Tire width?

[evo111@comcast.net]

What's the latest on tire width for road bike speed and handling?
I thought 23 mm was it but read that 25 mm is becoming the way to go.
What say the group?
Thanks as always.

[palincss]

How much do you weigh?

[rockdude]

I am sold on 25mm and 28mm. When I ride 23mm, I hate it....

[evo111@comcast.net]

Clydesdale - 220 lbs

[bike22]

ride the biggest tires your frame/fork will fit.

if you've got a regular road bike, short reach calipers, 25c is probably the max although some bikes/forks will take a 28c (nominal).

[AngryScientist]

i'm probably the outlier, but my main road rig is riding on 22c tires right now, veloflex corsa-22's. best tire i have ridden, hands down. @ 140# right now, i'm pretty light though.

[palincss]

Clydesdale - 220 lbs

25s minimum, in my opinion. As has been said, the widest your frame will fit.

[gearguywb]

210 (now). Love 25's on clinchers....running Pave 24's tubular and they seem to be a great compromise for durability and ride.

[dave thompson]

25mm tires (28mm on one) on my bikes has made this 200 lb rider a very happy guy! No downsides at all if they will fit safely on your bike! :)

[Fivethumbs]

I weigh 200 lbs. I ride a 25 in back and a 23 in front.

[false_Aest]

140-150lbs during the course of the year

I'll be riding 25s next race season.

I'd probably rock 28s for training tires if they fit in my frame -- they don't


the point: bigger is better imho atmo blahblahblah

[DRZRM]

230, I use 28 where they fit, 25 everywhere else.

[dmurphey]

The comfort of wider tires is wonderful for rough roads and gravel, but the low rotating weight of 700 x 23 clinchers with light tubes and tires makes me faster on road rides. I like having a bike that can go either way with medium reach brakes and clearance for 32's.

[picstloup]

What's the latest on tire width for road bike speed and handling?
I thought 23 mm was it but read that 25 mm is becoming the way to go.
What say the group?
Thanks as always.

with some advice from these forums I went from 23's to 25's and lowered my tire pressure to about 95 front and 100 rear...better ride for me, no real loss of speed that i can tell, but i don't race...i weigh in these days around 180 to 185 pounds...

if your frame fork can handle them I'd say 25's...28's might give you more room to play with tire pressures to make for a smoother ride...

[lonoeightysix]

Right now, digging 25's, need to try 28's! Roads here are horrible, though.

[rnhood]

25's are definitely the way to go. Pump them to 80 or 85# and you will suddenly find yourself on your dream bike.

[russ46]

I switched to 25's last year & don't plan on going back. Much better ride, make dirt road tolerable & are much safer in the winter when all the road cracks have opened up.

[Ralph]

25's make my CAAD 5 C Dale ride smooth like my custom steel with 23's.

[Pyramor]

25s on my group ride Cervelo Prodigy (28s won't fit) and 28s on my Lemond Zurich. The 28s on Velocity A23 rims are a match made in heaven.

[Ozz]

My first grown-up bike (1993 Specialized Allez) came with 20mm wide tires (Specialized UmmaGumma)....luckily they wore our really quickly, and I replaced them with some 23mm Conti Grand Prix's....they looked like mountain bike tires compared to the 20mm's.....I guess I need to try the 25mm's now and see what they are like....

Anyone know of a brand that will fit on a Serotta F2 fork?

[dave thompson]

My first grown-up bike (1993 Specialized Allez) came with 20mm wide tires (Specialized UmmaGumma)....luckily they wore our really quickly, and I replaced them with some 23mm Conti Grand Prix's....they looked like mountain bike tires compared to the 20mm's.....I guess I need to try the 25mm's now and see what they are like....

Anyone know of a brand that will fit on a Serotta F2 fork?
The F2s have the same clearances as the Ouzo Pro forks. I ran a variety of 25MM tires on the bikes that had The Renolds forks so I suspect most any 25 tire would fit with adequate clearances.

Know anyone running a 25 on their front wheel? Try the wheel on for size.

[Dekonick]

The F2s have the same clearances as the Ouzo Pro forks. I ran a variety of 25MM tires on the bikes that had The Renolds forks so I suspect most any 25 tire would fit with adequate clearances.

Know anyone running a 25 on their front wheel? Try the wheel on for size.

