Ken Robb
08-27-2010, 10:36 AM
I gave up on 700x23 years ago. My skinniest since have been 25, fattest 35, most common 27-28 (Riv Ruffy_Tuffy or Roly-Poly). The Ruffys on my Rambouillet still had lots of tread but lots of age cracks too so I replaced them with new 700x25 Conti GPs that I bought a couple of years ago for the Kirk I had back then. On my first ride around the block I thought "these have to go" as the ride was so much harder on them at 95psi vs the RTs at 85-90psi. I let that bike sit for 3 days and rode it again with whatever the pressure had leaked down to but still firm to my fingers. Not a bad compromise so I guess I'll keep them on this bike for a while.
I was surprised by how much quicker the handling is with these skinnier lighter tires. I guess it's due in part to less trail and partly to lower gyroscopic effect? I have a slight tendency to over steer while turning but I don't remember noticing slower steering when I went from the 700x23 tires I first had on this bike to the 700x28 R-Ts. It seems after 50+ years on motorcycles it's easy for me to add whatever pressure I need to turn a bicycle and harder to dial it back. Jewelers and blacksmiths both use hammers but the effort applied varies. :)
I was surprised by how much quicker the handling is with these skinnier lighter tires. I guess it's due in part to less trail and partly to lower gyroscopic effect? I have a slight tendency to over steer while turning but I don't remember noticing slower steering when I went from the 700x23 tires I first had on this bike to the 700x28 R-Ts. It seems after 50+ years on motorcycles it's easy for me to add whatever pressure I need to turn a bicycle and harder to dial it back. Jewelers and blacksmiths both use hammers but the effort applied varies. :)