can someone explain tyre sizes to me please?
 

ive basically had a tear in my tyre and i now need to replace it, the current tyre size is 700x25. i had my eye on a very nice new tyre https://www.highonbikes.com/media/ca...gano_blu_1.jpg it goes with my saddle :P but the size of that is 700x23...now i know that its 2 mm shorter than the current tyre, does this make any difference? at all? also what about if i was to buy a smaller inner tube to fit that tyre?

You will be marginally slower and less comfortable with a smaller tyre.

In about fifty seconds someone will come in and overconfidently claim that NARROWER SIZES = MORE FASTERER, but they're the same kind of idiot that pumps their tyre pressure up as hard as possible and mistake the bike juddering over every crack in the road for the feeling of speed.

Try the 23's with smaller tubes . You may like them. I did.

would this be harder to get the tyre on the rim at all? being 23's?

i do like going fast though, only on nice roads though. i come off a road with a slight hill and a turn, i kind of leaned into it and didnt see a piece of metal on the floor, it went right through the side wall and into my inner tube. now my tyre is compromised and i keep getting punctures. are 23's more common than 25's? all i see is 23's in tyres and innertubes hardly any 25's anywhere!

The 23 or 25 measurement is the nominal width of the tire. Tires rarely measure out to their nominal width. 2mm is 0.078". You will barely notice a difference.
For that small of a change there is no need to change inner tube, they stretch, a lot if necessary.
Whether a tire is harder to install is more a question of the type of bead of variances between manufacturers.

thats pretty much the answer i was looking for, thanks alot. ive recently purchased a 700 x 23 innertube for my 25 tyre, basically because they didnt have any 700x 25 an i was like meh, its only a spare, and it doesnt feel right, theres a lump in the tyre, could this be because of the tear? the innertube is perfectly fitted, ive taken it off twice and refitted it, it wasnt until i had another puncture and fitted it again i noticed the lump when i pumped it up.

The most likely reason for feeling a lump in the tire is how the bead is seated to the rim. Particularly, where the valve stem is. When installing the tire, the valve stem is pushed back into the tire a little to allow the bead to seat against the rim in that area.

thanks very much, maybe i should look at getting a longer valve, my rims are about 3" from tyre to spoke so id need it pretty long.

This.

Hell, in a pinch, I've thrown a 700x28 tube in a 2" mtb tire before.

For me, the main difference between a 25mm and 23mm tire, is running a lower psi in the 25 giving a slightly cushier ride.

i have noticed while running a 23mm tube ive definitely felt the road more, especially where they've laid it in segments.

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got hold of these today 700x23, cant wait to put them on and take them for a ride