25's fit in an O2 fork (Ouzo pro)

[mgm777]

I currently run 23s, and weigh 155-160#. Been thinking about trying 25s beginning this fall to see what all the fuss about. I remember racing in the late 80s and early 90s, my training tires were 22s, and on race day I would ride 18s or 19s. I don't know what we were thinking back then. I remember doing a 60 mile road race, in the rain, with cold temps, on those skinny tires. I was scared to death during the whole race. Luckily, I somehow managed to remain upright and unscathed. Many weren't so lucky that day.

[mike p]

I've got mich. PR2 25's on a couple bikes and they most certainly are comfy, but for RR or crit's I'm on mich. or conti 23's as are 99.9% of the guys I race against.

Mike

[avalonracing]

25's are definitely the way to go. Pump them to 80 or 85# and you will suddenly find yourself on your dream bike.
It depends what you are going for. I like climbing steep hills quickly. My dream bike helps me do that. For me my 23c EVO CX tires pumped to 120psi feel like the fastest way up.

[weiwentg]

I think even for lighter folks, 25s are worth doing. I'm 120lbs. I used to do 20s for the aerodynamics!! Whereas right now, if I got back into racing, I'd most likely use 25s.

[forrestw]

At 215# I have to inflate any tire to high pressure to avoid pinch flats and have found that this effectively kills any comfort advantage of a larger tire.

Winter fixed gear 28-32 mm @ 95 psi, they feel stupid slow but then that bike also has full fenders that act like parachute brakes at anything over 16 mph

Summer fixed gear 23-25 mm @ 120+ psi these are my goto tire, 23s wear out a bit faster

Road bike w/ tubular tires 25 mm conti sprinters on Al rims @ 140 psi or 23 mm schwalbe ultremo @ 140-160 psi on zipp carbon rims

I drop pressure a bit for better traction in wet weather.

[Rueda Tropical]

It seems that even in racing rims and tires widths are getting wider. If I remember right in an interview one of the Cervelo owners said after testing they had concluded the fastest tire might be a 25 -and was talking about speed not comfort.

Weight should also be a big factor, a 25mm tire with a 225 lb. rider is probably equivalent to something like a 21mm tire with a 140 lb. rider.

Now that Challenge and Schwalbe are making supple top of the line racing tires in 28c I would not ride anything skinnier. For me that's the sweet spot in 700c.

[gearguywb]

At 215# I have to inflate any tire to high pressure to avoid pinch flats and have found that this effectively kills any comfort advantage of a larger tire.

Winter fixed gear 28-32 mm @ 95 psi, they feel stupid slow but then that bike also has full fenders that act like parachute brakes at anything over 16 mph

Summer fixed gear 23-25 mm @ 120+ psi these are my goto tire, 23s wear out a bit faster

Road bike w/ tubular tires 25 mm conti sprinters on Al rims @ 140 psi or 23 mm schwalbe ultremo @ 140-160 psi on zipp carbon rims

I drop pressure a bit for better traction in wet weather.

I am pretty close to your size and you are running a lot more pressure than I am. With clinchers (25mm Vittoria) and tubulars (Vittoria Pave and Conti Competition) I am running 90 front/100 rear. Are you in an area with really bad roads?

[forrestw]

I am pretty close to your size and you are running a lot more pressure than I am. With clinchers (25mm Vittoria) and tubulars (Vittoria Pave and Conti Competition) I am running 90 front/100 rear. Are you in an area with really bad roads?
I'm in Boston and yeah the roads are a mix. Where the pavement is good its very good but w/ tax revenue down they're not getting to repairs of potholes. I ride at night alot also which can make seeing bad spots difficult. Last winter I pinch flatted a front tire that had just been inflated to 120 was only going 12mph and didn't see a pothole in heavy rain :-(.

[palincss]

It depends what you are going for. I like climbing steep hills quickly. My dream bike helps me do that. For me my 23c EVO CX tires pumped to 120psi feel like the fastest way up.

Not saying they're not the fastest, but "feel fast" can be very deceiving, since vibration feels like speed. Have you actually timed yourself? That's the true test.

[palincss]

At 215# I have to inflate any tire to high pressure to avoid pinch flats and have found that this effectively kills any comfort advantage of a larger tire.

