Originally Posted by
cyclezen
Having had some very large swings in 'mass' over the years. Since all those were when Sewups were still the 'Standard'; I couldn't say if 'ride quality' was even on the radar... LOL!
But, now, as my current stock of rubber starts dwindling, I am going to go up one 'size' to 25 front & 28' rear for a consistent long term, to determine if there is a discernible difference in any aspect of riding 'road'..
I noted for myself, that moving to a wider internal rim width, over 15 yrs ago, made a significant difference in ride feel and grip.
I recently put on an older Set of Mavic Ksyrium Equipes on a bike I'm selling, having 25s on them. The ride difference is HUGE ! Even at the lower pressures I already ride at my current weight...
IMO, Putting wider tires on narrow rims doesn't give much, if any improvement...
Ride On
Yuri
From 2019-2025 I’ve gradually gone from 25-28-30-32 mm GP5000 TR tires and all have been a notable improvement in ride quality and grip on mixed UK roads. As far as speed goes, there isn’t much in it on the smoother roads, but surfaces like chip-seal are almost certainly faster on wider tires. The lower pressures are more practical for tubeless running too. I’m down to around 60 psi on 32 mm.
Rim internal width is a very good point too. My previous bike had 17 mm internal rims and I did try them with 32 mm tires, but I think they felt better on 28s or 30s. My current wheels are 22 mm wide internally and they feel much better on 30+ mm tires. My 32 mm GP5000 measure 33 mm wide on these rims and feel more stable in cornering than narrower rims. Quite a big improvement for sure.
You can probably guess this is a one-way train for me. I’m quite keen to give 34 mm tires a go at some point and I think that is about the limit of my current frame.