Originally Posted by
neil
That said, I'm just really not convinced on the comfort benefits. I just switched my (hard frame) MTB from a 26x2.125 to a 26x1.75, and am finding the ride much more comfortable. Of course, there's a lot of variables that go into comfort, so it's hard to do a side by side comparison, but I'm just not convinced that size is the main determinant of comfort.
I had the same experience with converting an old hard frame MTB from 26x2.125 to 26x1.75, and found the bike was more comfortable with the 26x1.75 tires as well. After having tried a few different sizes of 26" tires, I find that a good 26x1.75 gives me my favorite balance of performance and comfort. The brand and quality of tire seems to have a bigger impact on speed than size alone. I recently put 26x1.75 Conti Contact tires on my commuter, and found that it is significantly better in both comfort and speed than it was with the 26x1.75 Innova tires it had before. I moved the Innova tires to the mountain bike in place of its 26x2.125 knobbies, and found its ride to be improved as well. I will eventually put Conti Contacts or Serfas Drifters on the mountain bike as well.