Winter fixed gear 28-32 mm @ 95 psi, they feel stupid slow but then that bike also has full fenders that act like parachute brakes at anything over 16 mph

Summer fixed gear 23-25 mm @ 120+ psi these are my goto tire, 23s wear out a bit faster

Road bike w/ tubular tires 25 mm conti sprinters on Al rims @ 140 psi or 23 mm schwalbe ultremo @ 140-160 psi on zipp carbon rims

I drop pressure a bit for better traction in wet weather.

215 isn't that heavy, as Clydesdales go. I was 100kg for some years, never got pinch flats and used far less pressure than you're citing. 120 psi for a genuine 25mm tire (as opposed to one that call itself 25 and is actually <22mm wide) is rock hard and probably 25 psi too much. If you're getting pinch flats with such regularity it may be because you are "riding heavy" - i.e., not unweighting when you go through bumps.

[rugbysecondrow]

215 isn't that heavy, as Clydesdales go. I was 100kg for some years, never got pinch flats and used far less pressure than you're citing. 120 psi for a genuine 25mm tire (as opposed to one that call itself 25 and is actually <22mm wide) is rock hard and probably 25 psi too much. If you're getting pinch flats with such regularity it may be because you are "riding heavy" - i.e., not unweighting when you go through bumps.


At 230 pounds, I ride Conti 4000 25s at 110 rear 105 front and I have never had a pinch flat.

[forrestw]

215 isn't that heavy, as Clydesdales go. I was 100kg for some years, never got pinch flats and used far less pressure than you're citing. 120 psi for a genuine 25mm tire (as opposed to one that call itself 25 and is actually <22mm wide) is rock hard and probably 25 psi too much. If you're getting pinch flats with such regularity it may be because you are "riding heavy" - i.e., not unweighting when you go through bumps.
I didn't indicate it was a frequent occurrence, I presently am flatting at a rate of 1x / 1500 miles and only 1/3 of those are pinches. I'm in fact pretty good at unweighting, bunny hopping etc and by observation I'm one of the least-likely to flat among the people I ride with.

However you can't unweight for what you fail to see, e.g. see my response to GearGuy above (prior pg I think). Similarly my most recent flat was a pinch to a rear tubular @150 psi. I know, tubulars aren't supposed to pinch. How it happened was in bright sun going under a bridge at ~25mph; my eyes hadn't adjusted to the change in lighting and I caught a piece of a ~2" sharp rock. If I'd been at the pressure that many here recommend e.g. 90-100 it would have almost certainly destroyed the rim (Zipp 303). As it was I had a tiny loss of trueness of the wheel, indicating some spoke / spoke seat stretch, as far as I could tell, no rim damage.

[avalonracing]

Not saying they're not the fastest, but "feel fast" can be very deceiving, since vibration feels like speed. Have you actually timed yourself? That's the true test.

I test it every time I ride away from a guy with 85psi in this tires ;) :D

[Vancouverdave]

Depends on two things--road surface and tire brand. A Michelin Pro Race 23c measures wider than a Conti 25. Most road repair budgets ain't growing, either. My wife and I rode Ride Idaho, a 400 mile supported tour, last week.
Almost the whole distance was on one kind of chipseal or another and I can't believe that anyone riding highly inflated 700 x 20 or 23 tires was happy on those surfaces. Another vote here for "fattest thing that will fit your frame"

[Lifelover]

It's been touched upon in a few of the replies but worth repeating.

It's not about the tire size. It's about the pressure. 25's at 130 PSI won't be that much different that 23's at 130 PSI.

ATMO, above 110 PSI and the ride feels harsh, below 95 PSI it starts to get smushy and FEEL slow. Find a pressure you like and go with the width that prevents pinch flats at that pressure.

I'm 250ish and can ride Pro Race 25's at 100 PSI with no concern of pinch flats. I can get away with 100 PSI with 23's but do feel that there is an increased risk.

[beungood]

I'm in Boston and yeah the roads are a mix. Where the pavement is good its very good but w/ tax revenue down they're not getting to repairs of potholes. I ride at night alot also which can make seeing bad spots difficult. Last winter I pinch flatted a front tire that had just been inflated to 120 was only going 12mph and didn't see a pothole in heavy rain :-(.

+10! Blew over a 6" deep pothole and then a water main "mini manhole with cover half off" last night and glad there was a helium rim under me..

