Tyre Width Choice for the winter

1964johnr

Just about to purchase new tyres. I have always used 23mm but am thinking of moving to 25mm or maybe 28mm. What might I expect from wider tyres?

tonysj

If you ride these tyres then not a lot of difference.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.co ... i-23-25-28

Better off with a 28mm lol.
T

cougie

If your bike can handle them - go 28mm.

lostboysaint

Another 28mm convert here. Michelin Pro4 Endurance - which are now, handily, called something else. The ability to drop the pressure of what is quite a high volume tyre and still have the rolling and puncture resistance gives comfortable, grippy rides.

simon_masterson

28mm tyres are nice. If you wanted to use GP 4 Seasons or Gatorskins etc and your frame can accommodate them, you could use up to 32mm. Either way, the ride is very comfortable, and the weight penalty isn't that terrible - not that this is that relevant if you're riding on winter tyres and in bad weather.

cougie

I'm 25mm for the Summer now. Most of my mates have gone wider too and the ride feels better for it. Now we just need bike frames to catch up.

asprilla

Can't say I notice that much difference between 25mm and 28mm. I use either, depending upon what is on sale.

reformedfatty

35mm studded ice tyres for me it'll be a while yet before I declare it to really be winter though, so I'll stick with my 28mm gatorskins that do the rest of the time

milemuncher1

Personally, I stick to 25’s all year round.
I use continental GP4000sII in the summer, and Schwalbe Durano plus, or Tannus, in the winter.

lesfirth

I am another convert to 28mm.However whatever size you go for ,remember that tyre manufacturers claimed size is not very accurate. I have some 25mm Michelin Pro4 SC that are 27 on 19mm rim and some 25mm Vittoria Rubino that are 24mm on the same rim. 3mm is not a lot but side by side the difference looks hugh.

sloppyschleckonds

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Personally, I stick to 25’s all year round.
I use continental GP4000sII in the summer, and Schwalbe Durano plus, or Tannus, in the winter.

Have you even tried 28's?

cycleclinic

As wide as your bike will take is what you should use.

cycleclinic

Also tyre height varies alot and air volume is dependent on this too. So pick a tyre that gives you the max air volume your bike can take but give you the grip and longevity you need.

bendertherobot

37c is the future.

keef66

lesfirth wrote:

... 3mm is not a lot but side by side the difference looks hugh.

Hugh? Who?

Bonneville? Hefner? Laurie?

Janus?

fat daddy

bendertherobot wrote:

37c is the future.

this time next year we will all be riding fat bikes

milemuncher1

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Personally, I stick to 25’s all year round.
I use continental GP4000sII in the summer, and Schwalbe Durano plus, or Tannus, in the winter.

Have you even tried 28's?

The Tannus are 28s

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

SloppySchleckonds wrote:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Personally, I stick to 25’s all year round.
I use continental GP4000sII in the summer, and Schwalbe Durano plus, or Tannus, in the winter.

Have you even tried 28's?

The Tannus are 28s

So you don't stick to 25s all year round then... :roll:

fat daddy

Its difficult in Milemunchers posts to figure out what bit is the actual lie ..... is it usinfg 25mm all year round ... is it using the tannus that is 28mm .... or are these both red herrings and he doesnt actually ride in the winter

sloppyschleckonds

fat daddy wrote:

Its difficult in Milemunchers posts to figure out what bit is the actual lie ..... is it usinfg 25mm all year round ... is it using the tannus that is 28mm .... or are these both red herrings and he doesnt actually ride in the winter

Do you think he even owns a bike?

milemuncher1

fat daddy wrote:

Its difficult in Milemunchers posts to figure out what bit is the actual lie ..... is it usinfg 25mm all year round ... is it using the tannus that is 28mm .... or are these both red herrings and he doesnt actually ride in the winter

How do you like your words, boiled, poached, or some other way?

graeme_s-2

bendertherobot wrote:

37c is the future.

