Can I swap 700x45c tyres for smaller?
- Thread starter Butty1972
- Start date
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T.M.H.N.E.T
Rainbows aren't just for world champions
- Location
- Northern Ireland
Yes
Cycleops
Legendary Member
- Location
- Accra, Ghana
Yes, no prob.
mcshroom
Bionic Subsonic
- Location
- Egremont, Cumbria
Yes you can. You can probably go down quite a bit further than that as well. 
The way to work it out is from the internal diameter of the wheel rims. Hoepfully your rim will have a marking something like 19-622 on it. The 622 refers to the wheel size (622 is another name for 700c wheels), and the small number the internal width of the rim. From there you can wor out which sizes would fit your bike from the (bright red and green) table at the bottom of this page: -
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
The way to work it out is from the internal diameter of the wheel rims. Hoepfully your rim will have a marking something like 19-622 on it. The 622 refers to the wheel size (622 is another name for 700c wheels), and the small number the internal width of the rim. From there you can wor out which sizes would fit your bike from the (bright red and green) table at the bottom of this page: -
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html
John the Monkey
Frivolous Cyclist
- Location
- Crewe
As a cautionary note, I went in the other direction, from 32c to 42c on my Surly Long Haul Trucker, and there was no difference in my average speed at all - there was a marked improvement in rider comfort
In tarmac friendly big tyres, I liked the Continental Comfort Contact best - roll nicely, and the kevlar breaker was robust enough for my commute. My current tyres are Continental Touring Plus (they have a marathon like sub tread rubber breaker) and I find them a bit heavy, and sensitive to proper pressure (let the pressure drop too much, and they feel really sluggish). Both those are "siped" - they have a tread pattern, but not the pronounced blocky tread of an off road tyre.
In case you want to do this with another bike, the limiting factor is the rim width - there's a handy chart and more info at the link below;
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width
In tarmac friendly big tyres, I liked the Continental Comfort Contact best - roll nicely, and the kevlar breaker was robust enough for my commute. My current tyres are Continental Touring Plus (they have a marathon like sub tread rubber breaker) and I find them a bit heavy, and sensitive to proper pressure (let the pressure drop too much, and they feel really sluggish). Both those are "siped" - they have a tread pattern, but not the pronounced blocky tread of an off road tyre.
In case you want to do this with another bike, the limiting factor is the rim width - there's a handy chart and more info at the link below;
http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width
