on my mountain bike tires running a 2.4 and they have been amazing. So far I have run gravel tires from 35 to 45 on 25mm rims and have had good luck.
Also tend to use the Silca calculator and have been able to dial things in with recon in the days prior.
Would be great to hear from others with experience with wider rims like 3T. Rumours are that Reserve are going to launch a wider rim soon too.
Yeah, setting aside people running “non-approved tires”, and just looking purely at the XPLR Goodyears, I think even if you run them per the SRAM/Zipp calculator, you’re gonna get snake bites. I think that calculator is simply too optimistic for the sidewall of that tire (optimistically low).
I’ve been running them now 2-4psi higher than the calculator recommends on the slick’s (versus the inters) on terrain that is arguably MTB at times, with sharp rocks, for about 6-8 weeks, and haven’t flatted yet. I bought a pair of Inter’s to swap back to, once I flat on the Slick’s. But…fingers crossed.
Where did you hear/see that rumor? They just game out with the 40/44 GR wheel which one fhte was the widest prior to these XPLR wheels. Would be surprised if they already launched something that would take sales from the 40/44
I believe I picked it up on the TR podcast where Jonathan was talking about SBT gravel. If memory serves correctly he built up a gravel bike from Keegan’s garage and referred to grabbing a set of yet to be released wheels (assuming Reserve given Keegan’s sponsors) which I think he referred to as being wide. Could have been the 40/44 but I feel like those were released before Steamboat. As I said very much a rumour.
@dcrainmaker Great share. Its interesting when playing around with the Zipp tire calculator. If I put in standard tires (gravel with 45mm) and my weights and my rim ID it comes up with 31.8psi front, 33.8 psi rear. If I change the ID to 32 (but keep it tubeless hooked) it drops to 29.1/31.1, if I select the Xplr it drops again to 25.6/27.2. Sure perhaps some difference on hooked vs. not hooked but seems like an interesting difference.
I think I’ll stick to the Silca calculator, I think going by an actual measure of the tire is a better starting point.
Yeah, might be good for Aero but I’m not sure that rims this wide are actually a good thing when it comes to flat resistance. I’m thinking the effective loss of sidewall height and the extra stretch is somewhat to blame.
