28mm tyres

priory

is 28mm a new fashion ?

I have almost always used 28mm or 32mm , but the standard throughout the nineties and noughties was 23mm. Then it became 25mm. Recently i looked at a bike hire website and it was advertising 25 or 28mm. What are your clubs using?

lincolndave

All three sizes, some cases it's what the frame clearance is like, although quite a few more are using 28,s for clubrides/ comfort and 25s and 23,s for racing

yiannism

I am pretty happy with 25mm on my infinito, but when i will need new tires i think that i will give a shot to 28mm.

kleinstroker

28mm are great for commuting, definitely helps take out the road noise, & a lot comfier

orraloon

Rear 28mm, front 25mm. Went to 28mm on blowout replacement, comfier. But then I'm a trainer not a racer.

svetty

priory wrote:

is 28mm a new fashion ?

IMO yes....

grenw

28 here. It's what the bike came with. Seems to bring plenty of comfort with it

w00dster

I wouldn't say its a fashion, but for commuting or winter riding I quite like them.
For my race bike, nope, will stick with 25s.
I actually have 32's, 28s and 25s that I use on the same bike for different rides / time of year. The 32s are very comfortable and are OK for winter club rides where the general pace is a bit slower. But in my totally unscientific poll of one person, I think the 25s are the best all round size. (No doubt in Feb after I fall off in the winter I'll change my mind)

cycleclinic

It is not a new fashion. audax riders have been using them for years. they are not fashionable.

I have 22mm, 25mm, 27mm and 28mm tyres on the 14 road bikes. The bigger the air volume the more comfortable the ride . I had one guy at the cycle show looking at a 24mm IRC tyre and he thought that was a problem because his current tyres were 23mm. He thought that all he could use. If you have the clearance then go wider you have nothing to loose.

Also there are 25mm tyres that sixe like 28mm tyre on many rims now so you maybe riding a 27mm or 28mm tyre already.

homers_double

At this rate there will be knobblies soon!

priory

interesting that most of us are for bigger tyres for the normal riding. Although we all know it makes sense I think most of us went to 23mm in the audax rides a few years ago( not all but most of the long distancers) . I haven't been on one for several years because I keep getting smashed up by motorists. I will be putting 28plus on for when I get back on the bike.

itboffin

I've just fitted a 28c rear with 25c front to smooth out the shocking roads in Windshire, its helped loads so while there might be a tiny difference in weight my overall comfort and fatigue on long rides is so much better it evens out.

Mind you its a tight fit with 28c in the future I'll only be buying frameset that'll take 30+ tyres

dj58

Similar here, 26c front and 28c rear Panaracer Gravelking on 17mm I.D. rim width, front measures 27mm @ 65psi, rear 29mm @ 70psi. My next bike will have clearances for 32c tyres.

Agent57

I can't adjust to this trend. In my head I feel I should still be riding 19s or 21s. =/ 23s seem large, and the thought of being on 28s seems completely counter to everything I thought I knew.

cougie

Don't knock it until you try it.

People used to think cigarettes were good for you after all.

ZMC888

There is an issue I find really annoying it's this: 'wider is always quicker and more comfortable, you should always go as wide as possible'. I've heard this bs time and time again. If that were true then the pros would all be riding drop bar fat bikes.

What's never discussed is the actual science, where is the point of diminishing returns with going wider? 25mm? 28mm? 32mm? wider? Lets do lab tests and find out then....but no? Surely it's fairly easy...weight vs aero vs rolling resistance. It seems like a rationale to buy a disk brake bike from media propaganda then....'with disk brakes you now have the clearance to use the wider, faster tires'.

I ride 25mm tires because that's the freaking size that fits on my climbing rims best. I've got Schwalbe G-one speed (30mm) on my gravel/adventure/bikepacking bike, seem slower, could just be the tread.

lettingthedaysgoby

I've just put 28mm on mine and will never go back to anything smaller.

