Bigger tyres for touring on a roadie

bike-a-swan

I'm making a brief trip over from the MTB section to ask your advice- I've taken my Trek 1200 light touring (small tent) for short trips before, and am planning some more this year. I wasn't sure if this was more suited here or the touring bit, but as it is very much a road bike I thought I'd go here.
I'm looking for some bigger tyres than the current 23cs. Firstly, any ideas on the biggest size I'll be able to get through the frame? Or any recommendations on tyres- I thought these: http://www.nextdaytyres.com/Tyres/Continental/Touring-Plus-Road.aspx

Puncture resistance is always good and I'd like to not be worrying about them with the roads the way they are at the moment.

Cheers

maddog 2

just measure how much clearanace you currently have and go from there, as a guide.

28mm Conti GP4 seasons are tough and may well fit okay. If you have more space then the touring tyres like the Top Touring and Touring Plus (as you suggest) are good, tough tyres and can be found in 28mm too.

If you really have very little space then the 25mm Mich Krylion carbon are a tough, fast training tyre.

huuregeil

Panaracer Paselas are arguably the pick of touring tyres, being light and fast rolling, yet tough. They come in 25mm and 28mm flavours, but they have the advantage (in this situation) that they run small for their nominal size. Given I'd me surprised if you could sneak any more than either a 25mm or 28mm tyre on (depending on frame - as maddog2 says, measure your clearances to get an idea of what you can get away with), they could just fit the bill. 28mm Pasela is my choice for that kind of riding, so if you could fit that, you'd be away.

scruffyduncan

me and a mate did land's end to John o' Groats on conti ultra gator skins. It rained a lot and we went on back roads but didn't get one puncture.

bike-a-swan

cheers for the advice. I think the tightest clearances look to be not on the side but in terms of height. Are the bigger tyres notably taller than 23s? If it helps I have enough clearance to have a pair of crud road mudguards fitted.

huuregeil

Why not post a couple of pics so we can see? Front and rear around the brake calipers, and rear/seatpost, rear/chainstay.

Also, how far down in the groove are the brake blocks? With standard drop road calipers, the brake blocks right at the bottom should allow you to fit 28mm tyres happily.

I'd say if you can get cruds in, then 25mm is definitely a go-er. Why not buy a single 25mm Pasela and fit that and assess it front and rear. If you can go to 28mm on the rear, then buy a 28mm Pasela and run with 25mm front, 28mm rear, which isn't unsensible, especially for light touring. Otherwise 25mm all round will see you right.

maddog 2

my 28mm GP4Seasons are 27mm from rim to outer edge, measured radially/vertically, and 27mm wide

my 32mm toptouring is also 27 mm rim to surface, and 29mm wide.

GeorgeBurgess

my bro and i used 23mm gatorskins on a 12 day ride to rome. 10kgs of luggage in panniers. no punctures. lots of bumps and nasty looking gravel too. the grip pretty well too

bike-a-swan

right, meant to get some pictures up, but i ended up down the lbs anyway, and he reckons 28's are the ones to go for. cheers all.