Rolling Resistance of tyres.

[Banjo]

According to this http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/specialized-s-works-turbo-2016
my Luganos have about 3 times the rolling resistance of the fastest roadbike tyres.

How significant is this in the real world for someone who doesn't race but does do long rides so doesn't wish to waste energy?

 

[Vapin' Joe]

According to this http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/specialized-s-works-turbo-2016
my Luganos have about 3 times the rolling resistance of the fastest roadbike tyres.

How significant is this in the real world for someone who doesn't race but does do long rides so doesn't wish to waste energy?

It's part of the usual bollocks that manufacturers claim for their products, along the lines of 20% stiffer, 10% lighter and 20% more compliant etc etc.

 

[HLaB]

It claims there's about 4w between my best tyres and commuting tyres and nearer 5w to my trai9ning tyres; I can't really see it

 

[dim]

According to this http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/specialized-s-works-turbo-2016
my Luganos have about 3 times the rolling resistance of the fastest roadbike tyres.

How significant is this in the real world for someone who doesn't race but does do long rides so doesn't wish to waste energy?

Cycling is really taking off now especially where I live (Cambridge). In the past year, I have seen a huge amount of new cyclists in my area, with very good bikes. There are much more cyclists on the roads on weekends. Everyone I speak to uses Strava. So, many people are riding competitively (either against their mates, against their previous best times, or if they are trying to get a KOM ...

With a good tyre, an extra 3km per hour makes a huge difference on your rankings ....

If you are not worried about speed, my recomendation is to get Schwalbe Durano Plus .... The Lugano's will give you punctures after a while. The Durano plus roll ok and are bombproof as far as punctures are concerned. And as a bonus, they grip well in the wet and dry. Best all round tyre IMHO .... especially for winter

My best faster summer tyre is Continental Grand Prix 4000s II

 

[Banjo]

It's part of the usual bollocks that manufacturers claim for their products, along the lines of 20% stiffer, 10% lighter and 20% more compliant etc etc.

The test was independant of manufacturers and tested dozens of different makes rolling resistance on the same machine .

Cycling is really taking off now especially where I live (Cambridge). In the past year, I have seen a huge amount of new cyclists in my area, with very good bikes. There are much more cyclists on the roads on weekends. Everyone I speak to uses Strava. So, many people are riding competitively (either against their mates, against their previous best times, or if they are trying to get a KOM ...

With a good tyre, an extra 3km per hour makes a huge difference on your rankings ....

If you are not worried about speed, my recomendation is to get Schwalbe Durano Plus .... The Lugano's will give you punctures after a while. The Durano plus roll ok and are bombproof as far as punctures are concerned. And as a bonus, they grip well in the wet and dry. Best all round tyre IMHO .... especially for winter

My best faster summer tyre is Continental Grand Prix 4000s II

I would love to gain 3 km per hour.Can this really be achieved just with a better tyre?

Dont do strava just don t like being the straggler in my little group.

 

[nickyboy]

The test was independant of manufacturers and tested dozens of different makes rolling resistance on the same machine .

I would love to gain 3 km per hour.Can this really be achieved just with a better tyre?

Dont do strava just don t like being the straggler in my little group.

Can it be achieved? Unlikely

According to the tests, a Schwalbe Lugano tyre suffers 14.2W more rolling resistance than the most slippery tyre. So that's 28.4W for a pair

Too many variables to calculate the answer such as what speed you're currently doing, what's your drag coefficient etc etc. But an extra 28.4W will struggle to get you an extra 3km/hr. Having said that, the most slippery tyres will wear out in next to no time and cost a lot so aren't a good example. If you're on Schwalbe Luganos you could definitely do yourself a favour and half your rolling resistance with a better choice. Free Watts are not to be sniffed at

 

[mark st1]

Cycling is really taking off now especially where I live (Cambridge). In the past year, I have seen a huge amount of new cyclists in my area, with very good bikes. There are much more cyclists on the roads on weekends. Everyone I speak to uses Strava. So, many people are riding competitively (either against their mates, against their previous best times, or if they are trying to get a KOM ...

With a good tyre, an extra 3km per hour makes a huge difference on your rankings ....

If you are not worried about speed, my recomendation is to get Schwalbe Durano Plus .... The Lugano's will give you punctures after a while. The Durano plus roll ok and are bombproof as far as punctures are concerned. And as a bonus, they grip well in the wet and dry. Best all round tyre IMHO .... especially for winter

My best faster summer tyre is Continental Grand Prix 4000s II

I've used Conti GP 4000's all year round with no issues if it's soaking wet I just ease off a bit on the corners. Bloody love them tyres I use the 25's bit pricey but other than that I've never had an issue with them.

 

[Sharky]

According to this http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/specialized-s-works-turbo-2016
my Luganos have about 3 times the rolling resistance of the fastest roadbike tyres.

How significant is this in the real world for someone who doesn't race but does do long rides so doesn't wish to waste energy?

