700x25 of 700x23 Tyres?

keenan110

I bought a touring bike a while ago and it has 700x35 tyres on it. i use the bike for commuting and spins. I want to change them to something thinner and was wondering is there big defference between 700x25 and 700x23?

rottenhat

Not huge but noticeable...I tend to favour wider tires personally, especially on Irish roads, so I'd recommend the 25s or even 28s.

Stark

In terms of rolling resistance the difference would likely be trivial. In my experience of riding 23mm vs riding 25mm, I found that 25mm was a little more comfortable and 25mm back tyres were much less prone to punctures when I was carrying panniers on the back.

Home:Ballyhoura

I just put 25c tyres which I had lying around on my Dawes Discovery 201 which is kind of like this one just a few years older (thanks to Blorg's advice here)!

I know he said 28 should be OK, but I just wanted to try these before splashing out for one size up. It certainly looks strange, probably just because I'm not used to skinny tyres on this bike! They do look quite narrow for the rim, the tyre is hardly visible behind the rim when looking from above, see pictures! However, I tried it out for a quick test spin and they seem fine (roll nicely!), so what do you think? What are the dangers of running tyres too narrow for the rim, and how do I find out if they are even too narrow or not? It has no markings whatsoever on the rim itself.

Get back to me asap as I am setting the bike up for a friend for the Wicklow 100! Can ye see anything wrong with doing this? Cheers

blorg

I use 700x23 on my road/racer and most often 700x25-28 on my tourer and commuter although I have gone up to 700x35 when I expected off-road sections. Certainly I wouldn't go below 25 on the back if you are going to load it, and go wider if you are going to load it and cycle over bad road surfaces.

700x25 is noticably more comfortable but 700x23 is enough for unloaded on Irish roads. Unpaved roads loaded you would be better off in the 30s.

@Home:Ballyhoura- that looks a bit extreme to me, I'd be more comfortable with 28s on those rims I reckon.

Sheldon has this to say:

Although you can use practically any tire/rim combination that shares the same bead seat diameter, it is unwise to use widely disparate sizes.

If you use a very narrow tyre on a wide rim, you risk pinch flats and rim damage from road hazards.

If you use a very wide tyre on a narrow rim, you risk sidewall or rim failure. This combination causes very sloppy handling at low speeds.

I have used between 700x23 and 700x35 on the same rims but they were narrow racing rims, not half that wide.

Poncherello

So 700*28 on a road bike would be advisable for Geal Force West type event ??

Lumen

23mm on the front, 25mm on the back for me.

The extra contact patch width means I can run the same pressures front and rear (my weight distribution is currently 40/60).

Aero-wise, the rear wheel is shielded by the seat tube so the extra width is less of an issue.

25mm tyres are a bit heavier though, and harder to find (although the Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX look quite attractive).

rottenhat

Poncherello wrote: »

So 700*28 on a road bike would be advisable for Geal Force West type event ??

You might find that you don't have enough clearance beneath the brakes to run 28s on a modern road bike but otherwise it sounds sensible to me.