cwarner

I will ride on mostly paved or smooth and level city trails or streets. What are the pro's and con's of balloon (fat) tires vs. moderately skinny tires?

dabac

A wider tire is also a taller tire. More air between the rim and the ground. Means you can run lower pressure w/o pinch flats. Gives a softer ride.

For riding on firm surfaces, that’s about the end of the pros.
The downsides depends on the tire design.
A wide but soft & supple tire will roll fairly well, while a wide but stiff and thick tire will have loads of rolling resistance.
Not all forks, frames or brakes can deal with wide tires.
For a comparable design, a wide tire will always be heavier than a thin tire.
Eventually a wide tire will have more air drag.
If you run (very) wide tires on (very) narrow rims, you can wear out the sidewalls.

europa

Comfort, comfort and, surprisingly, comfort.

My Oppy is running 35mm tyres at a moderate pressure (80 psi, I'se a big bugga). That and the steel frame means I get a very comfy ride, as in railway lines don't bother me and chip seal feels like any other road.

My Hillbrick, also steel, runs 23mm tyres and, while comfortable, isn't plush like the Oppy and you are more aware of bumps and the like on the road surface.

The aluminium roadie (carbon forks) I recently gave away, was harsh on 23mm, much better on 28 and nowhere near as good as either of the steel bikes. However, the 28mm tyres WERE noticeably better than the 23.

Basically, the bigger the bag, the more flex and comfort. There's no real loss of speed unless you're racing or playing racer in which case, you're not going to be asking this question in the first place.

skidder

What wheel size will you have on your bicycle?

FWIW: I gave up on the skinny 23-25mm road tires on my street bike (700c wheels) and went with wider 35mm tires (700x35). A little slower rolling, but they give a more comfortable ride. The tires are also flat-resistant.

I've also got an old rigid MTB that I converted to a street bike and use 26x1.5" tires with a street treads. I might up those to 26x2.0" to get a little more softer/comfortable ride when the 1.5's wear out.

CliffordK

This is in the "Clydes" forum, so I'd be careful with what you ride over, but the bigger the tires, the bigger stuff you can theoretically ride over.

MTB riders routinely ride over curbs and stuff that most roadies would avoid or ride around.

On the other end of the spectrum, weight and tire quality are important. So, a few pounds of rotating weight for a FAT tire vs maybe 1/2 pound for a quality road tire. It makes some difference for acceleration and general riding. Rolling resistance? Companies, however, have also noticed this, and are making higher quality (lighter and more supple) larger tires with lower rolling resistance.

Another issue with FAT tires in particular is that they tend to require a wider Q-Factor for the crankset... good for some, not for all.