See that's what I thought (have 38s on my London Road at the moment), until I got my Cannondale Slate which has 47C slicks on it. I'll leave 37c skinny racing tyres to the pros now thanks

milemuncher1

I can’t get any pics uploaded until flickr stops being shite, but I’d be careful about calling me a “liar” on a public forum, As I’m sure the site admin don’t want the hassle of a defamation lawsuit, given the massive ball ache that involves. Even though it’s a shoe in for a nice pay day for me.

milemuncher1

https://flic.kr/p/ZNrH9o

That’s the 28mm Tannus tyred bike.

https://flic.kr/p/ZR8KXB

That’s ( one of ) the 25mm tyred bikes.

imposter2.0

Milemuncher1 wrote:

I can’t get any pics uploaded until flickr stops being shite, but I’d be careful about calling me a “liar” on a public forum, As I’m sure the site admin don’t want the hassle of a defamation lawsuit, given the massive ball ache that involves. Even though it’s a shoe in for a nice pay day for me.

Successful prosecution of 'defamation' relies on the offending statements actually being false (just ask Henry Kelly) - and you would have to prove loss in order to seek damages. So good luck with that.

Besides which, defamation against an ' internet username' (ie not your real name) would likely be laughed out of court.

Finally, it's a bit rich you crying about being called a 'liar' when you have previously referred to people as 'autistic' and 'mentally disabled' - perhaps those people could counter-sue, who knows.

Actually, I really don't know why I'm dignifying such an absurd comment with a reply...

sloppyschleckonds

Milemuncher1 wrote:

https://flic.kr/p/ZNrH9o

That’s the 28mm Tannus tyred bike.

https://flic.kr/p/ZR8KXB

That’s ( one of ) the 25mm tyred bikes.

Those pictures show nothing

Any reason why you are out of the saddle on those pics when everyone else is seated?

ZMC888

fat daddy wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

37c is the future.

this time next year we will all be riding fat bikes

Wide tires are always faster, fact innit?
By three years time we'll all be riding around on drop bar bikes with motorcycle tires same as on my Ninja 650. Of course aero and weight are irrelevant. Wider is better, especially as your bike MUST have disk brakes to be able to take uber faster and more comfortable wider tires. Better get to the bike shop and hand over your hard earned money asap or miss out.

bungle73

Milemuncher1 wrote:

I can’t get any pics uploaded until flickr stops being shite, but I’d be careful about calling me a “liar” on a public forum, As I’m sure the site admin don’t want the hassle of a defamation lawsuit, given the massive ball ache that involves. Even though it’s a shoe in for a nice pay day for me.

You said:

Milemuncher1 wrote:

Personally, I stick to 25’s all year round.
I use continental GP4000sII in the summer, and Schwalbe Durano plus, or Tannus, in the winter.

You also said

Milemuncher1 wrote:

The Tannus are 28s

Both of those statements can't be true, so one is a lie. Good luck your court case

bungle73

ZMC888 wrote:

fat daddy wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

37c is the future.

this time next year we will all be riding fat bikes

Wide tires are always faster, fact innit?
By three years time we'll all be riding around on drop bar bikes with motorcycle tires same as on my Ninja 650. Of course aero and weight are irrelevant. Wider is better, especially as your bike MUST have disk brakes to be able to take uber faster and more comfortable wider tires. Better get to the bike shop and hand over your hard earned money asap or miss out.

There's obviously some kind of cut off point where the advantages of a wider tyre become outweighed by the disadvantages.

My bike takes up to 32c tyres btw, and it has rim brakes.

charlie_potatoes

I'd go 21mm on the rear, 19mm on the front. Wide tyres have a larger carbon footprint. Using them is irresponsible.

neeb

I see an awful lot of data and opinion apparently showing that wider tyres are faster based on theory and on lab-based tests of rolling resistance, but the best way to test this should simply be to compare speeds at a given power output, with all other factors kept constant.

Does anyone have any links to such data?

I moved from 23 to 25 recently and to be honest I can't really tell the difference (other than obviously it feels slightly less harsh over rough roads if run at lower pressures), and it certainly doesn't seem to have added any detectable speed.

The pros seem to be running 25mm most of the time except for races on cobbles etc, and still at fairly high pressures - difficult to believe that if there were significant advantages to wider tyres and very low pressures they wouldn't be exploiting them.. Or are they really just set in their ways and missing a trick? Surely the marginal gains folk would have forced a change?