The laws of physics must indicate that some tyres will require more/less power/energy to maintain the same speed. How much more/less power - haven't a clue.
But what happens in the real world, if you ride faster tyres, would you keep to the same speed and therefore use less energy? Or would you just move to the next gear up and keep the power output the same and go a bit faster? If the latter you would therefore end up using the same amount of energy?

 

[Yellow Saddle]

Cycling is really taking off now especially where I live (Cambridge). In the past year, I have seen a huge amount of new cyclists in my area, with very good bikes. There are much more cyclists on the roads on weekends. Everyone I speak to uses Strava. So, many people are riding competitively (either against their mates, against their previous best times, or if they are trying to get a KOM ...

With a good tyre, an extra 3km per hour makes a huge difference on your rankings ....

If you are not worried about speed, my recomendation is to get Schwalbe Durano Plus .... The Lugano's will give you punctures after a while. The Durano plus roll ok and are bombproof as far as punctures are concerned. And as a bonus, they grip well in the wet and dry. Best all round tyre IMHO .... especially for winter

My best faster summer tyre is Continental Grand Prix 4000s II

Terms like "roll OK" and "bombproof" and "puncture proof" are not really helpful.

Further, how did you test the "grip" of the tyre you prefer and how many other tyres did you compare it to. Do you have any data to share?
What is the difference between a summer and winter tyre?

 

[PhilDawson8270]

Most "rolling resistance" is actually caused by friction in bearings, and in leading edge deformation

That machine will cause very little leading edge deformation like a road would do, and would become negligible on the road. Tyre pressure will make a bigger difference.

 

[Ajax Bay]

According to the tests, a Schwalbe Lugano tyre suffers 14.2W more rolling resistance than the most slippery tyre. So that's 28.4W for a pair. Edit: I'm now not so sure whether the quoted power loss/resistance is 'per wheel' or 'per two wheels'.

No, the tests are for a bike shod with a particular tyre - so riding on those ones cost the rider an additional 14.2W. But not useful to compare them (NB @£10) with Vittoria CorsaSpeed (Open TLR) (@ £~50). Look at the review on that site - the Lugano gets 1/5 and 'not recommended'. For a combination of low rolling resistance, decent puncture protection and price the Michelin Pro4 Service Course is difficult to better and @Racing roadkill thinks they're good too.

How much more/less power - haven't a clue.

Well if you look at the rolling resistance website, you would have more of a clue. Your 'real world' point is entirely valid. What a work out you could get by making sure both brakes rubbed against the discs/rims all the time.

 

[dim]

nd

Terms like "roll OK" and "bombproof" and "puncture proof" are not really helpful.

Further, how did you test the "grip" of the tyre you prefer and how many other tyres did you compare it to. Do you have any data to share?
What is the difference between a summer and winter tyre?

comes from experience mate .... ride them then find out

I have given my honest opinion on what I have used .... if you have used the tyres that I have used, and have a better suggestion .... please share?

 

[Ajax Bay]

Most "rolling resistance" is actually caused by friction in bearings, and in leading edge deformation
That machine will cause very little leading edge deformation like a road would do, and would become negligible on the road. Tyre pressure will make a bigger difference.

Please could you add more background to "actually caused by friction in bearings"? I thought their testing regime was to test the tyres on different wheels to control for that. Are you saying that wheel hub losses are a larger proportion of rolling losses than tyres?
Why will the machine they use cause a different effect on the way the tyre deforms cf real world road.
Will increased tyre pressures decrease or increase rolling resistance - in the real world of rubber on the road - as opposed to a machine?

 

[nickyboy]

Can it be achieved? Unlikely

According to the tests, a Schwalbe Lugano tyre suffers 14.2W more rolling resistance than the most slippery tyre. So that's 28.4W for a pair

Too many variables to calculate the answer such as what speed you're currently doing, what's your drag coefficient etc etc. But an extra 28.4W will struggle to get you an extra 3km/hr. Having said that, the most slippery tyres will wear out in next to no time and cost a lot so aren't a good example. If you're on Schwalbe Luganos you could definitely do yourself a favour and half your rolling resistance with a better choice. Free Watts are not to be sniffed at

To plug in some of my numbers....I typically average about 160W and 22km/hr on a longer ride. Let's assume I'm running Luganos and change to the slippiest tyres. This reduces my rolling resistance from 21.9W to 7.7W. So I previously used 138.1W to overcome wind resistance and I now have 152.3W available for this. Wind resistance is proportional to the square of the velocity so this let's me increase my speed by 5%...from 22 to 23.1km/hr

 

[dim]

ok ... try this:

fit a pair of Schwalbe Marathon plus to your bike then ride for 3 months on your regular cycle routes and record your times (*and the wind speeds) ..,. use strava and make a note of the wind

then,fit a pair of Continental Grand Prix 4000sII and do the same,..., then post back here and tell us if tyres make a difference or not