Not completely sold on wide tires

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

On 5/18/21 3:18 PM, Mark cleary wrote:
I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark


You should try these :-)

https://i1.wp.com/www.ebikeschool.co...ize=1024%2C768

On the road bike I see it like you, 25mm is enough and I run 110psi in
back and 100psi up front. I'd like 28mm in the back for better offroad
traction (at max pressure) but my frame does not allow them.

Even on my MTB which has 2.2" or 56mm wide knobby tires I keep them at
the max allowed pressure of 60psi. Gnarlier ride but no flats plus less
rolling resistance on road sections.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700, Mark cleary scribed:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000
strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I
sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now
I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me
would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big
hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one
not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.

No, I've never run on low pressure even when I was riding really wide
tyres and doing Cape York(lots of sandy sections). That low and wide
mantra is a crock of faeces in my view. It might work in the velodrome,
but in real life the road surface varies over a whole gamit of surfaces.
Especially so when off the tarmac.

On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary
wrote:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a
number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and
back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-)

But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and
frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower
pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a
few years and was quite happy with them too:-)
--
Cheers,

John B.

On 5/18/2021 10:31 PM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary
wrote:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a
number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and
back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-)

But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and
frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower
pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a
few years and was quite happy with them too:-)

It sounds like you lowered the pressure too much when you tried a wider
tire. Or perhaps you just had some really bad luck.

But in general, a wider tire should allow a somewhat lower tire pressure
without pinch flats. Super-narrow tires have very little room to deflect
before they cause a pinch flat, so they require higher pressures.

One friend of mine has used pressures as high as 160 psi on the very
narrow tires (maybe 19s?) on his lightest bike. He's convinced that
makes him faster. But on our rough roads? I doubt it.


--
- Frank Krygowski

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 8:19:47 AM UTC-7, Frank Krygowski wrote:
On 5/18/2021 10:31 PM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary
wrote:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a
number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and
back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-)

But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and
frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower
pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a
few years and was quite happy with them too:-)
It sounds like you lowered the pressure too much when you tried a wider
tire. Or perhaps you just had some really bad luck.

But in general, a wider tire should allow a somewhat lower tire pressure
without pinch flats. Super-narrow tires have very little room to deflect
before they cause a pinch flat, so they require higher pressures.

One friend of mine has used pressures as high as 160 psi on the very
narrow tires (maybe 19s?) on his lightest bike. He's convinced that
makes him faster. But on our rough roads? I doubt it.
Low pressures give you a softer ride but then they slow you up rather than giving you a speed boost.

On Wed, 19 May 2021 11:19:42 -0400, Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On 5/18/2021 10:31 PM, John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary
wrote:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000 strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a
number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and
back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-)

But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and
frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower
pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a
few years and was quite happy with them too:-)

It sounds like you lowered the pressure too much when you tried a wider
tire. Or perhaps you just had some really bad luck.

But in general, a wider tire should allow a somewhat lower tire pressure
without pinch flats. Super-narrow tires have very little room to deflect
before they cause a pinch flat, so they require higher pressures.

One friend of mine has used pressures as high as 160 psi on the very
narrow tires (maybe 19s?) on his lightest bike. He's convinced that
makes him faster. But on our rough roads? I doubt it.

Well yes, I'm sure that lowering the pressure did result in the tire
being too soft to survive over the rough spots and perhaps my rather
simplistic solution to reinstall the more narrow tires and go back to
100psi pressures was over simplification but it worked :-)

But are U.S. roads really that bad? Here I can't remember riding on a
really bad road. Even in Bangkok, which probably had the first paved
roads in the country, I never came across a road as poorly
made.maintained as the one that Jay posted the photo of.
--
Cheers,

John B.

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 7:00:47 PM UTC-4, John B. wrote:

But are U.S. roads really that bad? Here I can't remember riding on a
really bad road. Even in Bangkok, which probably had the first paved
roads in the country, I never came across a road as poorly
made.maintained as the one that Jay posted the photo of.

