32R and 33R, the masterpieces coming out from the collaboration of Nitto and Rivendell.
You might be not sure which one to choose for your bike since the both of them are really similar.
The major difference is the height from the mounting hole to the top.
32R, it’s about 33cm for the mounting hole to the top.
33R, it’s about 35 cm from the mounting hole to the top.
The way to choose Rivendell recommend is 33R is better when it’s longer than 32.5cm from the mount to the top of a tire, and 32R is the one when it’s shorter than that.
(If your bike has fenders, it would be “to the top of fenders”)
And there’s about 7cm difference of the positions of the top when putting them in the same line by the mounting holes.
(The Left is 32R and the right is 33R)
32R is for 26″ and 650B, and 33R is for 700C.
This is the rough guide we usually use, but you can actually put panniers on more backwards with 33R, so if you’re in need of the distance between your heels and panniers not to hit them, 33R is the one to go.
Hope this would be of some help.
