Road bike tire thread

[kalisto]

Also in Vancouver, on a pretty aggressive road bike and I'm running 25s. The roads here are pretty good. Bigger could be nice, but honestly you're fine with what you have. When you tear the tire or wear them out then you can reconsider.

As for tubeless... I find flats are significantly less of an issue on road wheels. I maybe get like... 1 a year. Having to deal with the mess of tubeless for that, for me, is just not worth it. Could it be more comfortable (see lower tire pressure), sure, but I'm not uncomfortable, so I don't bother. Also easy enough to change a flat.

If you want to go for a road rip, hit me up. Roads are pretty damn quiet these days with the whole 'rona thing going on. Trying to stay off the mountain bike as I've proven in the past it's a really good/fast way to hurt yourself.

[XXX-er]

https://road.cc/content/feature/what...ubeless-257746

this ^^ road tubeless artical appeared on my phone pretty much speaks to the hassles I had and I think its a pretty good

i got no problen with MTNbike tubeless but a few things have to change before i would consider trying road tubeless again

[dan_pdx]

A lot of my road rides have at least a few miles on Portland city streets, and there's a reasonable amount of broken glass. I trashed a rear tire on the trainer because I'm an idiot, and when I replace it, I'm thinking about switching tires from the Conti GP 4k/5k to this tire: https://www.westernbikeworks.com/pro...700c-road-tire

Has anyone ridden both? Am I going to notice a reduction in ride quality or handling with the Gatorskin? How about acceleration - any noticeable difference? I assume the Gatorskin is heavier, though this particular site doesn't include weights in their listing for the GP 5000.

[GeezerSteve]

Has anyone ridden both?

Yes, many miles on Gatorskins and GP4000, fewer on (newer) GP5000. Gatorskins are tough, but they are dogs, i.e., slow and harsh, an okay choice for city riding. There are tires with better feel and better rolling resistance that are nearly as puncture proof as Gatorskins, e.g., Conti GP Four Seasons, Michelin Endurance Pro 4 v2, Schwalbe Durano Plus. If you can fit 32s, Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is an option.

[dan_pdx]

Yes, many miles on Gatorskins and GP4000, fewer on (newer) GP5000. Gatorskins are tough, but they are dogs, i.e., slow and harsh, an okay choice for city riding. There are tires with better feel and better rolling resistance that are nearly as puncture proof as Gatorskins, e.g., Conti GP Four Seasons, Michelin Endurance Pro 4 v2, Schwalbe Durano Plus. If you can fit 32s, Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is an option.

Nice, thanks for the heads up. I'll look into one of the other options you mentioned. 25 mm is the specced max for my bike - it's a CAAD10, the same bike as ::: ::: who I saw chimed in earlier. I'll be back for more wisdom from the collective when I'm ready to get a gravel / touring / commuter bike, maybe in late summer or fall.

[GeezerSteve]

This is a good resource with objective testing of rolling resistance and puncture resistance. : https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/.

[XXX-er]

Steve I got a question ^^ with wider tires coming into vogue do you notice if road bikes are being built with more clearance ??

[kalisto]

Yep. 100%. Most 'race' bikes are modelled after pros bikes and wider tires are becoming more common in the pro peloton.

[::: :::]

@danpdx, do you have fenders on your caad10?
Thinking about sks raceblades...

[GeezerSteve]

Steve I got a question ^^ with wider tires coming into vogue do you notice if road bikes are being built with more clearance ??

Not sure. I build all my own frames and those for my wife and buds -- always with ample clearance, >28 on fast frames, >32 on big guy fast frames, >38 on touring frames.

I scratch my head why it took so long for the masses to figure out that 28s ride much better and roll about the same (or sometimes better) than 21s, 23s and 25s. Of all the outdoor groups I've encountered, road bicyclists seem more reliant on anti-data myth (e.g., tire width, cadence, rotating weight) than other groups.

[XXX-er]

I know you build frames so thats why i asked

my neighbor raced at a world class and coached for a bunch of years,

she talked about racing on 19's

[GeezerSteve]

pices of clearance with Conti GP5000 32s on my road frame. My wife's road frame has same clearance for 28s.