To be honest I can't feel any difference in speed (I'm not racing, just normal recreational riding), but the comfort difference is massive. So much better on crappy road surfaces.

So, same speeds and nicer for your backside. What's not to like?

zefs

ZMC888 wrote:

There is an issue I find really annoying it's this: 'wider is always quicker and more comfortable, you should always go as wide as possible'. I've heard this bs time and time again. If that were true then the pros would all be riding drop bar fat bikes.

What's never discussed is the actual science, where is the point of diminishing returns with going wider? 25mm? 28mm? 32mm? wider? Lets do lab tests and find out then....but no? Surely it's fairly easy...weight vs aero vs rolling resistance. It seems like a rationale to buy a disk brake bike from media propaganda then....'with disk brakes you now have the clearance to use the wider, faster tires'.

I ride 25mm tires because that's the freaking size that fits on my climbing rims best. I've got Schwalbe G-one speed (30mm) on my gravel/adventure/bikepacking bike, seem slower, could just be the tread.

It also depends on the road, if it's a smooth tarmac 25c would be faster than 28c. But most roads are terrible so the 28c tyres could be faster because of more air volume. On the lab tests found on bicyclerollingresistance it shows you can use 20 psi less on 28c tyres for the same rolling resistance compared to 25's. In my opinion if you trust the results use 25c on races and 28c for any other ride

Alex99

ZMC888 wrote:

There is an issue I find really annoying it's this: 'wider is always quicker and more comfortable, you should always go as wide as possible'. I've heard this bs time and time again. If that were true then the pros would all be riding drop bar fat bikes.

What's never discussed is the actual science, where is the point of diminishing returns with going wider? 25mm? 28mm? 32mm? wider? Lets do lab tests and find out then....but no? Surely it's fairly easy...weight vs aero vs rolling resistance. It seems like a rationale to buy a disk brake bike from media propaganda then....'with disk brakes you now have the clearance to use the wider, faster tires'.

I ride 25mm tires because that's the freaking size that fits on my climbing rims best. I've got Schwalbe G-one speed (30mm) on my gravel/adventure/bikepacking bike, seem slower, could just be the tread.

A wider tyre will have lower rolling resistance at the same pressure. But, generally, you run a wider tyre at a lower pressure to get benefits of comfort and grip, probably giving about equivalent rolling resistance.

There have been plenty of lab tests from wheel manufacturers. Generally, when a tyre is a bit too wide for a rim, you lose a bit in aerodynamics. That is the trade off. To reduce this issue, rims have got wider so that they have good aero properties with wider tyres. Essentially, you should consider the tyre and rim as a package and select a tyre that is suitable for the rim. Sounds like you do that anyway.

If there are rim profiles that give very nice aerodynamics with 28 mm tyres, then that's probably a good option for a lot of people. A comfy and fast ride. I think I saw a video with enormously wide Envy rim with this in mind. There certainly seem to be a lot of aero-focussed rims that are for use with 25 mm tyres that don't lose out in aerodynamics compared to slightly older rims for 23 mm tyres.

mfin

I just pity all the staff in all the bike shops who have dickheads constantly asking if they think 28mm tyres will catch on and are a good idea. It's the new "do you think all bikes will have disc brakes soon?" question for dickheads to ask ...out the back of bike shops are big dents in the walls at head height.

Nick Payne

I rode several races on 28mm tyres (I usually used 25mm) back in the early noughties, and couldn't detect that they made me any slower. I ran them about 65psi front and 80psi rear, and they were noticeably more comfortable on the roughish roads we have around here than smaller tyres pumped harder. These days I no longer race, and for just riding around I have fitted Schwalbe S-One tubeless (~30mm wide) to all my bikes that will take them. At 55psi front and 70psi rear they gobble up nearly all the road buzz.

A while ago Velonews tested a lot of tyres for rolling resistance: http://www.velonews.com/where-the-rubber-meets-the-road-what-makes-cycling-tires-fast