Road tyre width

[Zama7]

Hey guys, looking to buy now wheels and move from 25mm tyres to 28mm tyres. Anyone seen any good deals on wheels / tyers ?

Don't cycle much with teh road bike maybe 2 races and 2 practise rides a year so looking for some extra comfort and a bit of stability

[Spinnekop]

11 minutes ago, Zama7 said:

Hey guys, looking to buy now wheels and move from 25mm tyres to 28mm tyres. Anyone seen any good deals on wheels / tyers ?

Don't cycle much with teh road bike maybe 2 races and 2 practise rides a year so looking for some extra comfort and a bit of stability

I've had a good experience with Goodyear's F1 tyre
https://www.goodyearbike.com/tires/eagle-f1-r/

7550km before I had to retire them.
Currently on their Vector R's, sitting on 5200km with no punctures or hickups thus far.

[openmind]

1 hour ago, Zama7 said:

Hey guys, looking to buy now wheels and move from 25mm tyres to 28mm tyres. Anyone seen any good deals on wheels / tyers ?

Don't cycle much with teh road bike maybe 2 races and 2 practise rides a year so looking for some extra comfort and a bit of stability

Just make sure the wider tyres will fit your frame and fork before you buy. 

[BuffsVintageBikes]

3 minutes ago, openmind said:

Just make sure the wider tyres will fit your frame and fork before you buy. 

I can see where you got your username 😉🤙

[RaymondC]

Wider is better but remember the internal width of the rim and frame accommodating the tire are elements to consider.  
28mm at 6 Bar is what I'm rolling on a Tarmac with Rovals with tubes. 

[NotSoBigBen]

As a weekend hacker I'm not an advocate of the 'wider is better' generalisation .... how wide is good depends on what you want out of your ride.

28 IMHO is probably as wide as you want to go if speed is your priority, if you want comfort then go 30 plus. Speed <> Comfort make your choice 

Anyway just some end of week ramblings 😜

[Zama7]

1 hour ago, NotSoBigBen said:

As a weekend hacker I'm not an advocate of the 'wider is better' generalisation .... how wide is good depends on what you want out of your ride.

28 IMHO is probably as wide as you want to go if speed is your priority, if you want comfort then go 30 plus. Speed <> Comfort make your choice 

Anyway just some end of week ramblings 😜

 

Yeah want a bit of both, happy with 30 but not sure my fork can take it, will also need to look at my brakes. Looking for wheel specials if anyone has seen some ? 

[Eugene]

I was running with 25mm on my bike and then went to 23mm (only because I got the tyres for free) and I cannot say I felt any difference. The 25s were Continental GPS and the 23s were Continental Sports (so two worlds apart). 

I would love to try out 28mm and see if there is a difference there, but I doubt my old generation bike will accept them. 

With regard to Gatorskins. Lots of people will disagree with me, but I find them to be the most overrated tyre. They are hellishly expensive and I cannot see the benefit of that price. 

 

[NotSoBigBen]

Just now, Eugene said:

I was running with 25mm on my bike and then went to 23mm (only because I got the tyres for free) and I cannot say I felt any difference. The 25s were Continental GPS and the 23s were Continental Sports (so two worlds apart). 

I would love to try out 28mm and see if there is a difference there, but I doubt my old generation bike will accept them. 

With regard to Gatorskins. Lots of people will disagree with me, but I find them to be the most overrated tyre. They are hellishly expensive and I cannot see the benefit of that price. 

 

Must be honest I also think gatorskins give a bit of a 'dead' ride feel, might just be me though

[DJR]

I have run Gatorskin 28s on a variety of old classic steel frames on very rough (Eroica) type gravel roads as well as on tar. If you pump them hard, like when you want to prevent pinch flats on rocky rough roads, the ride is not really any softer. But if you run them a bit softer, like on long tar rides, it makes a big difference compared to a 23 or 25 mm tyre. There is less road buzz on the handlebars and you can sit more over rough patches of road. The extra comfort makes for less of a pounding to the body over those very long and bumpy rides. On some of my bikes I can get a 32mm tyre into the fork, but most cannot take anything wider than a 28 mm on the back. I agree with Ben that Gatorskins feel a bit "dead" compared to some other rubber, but I choose them for durability and puncture resistance. For speed and live race (It's been a long time since I raced anything) feel, I use something like GP 4000. I also have Gatorskins on the bikes I used to commute, again, mainly for reliability.  

Edited November 15, 2025 by DJR

[Bro Derek]

So the 'science' and testing recently has shown that bigger isn't slower. I seem to recall a speed comparison between 25 - 28 - 32 and 35 with the 35s being as fast as anything else

So the general consensus is to fit the largest tires possible

World tour teams have been seen fitting 32s this season often, not just at Roubaix, but at general tarmac races

So fit what can fit

I ride a set of Vittoria Corsa 32s and they are fantastic. I will be fitting 35s next

[NotSoBigBen]

1 hour ago, Bro Derek said:

So the 'science' and testing recently has shown that bigger isn't slower. I seem to recall a speed comparison between 25 - 28 - 32 and 35 with the 35s being as fast as anything else

So the general consensus is to fit the largest tires possible

World tour teams have been seen fitting 32s this season often, not just at Roubaix, but at general tarmac races

So fit what can fit

I ride a set of Vittoria Corsa 32s and they are fantastic. I will be fitting 35s next

I guess it depends which and whose 'science' and testing you choose to follow ... without too much trouble i could find something to 'back up' my totally unscientific thoughts about this matter. Like I said that was just my ramblings 😝

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a69308814/fastest-road-tire-size-test/

As an aside I did 94.7 on 30's, didn't feel any difference really but then again I ain't racing and I probably pumped them too hard. That's what old timers do and always did.

[Bro Derek]

31 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

I guess it depends which and whose 'science' and testing you choose to follow ... without too much trouble i could find something to 'back up' my totally unscientific thoughts about this matter. Like I said that was just my ramblings 😝

https://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/a69308814/fastest-road-tire-size-test/

As an aside I did 94.7 on 30's, didn't feel any difference really but then again I ain't racing and I probably pumped them too hard. That's what old timers do and always did.

The info I got from most of the testing was that Width between 28 and 35 were all much of a muchness at 30kph

Tire quality/weight and most importantly pressure played a bigger role, as well as the aero issues caused by running too narrow tires on a wide rim and too wide tires on a narrow rim

But again, the difference is seconds over 2 hrs

Lower pressure equals better grip and comfort, so the real world consensus is that grip and comfort > mere seconds for MOST riding and riders

Rigid or heavy tires are junk, so simply going wider but using bad tires is going to have a bigger influence.

So, width does play a role, but it's not as significantly better in terms of speed as it is in other areas

 

[KingZA]

Well for @Zama7 riding so infrequently it would make sense to be a wheelset with tubes so there's going to be higher preassures and more road buzz.

If I was riding 4x a year it would be a cheap tyre in a 28mm if my bike would take it and when it perishes from heat/standing i'd replace it.

[Zama7]

On 11/15/2025 at 7:25 PM, KingZA said:

Well for @Zama7 riding so infrequently it would make sense to be a wheelset with tubes so there's going to be higher preassures and more road buzz.

If I was riding 4x a year it would be a cheap tyre in a 28mm if my bike would take it and when it perishes from heat/standing i'd replace it.

 

Yeah thanks that is is the plan now I just need to find nice wheels on a black friday sale