25s to 23s

cathald

Hi folks I am running 25s on my bike and was going to get some new tyres but there seems to be a lot more choice for 700x23 tyres.
Here is my problem,I am 18 stone and wonder if 23s will be more punture prone or will it make any difference at all

Cathal

keef66

slightly less comfortable cos you'll need to run them at higher pressures

Monty Dog

For your weight I'd stick to 25s - bigger air pocket, better grip, lower rolling resistance and most likely less punctures. There is no real advantage in narrower tyres, only a perception based on flawed assumptions.

blorg

I would stick to 25s at your weight. I am under 12 stone myself but decided to switch to "racy" 25s this winter and they have been a revelation. More comfortable, certainly better grip and no discernible difference in speed. I think I will likely only use 23s racing, or indeed my newly acquired tubs which are 22s.

You are less likely to pinch flat as Monty says and also less likely to do wheel damage. Chance of both goes way up with weight, I have found this myself doing both light tours on the road bike with 23s and heavily loaded on the touring bike with 25s. Have gone to 28s there and will use even bigger if I expect to be on the likes of an Italian white road.

Most good race tyres come in 25s- the likes of Schwalbe Ultremos, Conti GP4000S, etc. I got Maxxis Columbieres as they were cheap on CRC but have been pleasantly surprised, very light for a 25 @205g and grippy with great road feel. Only downside is they don't seem the most puncture resistant, compared at least to the likes of Ultremos which I found very good.

cathald

Thanks guys for replys
Only reason I was looking at 23s is I want blue tyres and any I can find with decent punture resistance are all 23s
Almost 7 months on 25s and not a punture so perhaps I will stick to them

I hope I have not cursed myself

Cathal

careful

Go for it! Having the right colour tyres is far more important than comfort.

fermion

I always assumed narrower tyres would be faster due to less friction, is this not the case then?

alfablue

See page 16 of this (Schwalbe Tech doc).

Narrower tyres offer less air resistance but at the same pressure as a wider tyre will have more rolling resistance. On typical rough tarmac roads there is no advantage, and could be a disadvantage going smaller.

cougie

I really would stay with the 25s - forget the pretty colour thing - christ we'll be using moisturiser next !

Flasheart

You mean you don't ? :?

johndoran

Monty Dog wrote:

For your weight I'd stick to 25s - bigger air pocket, better grip, lower rolling resistance and most likely less punctures. There is no real advantage in narrower tyres, only a perception based on flawed assumptions.

Of course thats why all professional riders particularly in time trials use narrower tyres as it gives no advantage whatsoever over 25 size tyres, in fact I'm suprised that they dont all use 38 size tyres .

balthazar

johndoran wrote:

Of course thats why all professional riders particularly in time trials use narrower tyres as it gives no advantage whatsoever over 25 size tyres, in fact I'm suprised that they dont all use 38 size tyres .

I suppose that's sarcasm. Perhaps you'd be interested in the graph in this article:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/roll ... bular.html

johndoran

balthazar wrote:

johndoran wrote:

Of course thats why all professional riders particularly in time trials use narrower tyres as it gives no advantage whatsoever over 25 size tyres, in fact I'm suprised that they dont all use 38 size tyres .

I suppose that's sarcasm. Perhaps you'd be interested in the graph in this article:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/roll ... bular.html

Very interesting but the comparison was with glued on tubs , the previous page however states that generally speaking a smaller section tyre is faster. Also this research was carried out in1996 .Sarcasm it may have been but seriously, practically anyone who races will use lighter and smaller section tyres and if money is no problem will also choose tubs over pressures

cougie

John - the OP is 18 stone and posting in 'beginners'. Any difference in speed with a narrower tyre is unnoticeable.

The ride on say a 23mm is much better than a 20mm - the profile of the 23 is much rounder, the 20 is almost rectangular.

johndoran

True I think you can go too narrow but you will struggle now to find 20mm pressures.
It is a harsher ride on too narrower tyer specially with a very high pressure. I do think that for general all round use a 23mm tyre covers all types of riding with lightness and quality and therefore cost being down to the user. I agree that to the majority of cyclists me included it is hard to note any difference in speed.
I was just stating that when those vital seconds do count and you are being paid to win then you will go with what works best.for the majority of professionals that means tubs and a smaller section then 25mm

balthazar

johndoran wrote:

balthazar wrote:

johndoran wrote:

Of course thats why all professional riders particularly in time trials use narrower tyres as it gives no advantage whatsoever over 25 size tyres, in fact I'm suprised that they dont all use 38 size tyres .

I suppose that's sarcasm. Perhaps you'd be interested in the graph in this article:

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/brandt/roll ... bular.html

Very interesting but the comparison was with glued on tubs , the previous page however states that generally speaking a smaller section tyre is faster. Also this research was carried out in1996 .Sarcasm it may have been but seriously, practically anyone who races will use lighter and smaller section tyres and if money is no problem will also choose tubs over pressures

Only two of the tyres in the graph are tubulars, the rest is a cross-section of contemporary clinchers. The two tyres with lowest RR are 28mm wide; 20 and 23mm tyres occupy the mid section. I don't see what relevance the date has, unless you believe that tyre manufacture has changed dramatically in 15 years.

The message from this data is that RR doesn't scale with tyre size; other factors are more significant. Even so, as somebody else wrote, any RR concerns are broadly unneccesary for most people.

blorg

22-24 is probably optimal for racing. I use 22 tubs and 23 clinchers for racing. I don't think 25 would be a major handicap, but 23 is probably optimal.

OP said nothing about racing and is 18 stone which is heavier than most racing cyclists.

More weight you need wider tyres. Moving to 23s for him = more pinch flats and buckled wheels and less comfort with no discernable benefits. IMO.

amyabcd

Could some one explain why moving to narrower tyre means more buckled wheels? I thought that was down to the strength of the wheel I didn't realise it had anything to do with the width of the tyre.

blorg

Just simply that you have more cushioning in the wider tyre and so it will take knocks better. If you are a normal weight riding a road bike on tarmac 700x23 is absolutely fine but for someone 18 stone I think 25s would be a good idea.

I have experience of this myself loaded touring, particularly on white (unpaved) roads in Italy. With 20kg extra on the bike and 700x25c tyres I had pinch flats and wheel buckles where I had no such problems unloaded. Have had a similar experience light touring on slightly dodgy roads with 700x23 on my road bike. No problems all year with the wheels I used but an extra ~5kg on the bike and I got a bit of a buckle.