Tyre size confusion for newbie

tricket

Hello All,

I'm hoping someone can help me.

I have just recently purchased a Fuji Newest 3.0 which came fitted with 700 x 25c Kenda K152's. After running over a piece of glass and slashing the side wall the other night, I thought it a good excuse to upgrade the tyres (as I can't seem to find the Kendas available anywhere and I guess being OE tyres on a relatively cheap bike, they're not going to be that good anyway).

On both the wheel itself and the tyre sidewall, the size is stated as 700 x 25c, however (and this is where my confusion comes from), most tyres seem to be more commonly available in a 700 x 23c, especially colours.

From initial reseach it would seem that the only difference between a 25c and a 23c is that one is 25mm wide and the other is 23mm wide(?).

So my questions are; is 700 x 25c the most common size for the wheel itself? Can you fit a 23c tyre to a 25c rim without any issues?

Thanks in advance.

Tricket (Newbie)

rick_chasey

Hey Tricket. Welcome to the forum.

Firstly, all rims (as far as I am aware, within reason) are the same width - different width tyres do not need different wheels.

You're right that 700x23 is a narrower tyre than the 700x25. People argue about the benefits and disadvantages of the two.

To put it into perspective, the average road bike, like one you see in the Tour will be 700x23. 700x25 has become popular recently since it is considered to be fractionally more comfortable with few drawbacks.

I, for example, commute in London on 700x28s - that lets me run slightly less pressure without increasing the chances of punctures or 'pinch flats' (where the tyre bursts after "pinching" - usually occurs when the pressures are too low).


So yes, you can fit 700x23 no problem.

Gizmo_

Here's more than you ever wanted to know:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Rims do come in different widths, but whatever rims your Fuji came with will take either 23mm or 25mm tyres just fine.

tricket

Hello Rick,

Many thanks for the welcome and many thanks for the response, spot on and fully understood. So I guess the 'rule of thumb' is: narrow for speed, wide for comfort.

Cheers

Tricket

Rick Chasey wrote:

Hey Tricket. Welcome to the forum.

Firstly, all rims (as far as I am aware, within reason) are the same width - different width tyres do not need different wheels.

You're right that 700x23 is a narrower tyre than the 700x25. People argue about the benefits and disadvantages of the two.

To put it into perspective, the average road bike, like one you see in the Tour will be 700x23. 700x25 has become popular recently since it is considered to be fractionally more comfortable with few drawbacks.

I, for example, commute in London on 700x28s - that lets me run slightly less pressure without increasing the chances of punctures or 'pinch flats' (where the tyre bursts after "pinching" - usually occurs when the pressures are too low).


So yes, you can fit 700x23 no problem.

tricket

Thanks Gizmo_,

I did find that link just searching the interweb, but it was a bit of an information overload!

Gizmo_ wrote:

Here's more than you ever wanted to know:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Rims do come in different widths, but whatever rims your Fuji came with will take either 23mm or 25mm tyres just fine.