Skinny tires - Can't go back.

[I like Skol]

Perhaps it isn't the tyre size that is the issue? Riding technique plays a much bigger part in comfort and damage avoidance than having fat tyres. If you ride rigidly fixed to the bike, clinging grimly to the bars in case a sudden bump in the road should try to throw you off then you will feel every imperfection and suffer the maximum impact from each pothole.
Try to loosen up a bit, float on the saddle with more weight on the pedals. Keep your arms slightly bent and relax your grip on the bars a little. This will give a much better ride and allow the bike to move about a bit over rougher surfaces without it transmitting a battering to you.
I ride bikes with 23c, 28c and 35c tyres and find them much of a muchness for normal road riding. The reason I stick with the 35c tyres on my commuter is because that is what it came with, I have a rear pannier that is sometimes heavily loaded and when I am commuting home from a 12hr shift on a cold, wet, dark, busy night I can afford to ride through the puddles without worrying about what it may contain.

 

[User6179]

Its not the size of the tyres that give comfort but the suppleness of the sidewalls and the pressure the tyres are set at , the same type of tyre will be better in a bigger size at a lower pressure but say a Conti gp4000 23s is far more comfortable at 100 psi than say a Mplus size 28s at 75 psi.

 

[velovoice]

Its ... the suppleness of the sidewalls and the pressure the tyres are set at .

+1
Look beyond mainstream brand tyres at the likes of Grand Bois, Compass, Clement....

 

[Licramite]

I ride 32mm and do mostly off road tracks and trails but ws wondering if I could down size to say 25mm to improve my road speed (actually I think the only real improvement on road speed would stick an engine on it, but every little helps)
so what do you think is the best slimmer tyre for road/trails bike?

 

[Crackle]

I don't think it's as simple as choosing a tyre size. It seems to depend on bike, wheels, weight, make and pressure. I've 1.5inch (38m) tyres on a old mtn bike, which give me the same feeling over a rough concrete surface as the 25's on my road bike. I've had similar experiences with mtn bike tyres, each bike and each tyre needs tuning for purpose.

 

[Randomnerd]

Grand Bois Hetres 42s on 650b rims, under steel frame with low trail geometry: comfort; speed; useful on all surfaces. You get what you pay for.

 

[KnackeredBike]

@I like Skol Agreed the biggest thing you can do is to come a couple of centimetres out of your saddle on rough surfaces and let your legs absorb the shocks.

I run 700cx23 at 120psi everywhere (I am 100kg), on an alu frame. That includes cycle paths and night rides with £10 Aldi lights. Admittedly most of it is over familiar roads where I know the line to take.

I couple of times I have had to ride in the saddle because of freehub issues and that is ball shatteringly uncomfortable.

If you hit a nasty pothole on almost any wheel you will risk buckling it.

I think everyone has their own "sweet spot". I would almost go skinnier than 23 if they were available in Conti Gatorskins because I like the very immediate feedback from the road.

 

[fossyant]

Anything bigger than 23c belongs on a MTB

 

[T4tomo]

I fell asleep.halfway thru the OP

 

[User169]

Grand Bois Hetres 42s on 650b rims, under steel frame with low trail geometry: comfort; speed; useful on all surfaces. You get what you pay for.

You are Jan Heine!

 

[Sharky]

I fell asleep.halfway thru the OP

Tired?

 

[T4tomo]

Tired?

 

[Randomnerd]

You are Jan Heine!

Rumbled. Wish I was a penny behind him.

 

[SuperHans123]

Couldn't really read the rest when I got this far:-
'But i was angry at the 25mm tires'

Way way too much time on hands.

 

[Tim Hall]

Couldn't really read the rest when I got this far:-
'But i was angry at the 25mm tires'
.

Cross-ply presumably.