32mm true width touring tire
 

I bought continental contact 700 x 32 tires because I wanted a wider tire than the 28mm tires I currently have on my bike. To my disappointment when I mounted the contacts and pumped them up they measured slightly narrower than 28mm. With my bike and fenders, 32mm is about as wide as I can go. It looks like the next size up in the contact is 37mm. Does anyone have these and what is their true width? Thanks.

it would not surprise me if the 37's are around a true 32mm, conti's are often mis-sized so as to market the tire as lighter than many others of the same stated size. still a nice tire and now you know to consider ordering a size larger than what you really want.

I don't have 37mm Contacts, but I do have Panaracer Pasela 700x32 on a 24mm wide rim (outside width), and they measured 30.5mm inflated to maximum 95psi.

Rim width does affect actual tire width - the wider the rim, the wider the tire. I suggest you look at some 35mm tires, they may max-out just right for your rims/bike/fenders.

How about these - they are a pretty good value:

http://classic.aebike.com/product/re...r0180-qc30.htm

http://classic.aebike.com/product/re...r0181-qc30.htm

I've read the tans weigh less and are a little more flexible than the blackwall.

Shop in person, there if the tire wont fit , you can get another width

that will , at no extra cost, but the work to put it on .

I have the size 700x32 Vittoria Voyager Hyper. I was pleased when they measured out to 33mm wide on a 23mm wide (O.D.) Velocity A23 rim. Great tire with a smooth ride and reduced rolling resistance compared to other tires this size. No flats in more than 1000 miles of urban cycling.

How wide is your rim? A standard 19mm wide rim should reduce the width of this tire by 1 or 2 mm.

Continental is famous or infamous for over stating their tire widths, but they are not the only sinners out there. I have a 37mm Travel Contact which measures 33.5 on Mavic 719 rims (24mm). The deception leads the buyer into thinking they are getting a lighter tire of the same width. I have found Panaracer and Schwalbe to be pretty close to advertised width. On the 719 rim my 32mm Panaracer Ribmo calipers out at 33mm and on my Open Pro rims it is just about right on 32. My Schwalbe 40mm Dureme measures in at 39.5 on the 719 and my 28mm Schwalbe Marathon Greenbelts measure 29mm on the Open Pros.

I once ordered a custom bike for which I specified the maximum tire width as 28 mm. When I tried to install a certain brand of 28 mm tires, the front one could not be forced to fit! I had to switch to a 25 mm tire, which was in fact very close to 28 mm.

regular 32 mm schwalbe marathons on a 19 mm rim usually work out to be pretty close to 32 mm when inflated to 70 psi.

My curiosity got the best of me so I went out and measured:

28 mm Continental Ultra Gatorskins measured 27.5 mm @ 95psi
32 mm Schwalbe Marathons measured 31 mm @ 85-90 psi
Both pairs of tires are mounted on Velocity Dyad rims, and measured with calipers at widest point.

My wife got a pair of 32 mm Continental Ultra Gatorskins for Christmas (that is what she wanted), but I have not mounted them on her bike yet.

Thanks all for responses. My rims are 22.5mm Sun CR18s. The 28mm Conti Gatorskins that are currently mounted are pretty accurate as Doug64 indicated. I assumed that the 32 Contacts would be accurate as well. Oh well, my bad for assuming.

My Conti 700c 25 kevlar bead gatorskins measure in at almost 23mm. Interestingly on the 700c 25 box, it states a diam./circum. that is the same as what my cyclocomputer considers an average input for a 700c 23 tire.

FWIW-- I measured the tread and side wall width of a used 28 mm Conti Ultra Gatorskin and a new 32 mm Gatorskin. The measurements were essentially the same:(

[Partial QUOTE=acantor;15120391]I once ordered a custom bike for which I specified the maximum tire width as 28 mm. [/QUOTE]

acantor; Ah, why?