Would different tyres make much of a difference?

[T675Rich]

I started commuting on my new bike and it is so much nicer than my old one, it comes with Panaracer Comet Hardpack 700x38C tyres. I hadn't given it much thought as it doesn't look like a proper off road tyre like my old bike used to have but a colleague saw it and asked if I was going to put some road tyres on it. I'm not fit or fast so I am thinking that there may not be much point but I would like some more expert opinion.

Thanks.

 

[Cycleops]

Looks like "crossover" type tyre, a sort of semi off road pattern found on many hybrids now. Pumped up to Max it should perform well on the road but maybe not as well as a smoother road tyre. The main issue may be its puncture resistance or otherwise.
I use Schwalbe Tryragos 37c on my adventure bike which are similar and they roll reasonably well but I also have to tackle the hard rutted tracks and soft loose surfaces here. Puncture resistance is good.

 

[Jimidh]

The answer is yes if you are only using it on the road but if it’s worth it depends on how far you are cycling and how you view the slightly higher risk of a puncture.

 

[T675Rich]

I am almost exclusively using roads at the moment but can imagine once we have taught my son to ride his bike and we go out as a family more we will probably use more towpaths and trails and the like. My commute is pretty short tbh, just over 5.5 miles so it's probably not really going to make any difference really.

 

[vickster]

Yes, as will a narrower tyre potentially (once you've checked your rims). I put 32mm Duranos on my Boardman CX, much better on roads. You'll perhaps be 1-2 mph faster, couple of minutes over commute (of course traffic lights etc are the biggest factor in commute speed)

 

[Vantage]

It's a common myth that narrower tyres are faster and one that I'm sick of seeing. Frankly it's a load of rubbish.
Maybe on a smooth surfaced road or track you might see a speed improvement but in the real world on real roads which are rough as a cheese grater at best and filled with potholes then a more supple and bigger tyre with less tread will be quicker. The suppleness allows the tyre to deform around road debris thus soaking up jolts and giving better grip. The extra air volume allows the tyre to be run at lower pressures making for a more comfy ride and so a less fatigued rider.
A 'slick' tyre despite what many believe will also be perfectly at home on a canal tow path or trail but may lose traction on softer mud or greasy paths.
For the op I can highly recommend the vittoria hyper voyager in 35c or 38c size. You won't believe how good these tyres are till you try them.

 

[SkipdiverJohn]

The only real benefit I see to running narrower tyres is weight reduction, not rolling resistance, and saving say a pound off the weight of a bike by running skinny tyres is going to equate to a reduction of 1% or less in most cases. Any difference in effort or overall speed purely due to tyre width is going to be pretty small if comparing two tyres with the same tread pattern but different widths.
Tread pattern is where tyres can make a really big difference:- recently I did back-to-back tests ridden over the same route in the same direction on the same day using three bikes I have that are all fitted with accurately calibrated Cateye cycle computers. The results show the differences to be largely related to how knobbly the tread is not how wide the tyre or how heavy the bike.
Bike A, flat bar hybrid, Schwalbe 700 x 35c gen purpose tread, bike weight 30 1/2 lbs - Average speed 11.7 mph.
Bike B, flat bar hybrid, identical Schwalbe tyres fitted as above, bike weight 31 lbs. - Average speed 11.5 mph.
Bike C, flat bar rigid MTB, 26" x 2.1" & 26" x 1.95" knobbly tyres, bike weight 32 lbs. - Average speed 10.1 mph.

An easy rule of thumb is that draggy tyres will hum audibly when you get up to a decent speed, and you lose speed more quickly as soon as you stop pedalling. Easy rolling tyres don't make any road noise and they roll for longer when coasting.

 

[dantheman]

Yep, the vittoria hyper are pretty good..
Thinner tyres are faster to a degree, but very little so... A 28mm tyre seems to take less effort than a 42mm one IMO. I'd recommend 28-32mm tyres are pretty good as far as width for hybrid tyres.
Smoother (less knobbly) tyres make more of a difference as vantage has said.. They roll better and my personal experience is that on tarmac they provide more grip and once you get your head around that they give you the confidence to push a little harder, especially in the corners.

