MichaelW

Sidewall flexibility is key to efficiency. As I noted, many fatter tyres are now available with thin, efficient sidewalls. You can also get thick ones with plenty of protection. I think within one model of tyre, the construction seems pretty similar across the size range.

mightyzee

i personaly love the "nomad" tire by resist tires. with the right psi any size will withstand the bumpy sharp edges of the city streets.

mightyzee

i agree but for some reason my back tire seems and looks fatty but its 700x25. any bigger goes on my fix

blackieoneshot 

700x28 Panaracer t-serv @ 90psi. Comfortable, relatively light, and good puncture resistance.

ciderguy

I'm currently running 700x40 on my hybrid/city bike. It manages potholes, train tracks, rough road surfaces, and random road debris with ease. I'm slow utility / commuter cyclist so I can't really comment about speed as I'm normally too laden down with clothing, groceries, etc. to worry about going faster than an average speed of around 25-30kph.

sknhgy 

As far as flat protection goes, I get the thinnest, lightest slicks I can find then put a tire liner in them. Zero flats. The secret is low pressure. 26" slicks run at 60 psi max. The higher the pressure, the more flats I get. Slicks have low rolling resistance at low pressure.

zacster

I use 26x1 1/8 Gatorskins on my converted MTB, and I ride in NYC. I did get one flat a month or two ago after 2 years of riding them, but they've been otherwise good. I tried a number of other tires on this bike and once I'd get one flat it was a non-stop stream of flats.

For 700c they of course have Gatorskins in various widths. On my road bike I always use GP4000 700x23, and I still have to ride a lot of NYC streets. Never much of a problem.

CliffordK

Each person will be a bit different.

I'm of the narrow camp. But, I ride a drop bar road bike, and not a hybrid. If I had a hybrid, it would get converted to a drop bar cyclocross/gravel bike.

My Tricross with 32mm tires remains parked most of the time because I believe it has more rolling resistance than my road bikes.

I avoid potholes, road cracks, sewer grates, and glass with a passion.

People laugh at me for towing a cargo trailer with my Colnago... so I changed over to towing it with the Litespeed, and they still laugh at me

Anyway, I was just poking around town a bit today... 37 miles RT.

My tire of choice is 23mm, or currently 25mm. I've been trying a few different tires. I did well for the last 2 summers riding 25mm Origin8 Elimin8ers. I had a 25mm Marathon on last winter, and this spring. I have to decide if it will go back on this fall as it has a pretty deep gouge in it. Also experimenting with some 25mm Panaracers, not sure about those. Gator Harshells or 4 seasons?

ilynne

I ride 9.5 miles each way through the city on Fat Franks. I love them.

bgreen19

I have a Trek 7.4 disc that currently has 700x32 tire on it. Am I able to put 38mm tire on? Will they fit? Thanks.

noglider 

You are the best person to answer that. You have the bike. Imagine a tire 6mm wider than the tires you have. Is there room?

Shahmatt

As wide as possible for your frame.

I switched to 2.0 Marathon Pluses (which is as wide as my frame would allow) and absolutely love the tire.

LesterOfPuppets

For me it would depend on length.

5 miles? 50mm, like fat franks, maybe.

20 miles? I'd probably run 28mm. Clement Strada 120 tpi, or similar.

PatrickGSR94

GP4S's are great if you don't ride in any snow or ice. In my experience they're great in wet weather. But also in my experience, tread life doesn't seem that great. I got maybe 4K miles out of my rear GP4S tire. My front GP4S had about 5500 miles before getting moved to the back, and I've put on another 1K or so since then. I don't expect it to last much longer.

MulliganAl

Good timing on this thread since 40mm (they measure 38mm) Schwalbe tires came on the Rivendell I purchase and they feel sluggish to me, but that may be because I was coming from a CF bike with 23mm tires. But I decided to put fenders on the Riv so I ordered a set of 32mm Panaracers which I hope feel a bit faster since I'm on a bike that is about 10lbs heavier. I wanted to go thiner than the 40mm without it looking like the tires didn't belong on the bike so I hope the 32mm Panaracer's are a good compromise.

CliffordK

What's all this about tires?

Now that I've joined Strava, it is time to build up a full TT bike with aerobars for commuting

San Pedro

That's the spirit, just got to get an aero trailer with dimples and a nice tail at the end.

The roads where I ride are on the good side, and I prefer my 25s to the 32s I have on my commuter, however, that part could be partly about the bike. My next tires for my hybrid will probably be 28s though.

3speedslow

I run Specialized Nimbus tires in 32 and 35 in size. Roads overall are good to fair. no complaints from my noggin which can't take the jolts too much.

Hoang

I love the comfort of a wide tire but can't stand the sluggish feel of the wider tires I've tried. Tires I did not like: Continental Gatorskins and Bontrager Satellite Elite Hardcase both in 32. I've settled on 700x28 for commuting: I run the Schwalbe Ultremo ZX or Continental GP4000s. The Continentals do seem a touch wider than the Schwalbes. Both have great road feel and if properly inflated 75psi/80psi (for my weight), are reasonably comfortable.

lostarchitect 

I personally prefer 32-38 mm, 28 mm is my absolute minimum.

But remember, all tires are not created equal! Some people say their 32mm tires feel really sluggish, and they probably do, but not all 32mm tires will. I have some 38mm Vittoria Hyper Randonneurs on my main bike and they don't feel sluggish at all. Likewise the 32mm Panaracer Paselas on my Raleigh Gran Sport feel really great.

mcours2006

I had 38's on my older hybrid city bike. They felt really, really sluggish. I put 32mm 'city' tires on them and it was a nice compromise between comfort, speed, and flat resistance. I've since converted that bike to a cross bike with road rims, and those same tires are not measured to be only 28mm. They seem to work fine, but hard to tell if there's an improvement in speed since I only ride that bike whenever I have to haul a lot of gear to work.

alathIN

I've been running 32mm Vittoria Voyageur Hyper on my main commuter bike. For what I ride they're just about perfect: pretty fast and quiet on good surfaces, but still quite capable on bad surfaces. I do not ride in heavy rain or icy conditions, so I can't say how they would be on the wet/frozen.

vol

My current bike is 38mm, but it's narrower than my previous one, which was 35mm.

DBrown9383

Very happy with 700x38 for varied riding. Have ridden much skinnier on sketchy surfaces on pure road bikes (mines a hybrid) and didn't feel confident on anything but smooth asphalt with skinny tires but that's just me and I'm pretty new to all this. I think 38's still roll pretty easy

downwinded

On my hybrid, which has been more or less converted to a "city" bike, I'm riding 700x38. The bike is used for my "wet road" bike and neighborhood rides with my wife. The tires are very comfy and will take rough pavement, soft terrain like grass and hard pack that is not so hard very well (not mud).

My drop bar bike has worn 700x35 Marathon Supremes for about 3000 miles. Just swapped them out for Supremes in 700x28. I like both. The 35's take soft footing a bit better. The 28's are lighter, a bit quicker, and are still comfortable at 68f and 78r psi. Have used them for a little over 400 miles and I'm liking the swap.