Bob Jackson Audax Club Tyre Clearance (28?)

[sb88]

Hi there,

I'm close to pressing 'go' on a Bob Jackson Audax Club frame and asking this question in a few places in hope of an answer.

While it's nominally a mudguard bike, I'm speccing it as a summer bike with oversized tubing, no mudguard or rack eyelets, hoping to run 28mm tyres.

I've gone for this over the Olympus Road - their typical summer racer, as the Audax Club is described as taking 25mm tyres with mudguards and normal reach brakes, while the Olympus Road is 25mm with no guards. My current bike takes 28mm tyres with normal brakes (Ultegra) but is being replaced as frame's a bit big.

They have advised this is achieved by having slightly longer chainstays and suggested would be the wiser choice if I want more clearance than the Olympus Road offers.

So, does anyone have an Audax Club and tried 28mm tyres? (without guards)

Cheers!

 

[sb88]

Anyone?

 

[foz]

Re:

If it will take 25mm with guards, then it will probably take 28mm without. But it sounds like you're ordering it from Jackson's - why don't you just ask them?

 

[sb88]

Re:

I have, they were a bit non-committal - 'one 28 might measure 26, another might be 30'. Whereas I'm talking about a true 28, as measured with verniers.
I think if I order with a deposit, they might be willing to go into it further - at the moment I'm just using their time with enquiries.

 

[CTK]

If it'll do 25mm with guards then I'm sure it'll do 28 without.

 

[sb88]

I think so too, but will ask them to check/confirm once my deposit is put down this week, which I think would be reasonable - I do have one bike which takes 25s with guards because the brake bridge is plenty high, but 28s are very close (1.5mm) at the chainstays due to the stays being n the short side and quite round and non-kinked. I could probably make them rub if I ran 28s and stamped up some climbs...
From what I can see BJ use quite round, non-kinked stays - which is a good thing for stiffness, etc, - which on the audax club are 16.5 inches, as opposed to the 16 inches on the bike I refer to above, which would hopefully provide a bit more clearance at the stays...