The Knobbles on off road tyres sap your energy as they flex as you go across the tread (on tarmac) and after I got used to slicks and then rode a bike on knobblys, it seemed to slip/crab slightly around corners and really made me feel unsafe by comparison.

Though, my advice would be to wear the tyres out (assuming that your happy with them now) and then when it comes to replacing either try slicks if your on tarmac pretty much all the time, or if you find you like to do a little off-load or muddy riding then choose tyres with a smooth central area that then has some Knobbles towards the sides of the tyre (crossover/hybrid type?) your current tyres are almost like that, as cycleops has said.

 

[nickyboy]

This is a really good site that compares lots of different tyres both for rolling resistance and puncture resistance

There is quite a lot of variation in rolling resistances. I can easily increase or decrease my effective power by about 10% just by selecting different tyres.

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com

 

[T675Rich]

It's a common myth that narrower tyres are faster and one that I'm sick of seeing. Frankly it's a load of rubbish.
Maybe on a smooth surfaced road or track you might see a speed improvement but in the real world on real roads which are rough as a cheese grater at best and filled with potholes then a more supple and bigger tyre with less tread will be quicker. The suppleness allows the tyre to deform around road debris thus soaking up jolts and giving better grip. The extra air volume allows the tyre to be run at lower pressures making for a more comfy ride and so a less fatigued rider.
A 'slick' tyre despite what many believe will also be perfectly at home on a canal tow path or trail but may lose traction on softer mud or greasy paths.
For the op I can highly recommend the vittoria hyper voyager in 35c or 38c size. You won't believe how good these tyres are till you try them.

I may give those a look, my college was referring to the tread rather than the width as I think my is considered a gravel/cyclocross tyre.

An easy rule of thumb is that draggy tyres will hum audibly when you get up to a decent speed, and you lose speed more quickly as soon as you stop pedalling. Easy rolling tyres don't make any road noise and they roll for longer when coasting.

Oooh I didn't realise that is what the noise could be as I do notice a hum at higher speeds and as the bike is new I wasn't sure what it could be.

The bike is much quicker than my old bike with the current tyres so I am in no major rush to replace them.

 

[Globalti]

That hum is the sound of your energy being wasted.

 

[Vantage]

I'd say the whole tyre humming thing is a load of crap.
My old Voyagers had a hum about them and they're one of the best rolling tyres out there. It's the air inside under pressure being bounced around inside a thin carcass and tends to get louder as the pressure increases.
Any other hum would be the nobbles being squished into the ground.

 

[froze]

The tires you have now are for road and mild off road riding, if all you're going to be doing is riding on the road then you should look at smoother style tires if you want a tad more speed, if you ride on hard pack dirt smooth tires will work ok as well...heck I ride smooth 25c tires on hard pack, gravel, and grass with no issues but of course I'm not racing on those surfaces with those tires! LOL! But I can ride on those surfaces if I need to and your size of tire would have no issue on those surfaces vs my size.

Kenda Street K830 is sort of smooth tire that doesn't cost much; if you want a better tire the Michelin Protek Urban tire is great tire, but not only does it come in your current size but you could also get it in a 35c size, that narrower tire will also make it a tad faster. Since you live in Europe you may have other choices I can't find in America, but by showing you those two tires you get an idea of what I'm talking about you should get "IF" you want to be a bit faster on the street, plus the road hum will be gone.

I wouldn't go any narrower than a 35c though because I don't think you can go any narrower then that on your rims.

 

[T675Rich]

I wouldn't go any narrower than a 35c though because I don't think you can go any narrower then that on your rims.

How would I know what tyres my rims could take.

On a related note I want to get a spare inner tube to help with mid ride issues. There seems to be two sizes I can get 700x32-50c or 700x28-38c I am thinking that the second one is better as if I change my tyres I'll go narrower not wider but it seems odd to me there is such a big overlap.

 

[Drago]

Decent road biased tyres can make a noticeable difference. Before the war when I had a job to commute to, I initially did it on a rigid MTB. 1.5" Cityjets made the damn thing a serious flyer. After a while I swapped to a sportive bike for the journey, and the proper road bike was only 40 or so seconds quicker across a 9 mile journey than the MTB on the 'jets.