Q. I want to use bigger tyres on my hardtail, but there's not quite enough clearance for the edge knobs. Presumably the soft rubber will just wear away quickly where it touches the frame and the tyre will then fit, or am I wrong?
Chris 'Mum Candy' Denning, via email
A. Until recently we thought that tyre rub on a frame would just wear out the rubber and maybe some of the paint, but certainly wouldn't damage the frame. We now have a titanium hardtail with a crescent sliced through the chainstay in under an hour by a soft compound Kenda. Seeing how soft the tyre was and how hard the metal was, we hate to think how fast a harder tyre would go through a soft alloy frame. In other words, don't squeeze that rubber in as it'll ruin your frame. >
