Tyre width

[John the Monkey]

Yes very little difference, but the saying "marginal gains" springs to mind.

I'm honest enough to admit that;

1) Those gains are *too* marginal to make me sacrifice my comfort

2) I (personally) am not at a level where saving 50-70g on tyre weight seems in any way significant.

I remember, although I can't find it now, a post on another forum saying that these sorts of differences are well into "princess and the pea" territory for most, if not all, of us.

If riders want to obsess over anything, tyre *quality* is the thing, I think. I ride Pro Races, and Krylions because of the "feel" and quality of ride. I don't ride my GP4000 as much because, while not a bad tyre per se, they don't have the quality of ride that the Michelins do (they don't do anything badly, they're just not as nice).

Similarly, I much preferred the Comfort Contacts to the Touring Plus (both 42c), and the 32c Perfect Max on my tourer/commuter.

 

[Licramite]

I wonder what the maximum speed the different tyres are designed to - 50mph? , 100mph?

 

[John the Monkey]

Road Cycling UK, coincidentally, had an article on wider tyres recently;

http://roadcyclinguk.com/gear/using-wider-tyres-road-bike.html#qrYP1As4HMpvkgLo.97

The big up-shot for the majority of riders running wider tyres is that a 25mm tyre experiences less rolling resistance than a 23mm tyre at the same air pressure and therefore requires less energy to propel the bike forwards.

Drop the air pressure in a wider tyre, as you’d be advised to do so, and you’ll improve comfort and handling, without adversely affecting performance. Given all these factors from the labs and the pros, it looks like a win-win situation for the average club rider who wants to improve performance and raise comfort levels.