Tyre width

[Jethro]

What size (width) tyres do you use and why please?

I personally prefer to use 700x23mm or 700x25mm on all of my bikes but many years ago (1980's) I purchased a pair of Assos bladed time-trial wheels with 16mm wide rims.  The only suitable tyres (then) were either Wolber Record 18mm or the Soyo 35 which was 17mm.  I did all of my PB's using these wheels which were my favourite by far.

More recently I began using Vittoria Florida 19mm tyres for Audax rides of all distances up to 600k and never had a problem with them. So I just dont get it with the latest thinking of using much wider tyres now.

[quixoticgeek]

Conti GP5K in 32mm. Wouldn't want to go any narrower.

Have done a ride where was with 3 others, they had 28, 25, & 23mm tyres. The moment we hir anything that wasn't perfect tarmac I just left them behind, hardly slowing at all.

Modern tyres there's little reason for most of us to go super narrow. 32mm or 28mm are a great sweet spot


J

[mrcharly-YHT]

Wide. Currently on 38mm tyres, also have some 32s.

Partly for reduction in road buzz, but also because they 'float' over road imperfections.

The last time I rode on 28s, I hit so many cracks that caused my wheels to tramline. Absolutely terrifying.

[robgul]

Carbon PlanetX - 25 - dictated by fork/rear stay clearance
Van Nic Ti road - 25 - I just like them
Van Nic Ti tourer - 28 - dictated by mudguard clearance
Boardman ebike - 32 - no problem with mudguards

. .  all are Schwalbe in various models

[IanDG]

Usually somewhere between 35c and 40c. (Cross-Check, LHT, Raleigh Trace e-bike)

My Genesis Equilibrium and Henry Burton (retro) have 28c but don't ride either regularly

[ElyDave]

32mm Gatorskins on the Airnimal, but I really don't like the ride and the winter grip is awful
Faran has 40mm 650b Terravail Canonball - i originally bought them by mistake but I like them so have stuck with them.  Nice and floaty on the crap roads round here and good on the back lanes in summer.
I rewheeled the S40 recumbent with 650b's and put Panaracer Gravelking slicks on that at 38mm, biggest I could fit but running at lower pressure than the Canonballs on the Faran makes up for the lack of suspension.

My previous choice on 700c wheels was a 28mm Conti GP 4seasons

[telstarbox]

I have 28mm for all year commuting (and Audax) and even with those you can still feel it if you get the wrong line through a pothole. Tempted to go up to 32mm next time.

[Lightning Phil]

Currently 28mm rear (622) and 32mm (406) front on recumbent.  I normally run 32mm rear as well.  I just prefer to float over rough road surfaces, rather than pick up vibrations.  I’m relatively light, 69kg, and can run front at 50 psi, and rear 55-60 psi which gives a smooth buttery ride with no loss of speed. 

[Sergeant Pluck]

35mm Pirelli Cinturato on the general purpose bicycle - commuting and any other ride at risk of being wet. Wouldn't want anything much narrower for London road surfaces. I run those at 50 / 45 psi front and back.

[Cudzoziemiec]

28mm on the bike I would ride audaxes on if I was still riding audaxes, 38mm (or maybe 40 – the markings are ambiguous) on the bike that does far more miles nowadays.

[Kim]

Off the top of my head...

Tourer: 40mm Marathons.  (Good all-rounder.)
Do-it-all hybrid: 40mm some discontinued Marathon variation intended for tandems, I think.  (Sluggish, but less harsh than M+ and never had a visitation!  Had something 32mm Marathons previously, and it was awful with the rigid fork.)
Brompton: 35mm Marathons.  (Anything lighter would be too prone to visitations.  Anything skinnier would be awful on crap road surfaces.  Not sure there's anything wider that will fit.)
Racer in racing mode: 28mm Schwalbe One and Conti Grand Prix. (Fastest rolling tyres I can find in the wheel sizes.  Pro One tubeless won't cooperate with the rims.)
Racer road wheels: 28mm Duranos.
Mountain bicycle: 55mm Rocket Ron and Racing Ralph.  (Roll well, reasonably good at mud.)

Barakta's trike has ?50mm Big apples on the front (for comfort) and a 28mm Marathon Plus on the back (for not having to remove the motor wheel at the roadside).  There's a set of 28mm Kojaks in the cupboard for non-motorised use.

