Any way to get away from 700c ?
 

I'm on a Cervelo 54cm unit and I'm in an area with I'm sure not the worst roads, but not the greatest. After repairing two tubes today and then ditching the bike once I got back home for a big nasty Schwinn to finish some calorie burn, I noticed the big tires on the Schwinn. I has 700x38c tires. You could throw anything at them and you're not inducing a flat.

Pretty much, can I put some meatier tires on the Cervelo so I can leave my tire wedges and spare tubes at home... and work out and have less bs to think about ?

OR... is there a tire in 700c that can handle the beating? Gator Skins ?

700c refers to the diameter; you seem interested in a wider tire, which is the second measurement. (i.e., the 38mm width of the tires on your Schwinn.)

Without knowing WHICH Cervelo you are riding, no one can tell you whether wider tires will fit. Maybe you should take a look at the frame and fork, and see if there is room for wider tires?

Ditto for your question about running tougher tires: you haven't told us what tires are currently on the bike.

If you want advice, you have to give people something to work with.

Go as thick as you can fit into your frame.

Or get a gravel bike. The geometry on mine is almost identical to a typical road bike; just clearance for wider tires. The 650b wheelset on mine will crush some pretty nasty terrain without breaking a sweat.

Yup, gatorkskin, gravelking, scwhalbe marathon, armadillo.

Even these tough tires are still not 100% puncture proof so it would be smart to keep bringing spare tube. Granted, they do puncture a lot less than regular, unprotected tires. Wider is always good for reducing punctures due to lower pressure used and you get additional option for tubeless with wider tires. Those puncture resistant tires mentioned are also available in tubeless version. If you're thinking of going tubeless, don't think an unprotected tubeless tires will be tough against punctures. The sealant would fail on bigger holes / cuts. If you want puncture resistance, then you need no other than puncture resistant tires even if going tubeless. The cuts and holes on tubeless puncture resistant tires if they happen will be a lot smaller than with unprotected tubeless tires so you have better chance of the sealant plugging the puncture. And then you still need to bring spare tube for tubeless tires for the worst case scenario.

I have plenty of deep cuts on my gravelking plus, removed so many embedded glass and metal shards, wires spanning its useful life and not even punctured once. Had I used unprotected tires, I'd have punctured at least 5x already.

If you are looking for calorie burn and puncture resistance, the gatorskins will help with both. They don't have great rolling resistance. Unlike others on this forum, I think they are great tires but not nearly as fun to ride as GP5000

Also, get the widest tires that can fit in your frame.

We like to leave a 3mm gap between the tire and any spot on your frame or fork so you don't get rub under max acceleration or if the wheel get a slight wobble on a ride.
At 72 I don't do hard acceleration and I am careful with inspections so I go down to 2mm or so but watch the frame/fork carefully.

It's a hassle, but besides going wider you may want to consider tubeless with sealant.

I've never tried the GP tires. So it's actually something you notice the difference in?

So is it the more robust gatorskin tire (or whichever listed) that protects the tube better... not letting it get pinched or punctured? When this thing first went down I hit a straight-edged dip in the roadway and it went to spewing. My only thoughts were that it pinched the inner tube because I can see that it did it more to the side of the tube.

I'll have to measure clearance but I feel like I have quite a bit. I didn't realize I had so many options for 700c tire width.

A Gaterskin tire will not protect against pinch flats. They only provide better protection against things puncturing the tire itself

yes

faster
more comfort
better grip
Lighter

The Grand Prix 5000 are fantastic tires

Puncture resistant tires will also protect from pinch flat better BUT still won't give you 100% guarantee you'll never pinch flat. You will only pinch flat less.

A better guarantee for improving pinch flat resistance is going for wider tires. If you can get wide enough, might even be able to go tubeless and tubeless puncture resistant tires is the best possible protection for all kinds of flats including pinch flats.

The easiest thing to do is take series of hex wrenches and see which is the widest one that you can get clearance all over between your tires and the bike/brakes.

I checked and for the rear I can get up to a 28 in there with good flex clearance to spare. For the front, I feel like a 25 is about all I can muster while maintaining enough flex/rub room.

I run 28 rear and 25 front on a couple Tommasini's with Air forks, a Tecno and a Prestige.

Are you asking if a smaller wheel diameter (eg. 650b) would work, so that in turn you can fit wider tires?

Michelin Power Protection Plus is also quite durable (bead-to-bead Kevlar) but much more pleasant than Gatorskins.

Pinch flats are an inflation issue. Gatorskins are good. I run both Gatorskins and GP5000S. The GPs are definitely a nicer ride, but Gatorskins give better peace of mind.

Could under-inflation be more prone to pinching? Probably a dumb question lol

Absolutely. If you're underinflated, you're much more likely to bottom out on a bump and pinch flat.

Pretty much all standard road tires have a puncture protection layer of some sort; the GP5000, too. Only dedicated timetrial tires don't and you'd know if you were buying those, and possibly the cheapest tires don't because they're just cheap. Run tubeless with sealant, you will likely have no problems with flats, although not carrying any means to get your bike going if something happens is... not advisable. Not even on Gatorskins, Schwalbe Marathons and other really resistant tires.

If you are thinking of a new bike, then some if not many new road bikes are built to handle wider tires. And many gravel bikes are pretty much a road frame geometry with just provision for much wider tires.

However for the most part you are stuck with 700C or actually 622mm BSD tires and rims. There are exceptions, but few and far between and will likely cause you grief trying to find a good selection of tires and wheels when they are needed.

I personally would avoid anything claimed to be puncture resistant. Might be wrong, but I bet compared side to side with my tires their ride is crappy. People say they aren't, but I'm thinking they've never ridden better tires. Conversely, I admit I've never ridden Gator skins or Gator hardshell's.

Continental GP 5000 tubed version don't flat often for me and I usually wear them to the threads of the casing before they flat. Their ride is very comfortable. Much more so than the lesser priced Continental tires. However if you live where thorns are a problem, you got to do something. So maybe then go to puncture resistant tires, but probably I would try tubeless first.

I have 55mm wide 700C slick tires (Rene Herse Antelope Hill) on my touring bike. Mainly because I can fit them.

At some point, toe overlap might become an issue.

Most road bikes are going to limit you to about 38mm or thinner. If you need something wider, you can get 650b wheels, and they might (depending upon your frame) permit you to squeeze in about 5 or 6 mm wider tires.

Yes, I ride on mixed road textures. Grainy, sometimes smooth, choppy at transitions, bumps, debris (often)... not likely anything different from what everyone else deals with. But the road isn't smooth like a skate park. Tubeless tires require a specific wheel to accommodate, right?