2.5" rear rim - Pros and cons

[witgen]

So I've been toying around with an idea of 2.5 rear rim, but still trying to figure out what are the actual pros and cons.  Most of my riding is off pavement but on the other hand I do relatively little hard core technical off roading. So most of my driving is on relatively hard gravel roads or single tracks on decent condition. Also about 50% of my driving with my camping gear with me so it would be important that I won't ruin my off road touring capabilities. My travelling kit is light, but it's still there.

 

Pros are mostly evident:

- Cheaper tyres (rim cost would be covered around 3rd or 4th tyre change)

- Overall better behaviour on loose surface (mud, sand etc.)

- Better tracking and more precise steering offroad

- Quicker steering? (this would seem logical, because tyre has more "pointier" profile

 

Cons on the other hand are more not so obvious:

- Reduced grip on paved roads

- Maybe more restless/twitchy?

- Increased tyre wear? (contact patch is smaller and there is less rubber on narrow tyre so this would seem logical)

- Load rating is usually identical across 140 and 150 tyres, but air space is smaller on narrower tyre. 140 won't handle load as well as 150? Pinch flats might be an issue?

- Something else that my engineer's mind hasn't even thought of?

 

Any comments or experience on 2.5 in rim would be highly appreciated. I now 2.5 isn't a silver bullet, but maybe a compromise that would fit better on my style of riding. 

[witgen]

So no one has experiences on rear rim conversion. Well I got few rear tyres dirt cheap so for me this means that I'll rethink this after few months. Still interested on  what people who have made the conversion actually think about it though. 

Edited June 12, 2022 by witgen

[Canadian-t7]

I have the excel 2.5" rear wheel. I ride about 70% offroad, and of that about 60% technical or singletrack.  If you've ever rode an enduro bike on road it's about the same. Is it a bit wiggly, sure. Is it unstable, no. Your not going to drag knee but the bike will still whip around corners. I run the motoz tractionator enduro s/t front and motoz tractionator enduro i/t rear. The i/t gets about double the mileage without giving up traction.  Offroad the setup works really well the main reason I did it is so I could run a bead lock and lower pressures (rear only, bike is to heavy to run lower pressures [below 22psi] in the front). I only had 1 ride offroad on the stock rim/tire before doing the swap so I don't really have a comparison  to offer though. 

Edited September 23, 2022 by Canadian-t7