After a few years out of audaxing (lel 2009 was my last one before this year) the bikes seem to have got a lot racier and I wondered what the current thinking is on tyres. I've so far opted for pragmatism over speed, using a set of 32mm marathon Supremes to complete my qualifiers this year. However, I'm in the 84h group for PBP and am starting to wonder whether I should sacrifice some puncture resistance for something a bit faster.
For reference, my rolling average has been 25.5 to 26.5 kph over the two longer rides (BCM and will p's shifty 400k), so I should be ok timewise, but I just want to give myself the best chance.
I've looked at that German tyre rolling resistance website and the schwalbes look like they give away nearly 20w per tyre to something like a gp5000! Plus the fact they're nearly a kilo each, vs less than 250g each for the contis. I don't have much experience on the roads of normandy or Brittany, but consensus seems to be that the surfaces are better than here in the UK. I also happen to have a set of new gp5000s in the shed. What are people planning on using, or have used in the past?
Thanks in advance
your maths is a bit out.
GP 5000 all season - 12W
Marathon Supreme - 19WSo 7W per type.
Over a rolling course, the weight will make a difference
OOPs seen everyone else has commented.
Go for lightweight tyres. You'll find yourself flying up hills.
Makes a massive, massive difference.
I have some standard marathons, and some voyager hypers.
According to tests, not much difference in rolling resistance
According to rolling down the hill outside my house, the hypers (1/2 the weight), the hypers are much, much much faster.
Lighter weight just accelerates a lot quicker and over an undulating road you'll really notice the difference.