shardy53

I am buying Continental Ultra gator skin tires for my road bike to replace the Michelins that it came with. Should I stick with the 700x 25mm size that it came with or would I be better off with the 700x 23mm. I am not a racer, I just do rec riding and a few charity events. Would I notice more speed with the 23's?

Steve

AnthonyG

Actualy I would reccomend you going to 28c tires for your style of riding. The larger tires perform better in most regards except for weight and aerodynamics and I wouldn't say that either is going to effect you greatly.

Regards, Anthony

operator

Yup, i'd at the least go witih the 25s. The narrower tires may actually present a higher rolling resistance depending on the type of roads you cycle on. Not to mention they wear faster and present a harsher ride.

Especially since you're a rec rider (unless you constantly do 25mph +), stick with 25's or higher.

bkrownd

25 minimum.

brundle_fly

Stick with the 25mm.Unless you are a pro racer you won't notice a difference

brunop

**** that noise! 23's all the way. you WILL notice a difference.

bkrownd

Yes you will, but not a good kind of difference IMO.

Machka 

I have used both 23s and 25s on my bicycle. In fact, I've used one of each on my bicycle on occasion. And I can't tell the difference between the two.

msheron

Not as much tire size as it is quality of the tire! I went from Bontrager 25's to Michelin Pro2 Race tires in a 23 and notice a difference..............less resistance on 23's and better avg. speed on my rides.

brundle_fly

Anyone use 18's or 20's?

Machka 

I have ridden with them, and I think I might even have one or two of those tires around here somewhere still, but I didn't like them. The ride was way too harsh, it took a Herculean effort to fill them, and I was constantly worried about every little bit of sharp gravel or bit of debris that might be on the side of the road. I'm much happier with either 23s or 25s, whichever I can get.

2manybikes

Go with the 25's.

late

27c

https://www.rivbike.com/webalog/tires_tubes/10043.html

Patriot

My 700x23 Gator Skins actually measure out to 24.5mm when at 110psi. Much bigger than my Michelin Carbons which are exactly 23mm. The 23c Skins are almost a 25c to begin with. I wonder how much bigger the 25's really are when measured?

operator

You can't compare rolling resistance from two different tire brands.

DannoXYZ 

Sure why not? Reduce all the other variables and you can isolate just rolling-resistance. Same wheels, same tube, same chalk/powder, same pump, same pressure. Although you'd need new tyres in both as well, the old worn one will have less RR than a new one of the same brand/model.

msheron

Hardly any miles on my Bontrager's and went to a 23 size tire. And yes, there is a difference. My avg. speed on same routes roughly gained 1.5 to 2 mph.

DannoXYZ 

I tried them when they were all the rage 15-years ago when I was racing. Aside from rapid-wear, you'd have so much pressure in them to prevent flats (120-130psi), that the ride was pounding harsh and cornering ability was severely limited due to skippping off the tops of road irregularities. I did just one crit with them and tossed it away afterwards.

If you're not racing, I'd recommend a 25-28mm tyre. You can run them at lower-pressure and end up with more comfort and better flat-resistance than a narrow tyre. Cornering-grip's better with wider tyre @ lower-pressure as well. Unless you're riding flat-out at your LT for hours on end, I doubt rolling-resistance would be a factor for you.

fsor

I really like the ultra gatorskin and have used both 23 (folding) and 25 (wire). My brakes/fork will not permit 28 so I cannot address that. I get considerably more mileage out of the 25 on the rear than the 23. I am 190# and square off a 23 gatorskin, in the back, pretty severely after 1800-2000mi. I really cannot tell a bit of difference otherwise. Currently, by chance, not intent, I have 25 gatorskins on the back and 23 up front. The front 23 has 2100mi and still looks fine.

bormoglot

I switched this season from Hitch Quartz 23 to Gatorskins 25 front, 28 back (I would've put 28 on the front too but fork wont take it). I didn't notice any difference so far. The biggest driver for me was the piece of mind while riding on small gravel road (greenbelt pathways) and sometimes rough streets of Ottawa.

The only problem I've run into doing this change was getting 28 size tubes with long presta walve... Ended up using 25 tube in 28 tire... so far so good.

StalkerZERO

has anybody tried the specialized roubaix tires that came out? They are supposed to be size 24.....a cross between a 23 and a 25.

dekalbSTEEL

HUH? Then how would you know which ones to buy if you can't compare them?

FormerBMX'er

I swap between two on a daily basis. I like the shock absorption of the 25's for city commuting and after work rides. I like the responsiveness and road feedback of 23's for fast group rides. For what you plan to do I say 25.

operator

I don't know where you came up with the predicate that you have to be able to compare items to be able to choose among them.

Last I heard it could be a coin toss.

NzAndy

I would also point out that it depends some on how much you weigh. If you are bigger it would pay to go to bigger sizes. I'm running Conti Gator Skins (700x25) on my roadie having switched from the stock Michelins too. I used some Maxxis Detonators in 23 first but found that they had a hard time with pinch flats unless they were at max pressure. I weigh in at 225 lbs(100 kilos) and have found that the gator skins are better because they can handle a higher pressure so now it takes some serious debris to cause problems. When it comes time to replace them I will be buying 28's. I couldn't care less about any difference in rolling resistance, no tire rolls well when flat.