in the market for new tires, always rode 23c's...just wondering and tinkering with the idea of going to 25c's (possible smoother ride?) - ride in pennsylvania, no racing at all but i like a good performance tire; nothing too heavy - roads not too bad but condition of pave varies on every ride. running 6'-2", 185lbs.....just wanted to get some +/- feedback from those who switched to 25's.
tire i'm looking at now is the vittoria zaffiro pro clincher.
I am a big fan of high volume tires. 25c is the smallest I will run. I like 28's best and find lower pressures with higher volmume gets a smoother ride, more forgiveness, higher grip, they may be a little heavier but for the ride, it is worth the compromise.
I started running kevlar bead 28s on my touring bike at 85lbs. Very comfy.
On my cross bike (commuter, trainer) I run 32s at 65 lbs and it's very comfy despite being an aluminum frame.
When you look at tires, don't just look at width. Different tires have a different cross section. Look at height. Specialized 23s and 25s are not only narrow but very low profile. Panaracer 28s are nearly round in cross section, so they are very high profile. Height provides cushion for comfort and flat prevention.
Another vote for 25c. I've experienced less pinch flats, without any perfomance dis-advantage. I've been using 25c for about a year now. We had a lot of them at the shop, so I started using them. They work fine for me.
I remember someone doing a test between 18c and 23c and 23c was faster because of the suspension effect of the fatter tire.
In the spring when the 35mm studded tires come off I am planning to mount 28mm tires on the rims instead of the 23mm tires that were used this year. Until recently I thought that generally the narrower the tire the faster it was, but have been learning otherwise lately which was quite a surprise and still is an idea difficult for me to accept because narrow tires are so much associated with the faster bicycles that it seemed obvious and certain and common sense that narrow tires and rims must be faster.
I ran 25 c front and 28 c rear this summer (Vittoria Zaffiro pro rear and Rubino pro front). I did fit a 28 to the front. It picked up some road sand and the front clearance was so tight, it 'sanded' the wheel side of my carbon fork. Back to 25c front and 28 rear for me.
Wow, I remember 2008.......back when 25mm tires were considered BIG! Gee, just look at how much we've changed in 14 years, now that it seems 28mm is the bare minimum for tire width.....
Yeah, back when I bought my 2007 Trek Pilot 5.0, fellow riders were criticizing the choice of 25mm tires on it when most roadies were still riding 23mm tires. I got comments like "You will go so much faster on 23mm tires". I'm now riding 28mm tires on both my road bikes and will never go back.
I'm old enough to remember the occasional 'crazy roadie' buying a set of 18mm track tubulars for his bike because he was looking for 'something faster' than his 19mm wides.....
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