Road bike tyres

[RhynoCZ]

My 28mm road bike tyres are due to be replaced and I'm wondering about going up the width. I watched the GCN show about tyres, I've read stuff online... but what do real cyclists actually use these days?
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[recman]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus are decent enough. Not sure about different sizes though, I guess it depends on what you're doing.

[stinkwheel]

Mrs stinkwheel has 23s on her triathalon bike but I've seen a lot of road bikes running fatter tyres recently.

Meh. Cycling is fickle and often more about fashion and marketing than function. I'm personally amazed they've stuck with 700c for so long without deciding a slight variation is the next big thing. I mean, they replaced 27" with 700c which is what? 8mm smaller in diameter. I have 27" x 1 1/8" on my road bike because fuck you fashion. I did it deliberately too, the frame is designed for 700c and I made the wheels myself, could have picked any size rim I wanted.

Fit what appeals to you and is available at a good price, I doubt anyone on here is in marginal gains territory. I suppose fatter ones make sense with the state of the roads.

I do like schwalbe tyres as a make, although I think I have contis on just now because they were cheap.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[Ste]

You should go up to 32 or 34. Go tubeless as well if you haven't already.

Is this just about general comfort or are you needing to up your game because there's a new dentist in town who is taking your KOMs on Strava?

[Easy-X]

The general principle I would think is wider tyre = larger contact patch. If you're going over loose surfaces a lot than wider is good. Tarmac is (mostly) a purpose made grippy surface so less contact required. Less contact = less rolling resistance.
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[Nobby the Bastard]

My bike still has the same tyre it had on it when I bought it 7 years ago and after several thousand miles I still see no reason to replace it so meh.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[stinkwheel]

[Nobby the Bastard]

You also have to take into account tyre pressure.
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trevor saxe-coburg-gotha:"Remember this simple rule - scooters are for men who like to feel the breeze on their huge, flapping cunt lips."
Triumph Sprint ST 1050

[Ste]

Yes, with wider tyres he'll be running lower pressures and going faster.

[RhynoCZ]

Thank you all for your contribution.

After a moderate consideration, I'm getting 700x32C tyres for the 2023 season. I ride slow and far, so I prefer endurance over speed. People say 32mm tyres are not that far off from the 28mm tyres when it comes to watts, aero and all that performance stuff. Negligible, the bicycle people say.

I already ordered Continental Grand sport race 700x32C tyres (got a good deal). My current tyre set is Continental Ultra sport III 700x28C and since I was quite pleased with the wet/dry grip and the road feel, I thought why not to try yet another Continental set. I would get yet another Ultra sport III tyre set, but my local bike shops don't have them in 700x32C in stock anywere.

Sure there are cheaper alternatives, but I'm done with that. My bike (Triban RC500) came on the basic B'twin tyres and I still can not believe I did 2500km on them. The compound was rock hard, so all the vibrations came right through the wheels into the bars and the seat. Also, both the wet and dry grip was awful, nearly crashed the bike twice on those tyres. The B'twin tyres also felt somewhat slow (robbing me of my power) which I contributed to the ''puncture resistant desing'' but I got a puncture anyway, twice in the first 500-750km. Prior to that I had a MTB and the last time I had to fix a puncture on that bike was... I don't know really, maybe 15 years ago.

@Ste: I'm not going tubeless any time soon. I can't see the benefits considering all the work involved. I very rarely have a puncture and I won't be able to even see the potentional performance benefits anyway.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[RhynoCZ]

[Weisse Schlange]

I run 41's on my gravelly thing lol fuckin awesome

Road bike 28's
Next road bike 30's

Fancy steel retro road bike, moving to 32's


The 50's guys knew what the fuck they were on about btw.
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Hing Oan

[stinkwheel]

[A100man]

[thx1138]

gravel tyres on my winter bike, which is a Trek Trail 2 hybrid with mudguards, cos route 51 into willington is a mud bath right now

[A100man]

[thx1138]

[ThunderGuts]

Back on topic, my commuter (a 90s steel road bike configured as a singlespeed) I use 25mm, my steel audax I have 28mm (a modern frame so there is clearance for it) and my racing bike (mid-2000s) has 23mm. Frames made in a certain era, like my racing bike, were designed for 23mm or even narrower tyres - it won't take 25mm! My tourer has 38mm.

I would say the frame/forks are a much bigger factor to comfort than the tyres (assuming the tyres are properly inflated); the carbon forks on my audax give a smoother ride than the steel forks on my tourer, which in turn give a smoother ride the ally forks that were on my (stolen) ally commuter with 28mm tyres.
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TG.

[thx1138]

I got marathon plus on my single speed, which is my favourite bike to ride

[stinkwheel]

[ThunderGuts]

[Drew]

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[RhynoCZ]

So, first 100 km on the 32x700c tyres, and I am very satisfied with the performance. Effort/rolling resistance wise it feels the same as the previous 28x700c tyres, but I can now run lower pressures and that's the biggest difference. No vibrations into the handle bars, more comfort for my arse... and I even ride faster where I would usually slow down due to rough surface and bumps in the road.

Would recommend to anyone commuting on a road bike.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[ThunderGuts]

[weasley]

My road bike came with 25mm tyres. I have put 28mm on it but in order to do that I have to deflate the rear one to get it on the frame, otherwise it fouls the seat tube as you try to get the QR into the dropouts. I guess a TA frame would alleviate this.

My homebrew gravel bike runs 43mm tyres - possibly room for a bit more but then clearance for mud may become an issue.
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