New tyres and speed difference?

strodey

Fairly new to this road bike lark but loving it and its taking over (feel guilty if i say taken)from the mountain bike!

Question is i currently have Giant defy advanced 3 with mavic cxp wheels (seem heavy) and michelin Lithion 700x25 tyres.

At some point want to start upgrading with the wheels but until then will changing the tyres to some pro race 3 or similar make a noticeable difference to speed?
I can notice it on mountain bike switching from summer to winter tyres but can't see if this change will make too much difference on the road bike!

Any comment appreciated!

Grazy81

I am new to road bikes too but i suspect going to 23's will reduce your rolling resistance and therefor increase your speed, as for a noticiable difference i dont have the experience yet to make a judgement.

Anonymous

Yes. Appreciable improvement.

Go for Conti Force/Attack from cycleswag or some Vittorias within your budget...

markos1963

There is very little difference between 23 and 25mm tyres in terms of rolling resistance, there's more gain through aerodynamics due to the 23mm tyre being nearly the same width as the rim.

Pro Race 3's are definatly a good move although I use Lithiums(23mm) on my bike and have been pretty happy with them. Only one pu%$ture in 3000 miles

Grazy81

I am thinking of getting some conti 4000's in white to go with my red and white allez elite :twisted:

Should look good but i need to improve my speed so i can pull them off properly

turnerjohn

Cont 4000s are great (the "S" versions superfast...tho what the wear!). oh and the whites not gona look white for long !

One point I would say is that any good lightweight race tyre is going to be p*ss poor in the wet of the winter (er or should I say summer :-( ! ) anyhow a set of Conti GP 4 season are light, fast but grip like hell and has superb puncture protection. They are pricey tho...the standard Gatosors are just as good if just a little heavier.

Hope that helps

Anonymous

I changed from GP4000S to force/attack. Much better...

turnerjohn

force / attacks last longer...tho the grip from the 4000S is still better....they just seem to collect loads of stones ! horses for courses !

themightyw

For what it's worth, I recently changed from Bontrager SSR wheels and 700x25 Select tyres (stock on my Trek 1.5) to Mavik Aksiums and Conti 4000 700x23 tyres. As a novice, and this being my first significant change to the bike my observations were that the bike definitely rolled and kept its speed better, and felt grippier - though a little more harsh on my delicate derriere. I definitely noticed a real difference when coasting or doing steady pedaling on the flat in lower winds.

It's been hard for me to actually measure any significant speed increase over a standard ride, since a chest infection and ludicrous winds haven't given me a fair comparison yet.

All in all it's not been the 'night and day' improvement that I naively prayed for (though I think I knew it would never quite live up to expectations) but is definitely worth doing. It's helped me learn what making changes to my bike 'feel' like.

strodey

Thanks, i think i'll start with the tyres ready for the new wheels in a couple of months! i can keep my current tyres for winter so will look at the michelin pro3 that seem to be raved about along with the gp's!

flasher

Very happy with my GP4000s, even in the wet.