[jamal]

Bigger tires are definitely more comfortable, but for a lighter guy it's not always entirely necessary, and narrower tires are more aerodynamic. Even new wider aero wheels are meant for a 23-25mm tire.

The rolling resistance thing also gets a little exaggerated. Like, yeah, a 28 at 100psi rolls faster than a 23 at 100psi on a smooth surface. Obviously, it'll be way harder. At the pressures you'd actually use in a bigger tire the difference is a lot smaller or non-existent.

Bicycle rolling resistance has a comparison of all the GP5ks here

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance...000-comparison

Compare, say, the 25 and 28, both at 100psi, and yeah big surprise the 28 has less resistance. But how about the 28 at 80 psi and the 25 at 100? When he compares the tires at reasonable pressures you would run there are essentially no differences.

[plugboots]

Pump the brakes here. A huge part of this is brake clearance and therefore now that disc brakes are in vogue, “wider is better”. CX used center pull brakes to get around this, etc. 28 does not fit on my frame, nor do I want it to.

[Dee Hubbs]

Width is not the problem with my rim brake road bikes. 28's or 30's hit the top of brake arches in most of my bikes.
Typically I can get away with a 28 in the front but not the rear. Long reach calipers don't fix the problem, it's the arch height. From my home samples I've found Ultegra 6700 have 2mm more height clearance than Ultegra 6800 or Dura 9000.
Disc Brake road bikes are not an issue.

[El Chupacabra]

Bigger tires are definitely more comfortable, but for a lighter guy it's not always entirely necessary, and narrower tires are more aerodynamic. Even new wider aero wheels are meant for a 23-25mm tire.

The rolling resistance thing also gets a little exaggerated. Like, yeah, a 28 at 100psi rolls faster than a 23 at 100psi on a smooth surface. Obviously, it'll be way harder. At the pressures you'd actually use in a bigger tire the difference is a lot smaller or non-existent.

Bicycle rolling resistance has a comparison of all the GP5ks here

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance...000-comparison

Compare, say, the 25 and 28, both at 100psi, and yeah big surprise the 28 has less resistance. But how about the 28 at 80 psi and the 25 at 100? When he compares the tires at reasonable pressures you would run there are essentially no differences.

Isn't the point of the wider tire trend that the wider tire has about the same rolling resistance, but at a lower pressure, so it rides a bit smoother? Comparisons at the same psi don't really make sense.

[GeezerSteve]

Isn't the point of the wider tire trend that the wider tire has about the same rolling resistance, but at a lower pressure, so it rides a bit smoother?

The starting point is that larger tires deform less at the same pressure. All other things equal, less deformation = lower rolling resistance. Other advantages are larger patch on road (traction) and the option of lower pressure.

28's or 30's hit the top of brake arches in most of my bikes.
Typically I can get away with a 28 in the front but not the rear.

Seat stay brake bridge can be placed for the shortest reach side-pull brakes (e.g., DA, Super Record, SRAM Red) with the brake shoes near the bottom of the slot, work fine with any 28 and most 32s. Unless the rider wanted otherwise, I always built for greatest clearance. (My 6 most recent frames are for disc.) 20 or so years ago it became fashionable to place the seat stay brake bridge with little clearance with the brake shoes high in the slot.

[XXX-er]

15 yars ago my Caad8 came with 23's and thats pretty much what came on road bikes,

even on a slick tread I noticed a fair difference in traction/stability going to 25's with no down side I think they weigh almost the same

around here a lot of routes will have some dirt so if you wana ride do a circle route its sketchy on 23's and not so bad with 25's so i was hoping for even more traction on 28's

[robnow]

So Jamal, help me decide before I pull the trigger tomorrow on GP5000 TLs, 28 vs 32, I’m 190lbs, Focus Paralane.

