I'm going to go into the "It depends" camp on this one. For me, in general on the bike I ride most, Rigid Unit, 2.6" is for i35 or narrower, on i40 it feels harsh AF, only just recently tried that one, lesson learned, was an uncomfortable ride. If however I was putting the same tyre on an FS, then the extra sidewall support I think it could go either way - I once ran the On One Chunky Monkey 2.4" on my i39 Dually front wheel and it was insane how good it was.
So for me, with most riding happening on the rigid Unit I'd say <2.6" goes on i30-i35, 2.8" goes on i35 or i40 and 3.0" goes on i40 or i45, all depending on which brand we're talking. Talking brands who don't lie, have to say that Schwalbe has been good with there sizing for me, Maxxis as usual is always just barely there at max inflation.
On my Phantom, I have several wheels, but running my 2.3" tyres, I run an i25 rear/i29 front, then have the i35 wheels if I want to put on some big rubber and go try to hang with the boys on their enduro rigs, or just pull out the Prime.
Also depends on the type of riding you're doing, terrain/trail type and trail speed. Most of my riding on the rigid is of course a lot slower (mostly) than on an FS and so the qualities I look for are different, don't really have any super bermed anything here, so no extreme lean angles needed.
Aug. 2, 2022, 1:32 p.m. - Lynx .
I'm going to go into the "It depends" camp on this one. For me, in general on the bike I ride most, Rigid Unit, 2.6" is for i35 or narrower, on i40 it feels harsh AF, only just recently tried that one, lesson learned, was an uncomfortable ride. If however I was putting the same tyre on an FS, then the extra sidewall support I think it could go either way - I once ran the On One Chunky Monkey 2.4" on my i39 Dually front wheel and it was insane how good it was. So for me, with most riding happening on the rigid Unit I'd say <2.6" goes on i30-i35, 2.8" goes on i35 or i40 and 3.0" goes on i40 or i45, all depending on which brand we're talking. Talking brands who don't lie, have to say that Schwalbe has been good with there sizing for me, Maxxis as usual is always just barely there at max inflation. On my Phantom, I have several wheels, but running my 2.3" tyres, I run an i25 rear/i29 front, then have the i35 wheels if I want to put on some big rubber and go try to hang with the boys on their enduro rigs, or just pull out the Prime. Also depends on the type of riding you're doing, terrain/trail type and trail speed. Most of my riding on the rigid is of course a lot slower (mostly) than on an FS and so the qualities I look for are different, don't really have any super bermed anything here, so no extreme lean angles needed.