what size wheels

[bristol-dave]

Hi, just joined CC today, so be gentle with me. I hope this doesn't appear to be to dafter question . i cycle to work 2-3 times a week . I own a Claude Butler urban 400, bought it about 3 yrs ago. my current wheels are 700's that came with the bike. im looking to maybe change the wheels for something slimmer to enable me to get a bit more speed .... any ideas please. Hope ya all enjoying the great weather. Dave

 

[mcshroom]

Hi Dave,

I'm assuming you want to get thinner tyres on the bike, rather than actually changing the wheels. The stock wheels on your bike are apparently 700x40c. (40mm width) You should easily be able to put tyres as thin as 28mm (700x28c) on the bike. The other thing (if you are riding predominantly on roads) is to look for tyres that are slicker than the ones you have. They will grip a lot better on the road but roll faster.

I currently have these on my tourer, which are pretty quick rolling and have puncture protection built in. Another option could be something like a Michelin City or the WTB Slickasaurus Tour Comp (never used this last one so don't know much about it)

Before investing in new tyres, make sure that you have pumped up your existing tyres to the maximum rated pressure as soft tyres add a lot of rolling resistance to the bike.

 

[e-rider]

some 28 or 32mm slicks should do the job (Continental sport contact 700x32 are good and fairly cheap; and they come up narrow for a 32)

 

[mr Mag00]

as above and welcome!

 

[bristol-dave]

Hi all ,

thank you to all of you for your advice its greatly appreciated. The Continental sport contact tyres do look good, im currently running on schwabbe marathon plus tyres 700x32 , do you think im going to feel a lot of difference between these and the Continental 700x 28 ? Another quick question if i was to go down the route of changing wheels, any recommendations please, budget upto 80-100 quid ? cheers.