I am considering the switch to 25's and Hed rims for a better ride and more contact patch. My selections are slim though as my Hors Cat has an F-1 fork. I'm thinking Conti 4000's will squeeze in..

[froze]

Clydesdale - 220 lbs 25's would be better for you, they'll last longer and ride better.

Here's a PSI calculator too, use the 2nd calculator is more accurate: http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html This is just a starting point, but I've found it to be close to spot on.

[retrogrouchy]

I test it every time I ride away from a guy with 85psi in this tires ;) :D

That means nothing, unfortunately (as y'all know). :bike:

[19wisconsin64]

At least try 25 mm front and back. Maybe even 28 mm, if it will fit. I ride the 25's front and back on my road bike, and love it...and only weigh 180.

A good question would be tire pressure......i run about 90-95, otherwise the ride suffers and is too harsh. If i was larger i'd go a little higher (maybe 10-15 pounds of pressure??) to avoid pinch flats.

[zap]

For shredding legs and proper handling, 23's pumped to 120psi. Tandem pumped to 130psi.

If I lived further north where the roads are rougher, 25's pumped to 110-tandem 120psi.

[froze]

At least try 25 mm front and back. Maybe even 28 mm, if it will fit. I ride the 25's front and back on my road bike, and love it...and only weigh 180.

A good question would be tire pressure......i run about 90-95, otherwise the ride suffers and is too harsh. If i was larger i'd go a little higher (maybe 10-15 pounds of pressure??) to avoid pinch flats.

Did you see this at all? http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html Try the calculator and use the second calculator not the first or the last one.

[evo111@comcast.net]

Interesting program.
For us big guys to achieve the 40/60% front to rear balance going to a larger rear tire (25-28) is the only way maintain reasonable pressures.

[Ramjm_2000]

210 (now). Love 25's on clinchers....running Pave 24's tubular and they seem to be a great compromise for durability and ride.
How are you liking those Paves as everyday tires? I’ve run Corsa CX tubies and am currently alternating b/w Open Corsas and Rubio Pros (25c) on my everyday/training wheels. I have a pair of Open Paves inbound since I’m seeing more people deciding to use them as everyday tires not just foul weather/winter tires.

[Joachim]

I currently use Open Pave's as my daily ride (that's the least my MX Leader deserves). Feels much better than my Gatorskins or Gatorskin Hardshells, but mileage and puncture protection wise my Gatorskins still come out ahead.

[Ramjm_2000]

Any comparison in ride quality to say a Open Corsa, Pro Race 3, Etc…? Given the Open design, I’d imagine they should ride as good as the Rubino Pro 25s (with latex tubes they ride surprisingly well) if not better.

[Joachim]

Any comparison in ride quality to say a Open Corsa, Pro Race 3, Etc…? Given the Open design, I’d imagine they should ride as good as the Rubino Pro 25s (with latex tubes they ride surprisingly well) if not better.

Only with GP4000s, but those were 23c. And I prefer the Open Pave's. I can't say much about comparison with Open Corsa, since my daily ride requires something a little more heavy duty so I try to avoid the "softer" ones.

[weiwentg]

Did you see this at all? http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html Try the calculator and use the second calculator not the first or the last one.

it told me to inflate my front tire to 45 PSI. That sounds faulty.

[froze]

it told me to inflate my front tire to 45 PSI. That sounds faulty.

did you add the weight of your bike loaded plus your clothed weight?

[forrestw]

25's would be better for you, they'll last longer and ride better.

Here's a PSI calculator too, use the 2nd calculator is more accurate: http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html This is just a starting point, but I've found it to be close to spot on.
Properly inflated, sure a larger tire will always last longer though I don't think the delta between 23/25 should override all other preferences. The limitation might be max allowed psi for the rim usually 120 or less for clinchers though I think mavic OP are ok to 140.

Notably your calculator agrees with my practice (I arrived at my pressure settings via Sheldon Brown's site).

[Chance]

Did you see this at all? http://www.dorkypantsr.us/bike-tire-pressure-calculator.html Try the calculator and use the second calculator not the first or the last one.
Is middle calculator the one that uses 40/60 percent weight distribution? Since tire pressure seems calculated in direct proportion to rider + bike weight, then rear tire ends up at 150% of front tire pressure. That doesn't seem right.