[jwo]

As with Jethro's OP, I'd be interested in why wider tyres are now recommended and adopted. Were we wrong in the 1980s to assume 18mm tyres would be faster than wider ones? Or has there been some technology change that means what was true in the 1980s is no longer the case? Or are wider tyres because of disc brakes and gravel bikes and manufacturers like to keep product lines focussed?

I've just changed by Brompton Kojaks (28mm) for Schwalbe Ones (32mm) and was surprised at how much more comfortable they are without any noticeable reduction in rolling resistance. If anything they feel speedier.

[mrcharly-YHT]

Were we wrong in the 1980s to assume 18mm tyres would be faster than wider ones?

Yes

The aero benefits were overstated. Matching rim and tyre width matters more.

A shorter, wider contact patch creates less rolling resistance.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Why? My guesses in no particular order:
Disc brakes allow wider rims (because no need to get a brake around the rim itself).
Deteriorating road surfaces.
Increasing traffic volumes, leading to greater interest in riding away from surfaced roads, even without going mountainbiking.
Influence of seeing wider tyres on mountain bikes.
Technological improvements in tyre manufacturing, leading to tyres having lower rolling resistance and less weight for the same width.
Greater disposable income (compared to the '80s) to afford more expensive tyres.
General shift away from racing-inspired bikes to various other genres.
Fashion, the ever constant.

[Veloman]

Perhaps this might add insight:
https://www.cyclist.co.uk/in-depth/are-wider-tyres-faster?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0XkgNi6a9_9cUXrINGnWGPPb1If1O1946tAo1MfTtrwAijwZDHRlnXJ8c_aem_AYLy4aQXpZN_MK8g6KL7FjeEUtPBKxjdoPQoBYM9PfanF7dIr7QisJAQ8uoIWGiYa6SRjvtVRicoj5yXY6_7anrI#:~:text=Grand%20Tour%20stages%20are%20routinely,rode%20on%2025mm%2Dwide%20tyres

[joy of essex]

  I was thinking about this recently and had planned a thread entitled " How obsolescent is your bike".

Still have 3 bikes with rim brakes but only one has tyres that are less than 28mm

Would agree that 28 mm upwards is the future and that 32mm would be the ideal for something's all our.

Mind you, when I started out on this lark we rode 27×1 1/2 and when 700c arrived it was mostly 28mms that I  toured on; probably on 17mm rims.
Anything above was exotica or non existent, unless of course if you were the newly arrived MTBs..

[Cudzoziemiec]

27 x 1¹/₂ would be equivalent in width to 700 x 38, so going from that to 700 x 28 was definitely making progress, by the standards of the day. But going backwards, by today's standards.

[Morat]

Schwalbe 28mm P one (tubed) on the alloy bike and 30mm S-One  (tubed) on the steel bike.

I'd change to fatter tyres on both bikes if both tyres ever wore out at the same time but I'm too tight to throw one part used tyre away.

[zigzag]

many bikes, the tyres range from 27...40mm, measured. i've always run lower pressures than the "norm", plenty fast and comfortable for my weight.

[bobb]

27 x 1¹/₂ would be equivalent in width to 700 x 38, so going from that to 700 x 28 was definitely making progress, by the standards of the day. But going backwards, by today's standards.

Wasn't the bog standard tyre size back in the day 27 x 1¹/₄? So 32mm.

Basically, narrow tyres were a fad 

[Lightning Phil]

27 x 1¹/₂ would be equivalent in width to 700 x 38, so going from that to 700 x 28 was definitely making progress, by the standards of the day. But going backwards, by today's standards.

Never saw 27 x 1 1/2, my first racer bought in the 1980s, had 27 x 1 1/4 aka 32mm in metric.

[joy of essex]

Yes, 27× 1 1/2 is way too big

Think it was 27× 1/4
But don't remember then as being as big as modern 32mms.

[morbihan]

As wide as the clearance allows pretty much. All tires are not equal though and friendsshouldnt make friends ride on armadillos unless they work in a drawing pin factory.

[Cudzoziemiec]

27 x 1¹/₂ would be equivalent in width to 700 x 38, so going from that to 700 x 28 was definitely making progress, by the standards of the day. But going backwards, by today's standards.

Wasn't the bog standard tyre size back in the day 27 x 1¹/₄? So 32mm.

Basically, narrow tyres were a fad 

27 x 1¹/₄ (or on the old roadsters we inherited off elderly neighbours, 26 x 1³/₈) would fit my memory too, but Joy of Essex mentioned riding 27 1¹/₂.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I remember it as 1 1/8" for fast club riders, 1 1/4" for tourers, so that would be 28.5mm for club, 31.5mm for touring.