Favorite tire width
 

I’m trying to decide between 32’s and 35’s. I threw on a cheap pair of 38’s to see what kind of room I had. I could actually go bigger. What’s your favorite size?
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28 to 32 depending on the bike.

I have mostly resisted the trend toward balloon tires but have found my preferred tire size increasing. Part of that is, though because I do less 100% paved road riding. My official answer is “it depends”.

100% pavement regular road riding 25-28. - still have plenty of 23mm tires in the stable though.

Regular road riding with some dirt and gravel 28-30

Touring with some dirt gravel expected but nothing too extreme - 28-33 (Challenge Strada Bianca comes in 33)

Mostly gravel riding or touring with epic gravel expected - 32-36

At about 200#, riding paved roads in bad repair, 32mm to 35mm. If you mix in light gravel and smooth dirt, 38mm. On good pavement, 28mm -- but that's rare around here.

I’m mostly on rough rural chip seal roads. I still love my 23-25 tires but it’s tough in the country especially on fresh chip seal. I’m leaning more towards 32’s for this bike.

Again, depends on the bike. But I am definitely appreciating wider tires these days. On my racier bikes, a 30 or even 32 is lovely. On my AO-8, with 650B wheels, 42 mm wide works very well.

I had 43mm front/ 38mm rear Gravel King Slicks on my Miyata 610 at one point:
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I could feel some gyroscopic effects with that big a tire. It wasn't anything I couldn't get used to. But nonetheless when I ride another bike for a spell and come back to this bike the gyroscopic effect is pretty noticeable. I later changed the front to 38mm, and there is less gyroscopic effect but still some. I think for these road bikes 32mm should be the sweet spot. 35mm would be the sweet spot for running tubeless. Going too big is not necessarily a good thing on these bikes which were not designed for them.

I was late to the wider tire party, but I've been putting 35's on just about every bike that will fit them for the last year or so, and I no longer buy bikes that won't take at least a 35. 35s are big enough to get some of the comfort benefits without changing the handling too much. I don't ride for speed, so there is minimal advantage to running a tire skinnier than 32.

38s are nice too, but most of my bikes won't fit them. I have one 650b conversion with 42s and that's a little too much for me, although I'm not sure if it's the tires or the smaller wheel that makes it drag.

Pavement - 30mm
Gravel - 38mm

I’ve made the switch to wider tires, 28s and 32s, I’ve tried wider on my one bike that they would fit on, but it made the bike feel, for lack of a better word, clumsy. I’m only considering paved roads though, I might like wider on gravel.
Tim

I like roadies at 28. 32 for minor adventures in the dirt and rough. That seems to be the best range for most applications, including the crapperiffic roads around here.

I am, however, likely moving to bigger ones on the Volpe when I get around to finishing it.

road 25mm
hybrid 2.165"
mtb 2/25"

35 for road. I generally prioritize comfort over speed though.

38mm is as narrow as I go.

As big as will fir on my bikes. That means 32mm on couple and 25mm on a couple. One of the bikes that has 25mm tires also has fenders, so that cuts down on how big a tire I can run on it.

I have 47/38 on this Specialized Crossroads and love it. Not riding a lot of road these days but 28mm is my size.

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190#'s and lanky build running 23's on my Mondonico because that's all that will fit. 😂
I have been running 90 front 95rear psi and having mostly good luck with pinch flats. Although I double flatted the other day when I hit a uncovered sidewalk drain crossing. I was enjoying the scenery and hit it way hard with no lift or bunny hop.

I run what I can fit and have room for debris or mud to clear. 32's on my touring bike with wide rims, 28's on my Faggin, 28's on my Lemond Buenos Aires, 28's on the wife's Panasonic 3000, and 26x1.9 on the grocery getter and 26x2.3 on my MTB.

25mm for sure is still my favorite. I'll just hate the dead, slow feeling I get when I go past 28mm for sure. I've tried running 30 and 32 on a few bikes the past couple of years and just did not like it at all. Feels like it's taking the life out of a good steel bike when I try that size. Obviously, I appear to be in the minority now days, LOL!

Heck, I'm fine on my bikes that only fit 23mm even. That despite the fact I ride on rough chipseal all the time.

650x42b on 2 of my 3 bikes. It would be 3/3, but my Merckx will only take 28s, so...

What year volpe do you have? I've got a 1987. They're pretty sweet bike's that seem to fly under the radar for most people.

Most of the time, 30-ish measured. All depends on where the ride goes. Just spent two weeks riding in Palm Springs where the roads are OK, the Pelizzoli had 32 Vittoria’s on TB14 rims -28 and change measured, rode nicely. Rim and brand combinations vary widely.

Agree that once you get past a measured 33 handling changes, but on heavy gravel or really bad roads, it changes for the better. Just fitted a pair of new style GK 35’s to the latest Project 126 build, a Trek 610. They measure up at 34 when inflated to 45 pounds, will be interesting to see how it rides once this snow stuff goes away. 35’s on gravel makes me feel invincible.

Is this the Miyata 610?

Depends on the bike, some can ride any width, some are happiest with wider or narrower.

Pure road = 28mm. Haven't tried 30mm though. 32mm was too wide, stopped feeling like a road bike. Great if you're splitting time between fire roads and road however. 25mm is nice as long as the pavement isn't terrible.

Do-anything bike (no, it's not a gravel bike): around 38mm. Haven't tried 42mm yet. For the Miyata I wouldn't go beyond 38mm.

1987 as well. I have yet to ride it. It was a bit rusty and needed paint. It is not quite finished yet. Hope to be done by April or so. It will replace a CX MBK bike I am trying to sell.

I ride mostly on 25's these days~ it's what my favorite bike catalogued with.
Pretty well all of it is on bitumen based asphalt which can go from really nice to really rough in a matter of yards. That even applies to some of the multi-use paths we have around here.
There's no beating the 25's for feel, especially on speed tight curves.

I did ride quite a bit on folder 28's of the cheaper variety, and can't really ascribe performance in terms of width. If I were able to go back and do it all over again, I'd probably try with 28 pasela's, which are already a world of difference in terms of performance. (there's one half worn 28 pasela in the tire pile for emergency use).

I still have to remind myself to check everything else, before I start blaming tire widths.

-D.S.

I don't know why many people want such wide tires. Is it because it's promoted so much? Everyone needs widev tires now. 23 to 25c is what I have and still used. Be honest; if back in 1985 someone told you to squeeze 35c tires onto your bike
what would you have said? Don't believe the hype! The more of us who purchase tires designed for our rims, the more likely they will be produced.