Originally Posted by
Bill Kapaun
Bigger tires weigh more than smaller tires.
Heavier tires take more effort to accelerate.
Unless you are "road cruising", skinny tires save a lot of effort. They are also more "aero" for road cruising.
It all adds up.
I guess some of that's true some of the time. But last time I checked 'aero' and tires contributed less than a couple percent and only at speeds over 40km/hr.
I'll agree that tire you're using is lighter than some I have, but not much. And the numbers are interesting so I'll post them:
Those Geax Street Runners are available in both 26 x 1.25 and 26 x 1.6 sizes and are listed at 510g and 580g. The Geax Tattoos I'm running are 26 x 2.3in and weigh 530g. Bigger than either Street Runner and lighter than the 1.6in size. I also suspect that the 120TPI casing in the Tattoos will make them faster than the Street Runners which have only 27TPI. Probably incidental in a Recreational and Family Forum anyway.
Compared to the weight of some other stuff added voluntarily (fenders, water bottles, barends) I don't think any tire weight difference is really significant. Personally I moved from a narrower tire to these because they'll let me drive faster over poor road conditions period.
And I guess if weight was a real issue I could look at some Marathon Supremes at 26 x 1.6in and 440g but think I kinda like the Geax Tattoos overall.