Are U.S. roads really that bad? Well, they vary.

Roads in our state have complicated jurisdiction. Within a mile of me are roads owned by our
village, by a neighboring township, by a neighboring city, by the county and by the state.

Our county roads are often in bad shape. One reason is the state has a fund to help maintain
county roads. The fund is evenly divided among the state's 88 counties. But our county, being
one of the earliest settled, has many more miles of county road then most. That means our
county gets much less per mile.

I'm leading an unusual club ride in a few days. We'll visit about seven historic cemeteries plus
a couple other historic sites, so it requires stitching together a pretty complicated
inner-city route. I just spent quite a while exploring alternatives to one of the bumpiest streets
I've ever seen.

- Frank Krygowski

On Wed, 19 May 2021 20:15:53 -0700 (PDT), Frank Krygowski
wrote:

On Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 7:00:47 PM UTC-4, John B. wrote:

But are U.S. roads really that bad? Here I can't remember riding on a
really bad road. Even in Bangkok, which probably had the first paved
roads in the country, I never came across a road as poorly
made.maintained as the one that Jay posted the photo of.

Are U.S. roads really that bad? Well, they vary.

Roads in our state have complicated jurisdiction. Within a mile of me are roads owned by our
village, by a neighboring township, by a neighboring city, by the county and by the state.

Our county roads are often in bad shape. One reason is the state has a fund to help maintain
county roads. The fund is evenly divided among the state's 88 counties. But our county, being
one of the earliest settled, has many more miles of county road then most. That means our
county gets much less per mile.

I'm leading an unusual club ride in a few days. We'll visit about seven historic cemeteries plus
a couple other historic sites, so it requires stitching together a pretty complicated
inner-city route. I just spent quite a while exploring alternatives to one of the bumpiest streets
I've ever seen.

- Frank Krygowski

I grew up in "up state" New Hampshire and I don't remember a lot of
"pot holes". We did have a lot of dirt roads and they get bumpy toward
the end of summer and of course are muddy in the spring. Granted it
has been a long time since I was there and memory is fallible but I do
remember that the roughest road around was a concrete road where the
frost had "heaved" the sections and there was a bump at the edge of
each concrete section.

--
Cheers,

John B.

John B. wrote:
On Tue, 18 May 2021 15:18:49 -0700 (PDT), Mark cleary
wrote:

I might be in a real minority now. I run 23 and 25mm Conti GP 5000
strictly road bike. I do like the 25's and a bit lower pressure but I
sure cannot see going to 28's and dropping pressure even more. Right now
I run about 95-86 rear and front on the 25's. Going much lower to me
would seem pinch flats, I weigh 169 pounds, at least if you hit a big
hole. Then I can see more weight and less aero. I am the only only one
not buying this go as low as you can, and wide.
Deacon Mark

I went for that "fatter tires and less pressure" scheme and had a
number of pinch flats so went back to the 23's and 100 psi front and
back and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since :-)

But I ride on paved roads which are generally in good condition and
frankly can see little difference in the ride between 25's with lower
pressure and 23's at 100 psi. But then, I rode "sew ups" for quite a
few years and was quite happy with them too:-)

I only ever pinch flatted on 25/23mm tires at 100+ As essentially not
enough between road and rim, one of my club mates has dinged his rims the
other week due to a potholes.

On the Gravel bike with 35mm at 50psi plenty of space between road and rim.
So potholes are generally just swallowed, with out issues, and as far as I
can tell from Strava ie times up hills etc no slower than the pure road
bikes I’ve had previously.

Doesn’t have that high pressure zing which is lovely on fresh tarmac!

But frankly I’m sold on the gravel bike, I’m less convinced by the ones
closer to MTB with 50mm or thereabouts tires I suspect they would feel too
sluggish on the road and a XC MTB is still better down the woods, where as
the 30/40mm gravel bikes are jack of all trade.

Roger Merriman.