12strings

I currently ride 25mm tires...I'm thinking about trying a 28mm tire in the front only.

My bike has plenty of room up there, but is pretty close on the chainstays in the back...a 28 back there would make me nervous.

any reason not to try this? (28 in front, 25 in back)

rmfnla

What do you hope to gain?

If you want to run unequal tires on the road the larger one really should go in the rear since most of your weight is back there...

Bike Gremlin

No reason not to try it. It will be perfectly fine.

12strings

My back side feels comfortable...hoping to reduce road vibration to my hands/arms.

TheRef

I have a friend who rides a bigger tire on the front for gravel events, he claims that it helps go over large gravel/bumps and it stabilized on the turn.
I never tried but a wider tire will make the initial turn in slower. Whether this is a good or a bad thing is up to you.

There are several ways to do this and I have some personal experience with this. Try different bar tape and/or gel inserts. A different bar (maybe carbon?), different hood position and new gloves.

After I found a glove that works for me I bought several pairs so I'm always covered. I also went with Lizard Skin tapes, they come in different thickness and I'm using the 3mm ones.

Canker

Really no reason to overthink this of coarse it will work fine. It is the norm in the mtn bike world.

12strings

I did not know this....

bleui

Sheldon himself prefer wider in front
Cycle Tyres and Tubes ("Mixing/Matching Tyres" section)