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Old 04-08-21, 03:32 PM
  #33  
ClydeClydeson
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My experience has been that 'rolling resistance' is a very small fraction of your total drag when your speeds are around or above ~25 km/h. Above that, a wider tire (esp. a wider tire on a narrow rim) has more aerodynamic resistance. When I went from 28s to 35s on a set of narrow road rims a few years ago, on a descent I regularly rode I could feel the air trying to push my front wheel to and fro like I had not experienced with the 28s.

BUt below that speed, wider tires are generally faster in real-world applications. The rougher the road or softer the surface the bigger the advantage wider tires have.

I have only ridden tires up to 38mm on my all-rounder so perhaps your gains are negated by the aero and weight penalty some point above that.

A riding buddy that used to be about the same size as me (he gained some weight and I lost some) had 38mm tires with robust flat protection, and I had 35mm tires with no flat protection, and we coasted down hills at about the same speed.

One other point, as mentioned above, is that wider tires open up whole new roads for exploring that would not be possible on 25mm tires. Even if I have to work a little harder when taking a pull at the front of a fast group, I can take the gravel shortcut home or add a loop that the pure road bikes cannot follow.
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