I think the tire manufacturers will begin to support this both for mtn bikes and for urban commute bikes. Somewhat better traction and comfort from the rear and a bit more precision up front just as it did in the motorcycle market. Tradition tends to give way to incremental improvements even in the bike market.
Is Staggering Tires a growing trend???
- Thread starter Ken M
- Start date
I don't think it's necessarily just a tradition thing, I don't think it pays the same dividends on an acoustic bike that it does on an ebike. Not as much torque to the rear wheel primarily. For guys like me, who rotate front tires to the back as they wear, I always found that to be offputting too.
JRA
Well-Known Member
Now that it has been clarified that a 700c front rim and tire and a 650b rear rim and tire can be so close in diameter that there should be no change in the bikes handling characteristics what is the purpose of using different wheels sizes?
My reason is to have a narrower tire in the front to achieve the type of steering control I prefer while using a wider higher volume one in the rear for increased traction and compliance while the overall diameters are very close to the same as I have stated here. Unless this is the reason for dissimilar rim sizes I don't see any need to do so and doubt it will gain any sort of wide acceptance. Especially for bikes used primarily on road surfaces.
My reason is to have a narrower tire in the front to achieve the type of steering control I prefer while using a wider higher volume one in the rear for increased traction and compliance while the overall diameters are very close to the same as I have stated here. Unless this is the reason for dissimilar rim sizes I don't see any need to do so and doubt it will gain any sort of wide acceptance. Especially for bikes used primarily on road surfaces.
I would not necessarily worry about the front having a larger rolling diameter....my point was that in most cases the wider rear will result in rolling diameters that are not that much different (like the Haibike Flyon in this forum string). I just found it interesting that some comments seem to imply that raising the front of the bike say 1" would make it un-ridable which is just over-the-top anxiety - most of us probably would not be able to even detect a difference. I think there is a potential, abeit slight, handling improvement even on urban bikes but I think a significant appeal factor is the cosmetic look (staggered tires look better on motorcycles and I think they look better on some bike geometries (like mtn bike frame urban bikes or something like a Stromer).
My guess is that Haibike went staggered on the Flyon because it does improve the handling dynamics somewhat and it looks cool. Both of those are justifications and given the attention that bike is getting the staggered tires will send a message that it's something to consider on other bikes.
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