Originally Posted by
gauvins
.Quote was: Above 25 mm, the width of your tires are won’t change your speed on smooth pavement (at least up to 55 mm wide tires). On rough surfaces, wider tires are faster.
.
I think the 50 or 57mm tires that I have toured on were slower than the 37mm on my light touring bike. But my wider tires have some flat protection and some tread that will give me some grip off road. Thus, my 50 or 57mm tires are not the super supple tires that Jan Heine promotes and sells.
That said, my 57mm Marathon Extremes have better rolling resistance than I expected on pavement. Photo below:
I think about 50 to 60 percent of tread remains, but it is getting worn. I was surprised how well these rolled on pavement, but they were quite noisy. While the sidewalls on that tire are pretty supple, the tread certainly is not. But, the 37mm tires I also use for touring were clearly faster than the 57mm tires.
The tour I did last month, I put a new 37mm Mondial on the rear just before the tour, as the tire I have been using near home was quite worn. Mondial tread, below.
While that 37mm tire rolled pretty well, it really is not supple at all. I am quite certain that the super supple tires that Jan Heine sells would be much faster.