3alarmer

...cheap ass tyres on a bicycle are their own punishment. You can buy some pretty nice rolling tyres now in the $30 range (I think that's what I paid for my last set of Vittoria Pro's), but you probably won't get them that cheap at a local bike store. Anyway, one personal experiment is worth a thousand words. So if you really want to experiment, take the same road bike, with some decent rims like Mavic Open Pro, mount some $10 Kenda low end tyres on it, ride it for a week. Then take those tyres off and mount some Vittoria Zaffiro Pro or better tyres on the same wheels and ride the bike for a few days.

If you're just cruising around on your Walmart Huffy, it probably won't show up on your radar.

Your initial post kind of ignores how much effort you need to put into the pedals to get those wheels to go around just as fast with the cheap tyres. But they probably give you more exercise at a given speed and distance, if that's important to you.

3alarmer

....god save me from Gatorskins. For a while they were showing up on every used bike I was buying on CL. They ride like garden hose.

Troul 

filled with concrete.

BlazingPedals

It should be pointed out that you don't need to be 'racing' to be concerned with speed. The difference between expensive fast tires vs cheaper slow tires might mean keeping up with your friends or not. Again, if you're riding by yourself on a MUP at 10 mph, it won't matter.

CliffordK

Keep in mind that on a bike you don't just set the speed and sit back and relax.

Your speed is determined by how hard you pedal.

So, say a fairly hard sustained effort for an amateur cyclist will be about 200 watts.

That 200 watts then gets divided up into a number of things.
Now, say you have two tires that at your 200 watt effort give you either 10 watts rolling resistance, or 50 watts rolling resistance.

So, keeping your power fixed at 200w, then with one set of tires you have 190w to put towards wind resistance and etc. And with the other set you only have 150w... and thus go slower.

Now, it doesn't mean that a cyclist can't ride the same speed on the two different sets of tires, but the one on the high rolling resistance tires has to put in a substantial greater effort to achieve the same speed.

And, if one is going by maximum effort, or maximum effort over time (endurance), then the low rolling resistance tire wins out.

CliffordK

I'm not sure a person can buy department store tires in 700x25.

Despite what some people say, I'm a fan of my Gator Hardshells (700x23 or 700x25).

Going with Kenda tires, maybe 700x35... they just feel really different... and feel slower, whether they actually are that different.

I suppose sometime I'll get some super low rolling resistance tubulars on aero wheels, and see how it works out.

frogman

Love my Gators. Yes the ride is not cushy but I don't have flats from our terrible streets every other ride.

Chuck M 

My Continental GP5Ks I replaced the original Bontrager tires that were on my Trek with are a leaps and bounds improvement IMHO. The $17 Michelin Dynamic Classics I put on the 38 year old Raleigh I recently rehabbed are good enough for the rides I do on it. I misread the OP thinking they had a general curiosity about the varying cost of tires. Perhaps they only wanted to know if the cheap tires were good enough.

As an aside, I predict this post to make 7 pages as a tire argument is going to be a welcome change from chain lube arguments.

Koyote

This.

My supplest tires cost $72 each, and while I think they do offer relatively low rolling resistance, that suppleness brings other benefits: they provide a smoother ride, great grip, and after >4000 miles I have never found tubeless sealant on my frame after a ride, which leads me to believe that they are rather puncture resistant. I've spent more than half as much on tires that gave me less than half the mileage and didn't ride very well anyway.

DangerousDanR

We had Schwalbe Marathons on the tandem. Swapped them out for Continental GP5000 TL when I switched to tubeless compatible rims. Both are "good" tires. The Schwalbe are "puncture resistant" and will wear longer. The Conti went 2000 miles on a touring tandem with zero flats that we had to fix.

The Conti tires have noticeably less rolling resistance. According to https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/ they are 20 watts less rolling resistance for the pair. Over the course of an 8 hour day that is very significant.

79pmooney

Several years ago I went to the then brand new Vittoria Corsa G+ tires. (Not tubeless but the same $72.) I don'[t know that they were the fastest tires I've had but any cost in the speed department was tiny and - on an early ride on them, I was on a shoulder-less 2 lane road with a line of traffic coming at me at 50 mph. A sporty car at the back of the line pulled out to pass. And simultaneously, I arrived at a widened bit of road at an unpaved farm dirt road. Whew! Pulled over, that car shot past where I just was and guess what? My little piece of grace was running out fast! I was headed for the ditch. Cut hard to pull back onto the main pavement on the very last of the grace pavement. On loose gravel. Tire bit. Bike climbed back onto the main road like it was no big deal. And guess who was now completely sold on the value of those tires.

