rtruectoc

i have been running 700x32's front and rear on my salsa casseroll with a medium sized saddlebag and about 10 pounds of gear. i weigh 195. the ride is comfortable but the 32 on the front seems like over kill. i am thinking of switching to a 28 in the front. will this have any positive or negative effects?

Paul L.

Sheldon Brown [edit]says it won't hurt anything, and mentions it is a way of lightening a bike and still have protection from pinchflats [/edit]as I recall so it must not be too bad. I am thinking going 28 in back 23 up front myself.

Sheldon Brown

Actually, when I was still riding bikes, I preferred a wider tire in _front_!

See: https://sheldonbrown.com/tires.html#mixing

Sheldon "Wide In Front" Brown

Rowan

My eyes pop out!!! Very nice to see you in LD.

I haven't read the referenced article, but I always promoted the idea to cycling students that the best tyre on the bike should be at the front. That means the best tread, the best puncture resistance... Plus, a wider tyre on front does really reduce the road vibration through the handlebars for a given brand and model of tyre because of the lower inflation pressure.

wagathon

I like the benefits of mixed sizes except that, for me a 25 is best on the front: it seems to me that the front takes so little weight and abuse, a 25 on the front far outlasts a 28 on the rear.

rtruectoc

that was my thinking. i have a fairly upright position, with my bars equal height to my saddle. i often carry a saddlebag. i just did not know if it would adversely affect handling. by the way anyone know of tires in these sizes that grip wet roads better than the paselas?

invisiblehand

Beat me to it Sheldon. Then again, probably more appropriate that you responded.

froze

I have on and off rode over the years with a one size wider tire on the rear. I find with the wider tire on the back that it lasts longer, the ride is a tad more comfortable through the ashe, and with the more rubber contact on the pavement you might stop a tad faster. I've known a few to ride with wider tires on the front then the rear but I never saw any advantage to that; it seems to be that if your willing to have a wider tire in the front then why not at least the same width on the rear?

zowie

I ride 25 front 28 rear. Rear squashes down too much and feels sluggish with a 25 at or near max pressure. Front rides well on a 25, so I go with the lighter narrower tire up there.

Richard Cranium

The 28mm tire will perform better on cloudy days. The debate continues to rage on about how the 28 will work in hot weather with the sun out. It's a toss up.

geraldatwork

I don't tour but on my road bike I run 23s which is fairly typical. I mention this as I weigh 210 lbs and is close to your body weight with the gear. A greater percentage of weight is on the rear tire so in MHO it makes sense to put the wider tire there. I would think the 28 on the front will be fine. Also generally most flats seem to be on the rear tire so even if you get a flat in the front it is much easier to fix.

Paul L.

Oops, Sorry. I thought I read something in your tires section of your bicycling web info(and thank you so much for making that resource available on the net). My mistake!

Oh, I just reread it, I guess I should have said you didn't think it would harm anything. Personlly I have more complaints from the backside than the wrist so that is why I was thinking of bigger in back.

Sorry for the misquote.

(incidentally, 28 on the front is not an option with my forks anyway as the forks rub (stupid carbon racing forks)).