32’s are great riding solo, can incorporate a bit more gravel in my riding...but obviously in a group setting most are going to be 28’s so rolling a bit quicker. I’m ever so slightly leaning 32 to experiment, but at the same time I think my climbing times are slightly slower on the Paralane (28 Pro Ones) vs. previous and lighter Tarmac (25s). The other option is to go 28 and grab a set of 35 G-Ones. Conti’s are cheap, Schwalbe not so much.

For reference people, as of this 2020 season, pretty much every brand’s ‘Endurance’ or ‘All Road’ road bike (w/ discs) comes specced 32.

Gettin’ nerdy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[jamal]

GP5k TLs are cheap? Isn't msrp like 92usd a tire?

I spent a season without a road bike and spent a lot of time riding my cx bike on the road with 32mm clement stradas. Like it better with those than my fancy 27mm vittoria open paves. Sort of maybe noticed a little extra aero drag but it was way more comfortable and capable off pavement and I could still keep up at wed worlds. Now I just have 40s on there most of the time. Also from what I gather the gp5ks don't measure bigger than listed like the 4ks did, so I think I'd lean toward the bigger ones.


I'm kind of torn because for the fast group rides and races the skinny tires are fine and probably faster, but I find myself wishing for a road bike with a little more tire pretty often. It's pretty hard not to hit some dirt on a road ride around here. Something with disc brakes and 32s would be pretty nice for everything except wed worlds and actual road races and none of that is even happening. Guess I need another bike?

[rideit]

You guys do World’s rides on Wednesdays?
Ours are Tuesday’s.
I can usually only attend later in the season, they are so. goddamn. Fast.

[gramboh]

Also in Vancouver, on a pretty aggressive road bike and I'm running 25s. The roads here are pretty good. Bigger could be nice, but honestly you're fine with what you have. When you tear the tire or wear them out then you can reconsider.

As for tubeless... I find flats are significantly less of an issue on road wheels. I maybe get like... 1 a year. Having to deal with the mess of tubeless for that, for me, is just not worth it. Could it be more comfortable (see lower tire pressure), sure, but I'm not uncomfortable, so I don't bother. Also easy enough to change a flat.

If you want to go for a road rip, hit me up. Roads are pretty damn quiet these days with the whole 'rona thing going on. Trying to stay off the mountain bike as I've proven in the past it's a really good/fast way to hurt yourself.

Would love to go for a ride, but my wife is a front-line healthcare worker so I'm doing my best to avoid interacting with ppl outside our house because exposure risk is a higher for me. When life is back to normal I'll hit you up.

Good to hear your thoughts and others like the link XXXer posted. It's a no brainer for MTB but road def not as clearcut, think I will stick with tubes until I feel a need to change.

[El Chupacabra]

So Jamal, help me decide before I pull the trigger tomorrow on GP5000 TLs, 28 vs 32, I’m 190lbs, Focus Paralane.

32’s are great riding solo, can incorporate a bit more gravel in my riding...but obviously in a group setting most are going to be 28’s so rolling a bit quicker. I’m ever so slightly leaning 32 to experiment, but at the same time I think my climbing times are slightly slower on the Paralane (28 Pro Ones) vs. previous and lighter Tarmac (25s). The other option is to go 28 and grab a set of 35 G-Ones. Conti’s are cheap, Schwalbe not so much.

For reference people, as of this 2020 season, pretty much every brand’s ‘Endurance’ or ‘All Road’ road bike (w/ discs) comes specced 32.

Gettin’ nerdy.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not sure which tires you're specifically looking at, but I just bought some Schwalbe One from backcountry for about $23 each in 700x30.

[huckbucket]

Thread drift ... are anyone's world's rides even going off? Ours hasn't been meeting.

[XXX-er]

GP5k TLs are cheap? Isn't msrp like 92usd a tire?

ever so often Chain Reaction puts tires on sale often 50% off

I got a DHRII delivered for a real good price, my buddy the shop rat sez thats what he pays for them

The Shwalbes I mentioned further up the thead were like 60% off so 2 tires delivered for 92Can$


so you can get cheap tires BUT you are looking at pages of tires so pay attention & make sure you buy the right thing or its 20$ to ship them back

or go to your LBS