KerryIrons

You are missing two parts of the equation. First, the compliance of the casing (the amount of energy it takes to flex it) and the hardness and thickness of the rubber (same issue) are more important than the width of the tire. Significantly more important. And second, a lower-compliance tire (whether due to construction or higher pressure) induces suspension losses that can be equal to the hysteresis losses of tire flexing. If you see your arms jiggling as you ride over rough surfaces, the energy to cause that came from you pedaling effort and was transmitted to your body due to lack of compliance of the tires. So a narrow tire at high pressure might have low hysteresis losses but high suspension losses.

Fredo76

This tire:
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Goodyear-...lack/516359822

...is nearly three times the weight of this tire (35c):
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...avel-700c-tire

You don't have to be a racer to feel the difference. You can be a wheezing geezer, a tired old Fred, and feel the difference keenly, in my direct experience!

tFUnK

There will be exceptions such as a good performing tire that's still cheap or a really pricy tire that doesn't perform that great, but in general, you get what you pay for. Tires are optimized for many things, such as wear durability (usually a function of tread thickness but rubber compound also matters), puncture resistance (trade-off with speed and weight), sidewall suppleness (tpi and composition), speed (usually a function of rubber compound and sidewall suppleness), light weight (usually less durable), performance in wet, performance in dirt, etc. If we're just talking road slicks, the tread pattern is less important but all the other dimensions still apply. And that is how a more expensive tire may perform better than a cheaper tire.

It's all about tradeoffs and that's why we have so many threads about "what's the best tire". A fast racing tire will be supple and lightweight and grippy, but don't last as many miles and may be more prone to punctures. A training tire will be slightly heavier and perhaps more puncture resistant but less supple and less grippy. A commuter tire will be heavy and slow and not as supple but provide good wear and puncture protection.

The Chemist

I put a set of 28c Schwalbe Marathons on my bike almost exactly a year ago. I've ridden them nearly 10000km, and in that time I've had exactly one flat. That alone is worth the extra price of the tires. They don't roll badly at all, either.

The rear is starting to wear out, so I'll be replacing the 28c version with a 38c version in the next month or two.

freeranger

I had an inexpensive (not super cheap) tires on my road bike. Decided to upgrade to some better tires. Same size, same bike, same route. The difference in comfort was noticeable. And was able to cut time off the route, not trying extra hard, just a casual ride on a route I like and ride often. Definitely made a difference! Didn't name the tire brands, won't start an argument on what tires are good-better-best. But yes-better tires will make a notable difference-in many ways.

wolfchild

The price of bike tires is insane right now....3 years ago I purchased a pair of WTB Riddler gravel tires 700 x 45 mm size for $ 65 dollars per tire...Just yesterday I was at the same store where I bought these tires and now they cost $ 95 dollars per tire.

JohnDThompson 

All things equal, a serif font is more comfortable.

Bald Paul

Ask yourself this: why buy a set of $120 each radial tires for your car, when you can get a set of $75 bias ply tires in the same size?

Iride01 

If you only ride your bike for short and/or leisurely riding, then it probably should make no difference whatsoever.

If you like measuring yourself against the clock and other data while riding, then you might want tires with less rolling resistance which are typically the higher dollar tire.

Just because we are here on BF doesn't mean we have the same goals and preferences in our riding.

jdogg111

You mean people no longer grease the chains? Aye aye , I was out of cycling for too long, lots to learn

_ForceD_

I’ve experienced similar situations. But, could it have been due to the heavier rider deforming his tire more, and/or his tire not being optimally inflated and thereby increasing rolling resistance? Also, wouldn’t wind resistance be more noticeable on a larger body?

Dan

PeteHski

Are we having some sort of "font-off" now?

ofajen

The effective frontal area (which determines wind drag at a given speed) scales less than linearly with mass, so it scales less than the corresponding gravitational force at a given mass. That is why heavier riders tend to go faster downhill.

Otto

indyfabz

I cut a tire during a week-long event. Mechanical support only had Gatorskins as replacements. Riding on that thing on the rear was awful.