35mm tyre to 28 mm tyre , much difference ?

barrymanilow

Hi all ,

I am looking at ways to make an old touring bike that I like to cycle a little more sporty / faster and easier to push . If I changed the 35mm tyres out for 28 mm tyres would that make much noticeable difference ? 28 mm is the lowest the rims can take and they are 700c . I know it would be less comfortable with narrower tyres but if means i can go further while getting less exhausted I don't mind .

thanks if anyone knows or has done this before

B

OldBean

barrymanilow wrote: »

Hi all ,

I am looking at ways to make an old touring bike that I like to cycle a little more sporty / faster and easier to push . If I changed the 35mm tyres out for 28 mm tyres would that make much noticeable difference ? 28 mm is the lowest the rims can take and they are 700c . I know it would be less comfortable with narrower tyres but if means i can go further while getting less exhausted I don't mind .

thanks if anyone knows or has done this before

B

There's a lot of recent research saying that wider tyres can be just as fast and sporty as narrower widths. You'll have a good bit more buzz from the road on narrower tyres which might feel faster.

My touring bike is on 28's and my commuter is 35's and I much prefer the 35's over the past few months.

Hrududu

I made the switch from 35 down to 28 and noticed a difference. Not a huge difference but it felt like I was going faster. May be psychosomatic

I didn't find that I lost a whole lot of comfort. I think 23s or 25s might be a different kettle of fish. But 28s were grand

PJD

Out of curiosity, what pressure are you running the 35mm at?? Im thinking of the same switch but maybe I should play around with the pressure more before deciding.

cdaly_

You need to consider more than just the width. A supple, high-tpi casing will roll much faster and more comfortably than a stiff one. I'm riding 35mm Vittoria Voyager Hyper folding tyres with a 120tpi casing and they're very comfy and well fast.
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/01/05/wide-and-fast-tires/
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/06/13/how-much-faster-are-supple-tires/
https://janheine.wordpress.com/2014/01/01/tires-how-wide-is-too-wide/

Alek

What cdaly_ says.

BTW, these Vittoria Hypers are fast beasts alright.

I have the 38mm version, switched from 28mm Contis 4000S II to test my new touring bike. They roll almost as well - no kidding! Example: one of my usual training routes - https://www.strava.com/activities/510848075 This was running relatively low pressure too - 4 bar back, 3.5 front.

Recently they've been tested here http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/tour-reviews/vittoria-voyager-hyper-2016

barrymanilow

PJD wrote: »

Out of curiosity, what pressure are you running the 35mm at?? Im thinking of the same switch but maybe I should play around with the pressure more before deciding.

I have the 35s up at the max pressure marked on the side of the tyre , i think its 65 or 70 psi there abouts , but its as high as recommended

OldBean

Is there anything else you could replace or remove to lose some weight? I took a rear rack off my touring bike last year and it was like a different bike.

Otherwise, you'll just have to buy a new bike.

Alek

Is there anything else you could replace or remove to lose some weight? I took a rear rack off my touring bike last year and it was like a different bike.

I removed double portions from my diet, worked wonders over time.

barrymanilow

OldBean wrote: »

Is there anything else you could replace or remove to lose some weight? I took a rear rack off my touring bike last year and it was like a different bike.

Otherwise, you'll just have to buy a new bike.

There's a lot of excess heavy aluminum seatpost extending very far down into the seattube that I could do with chopping off but I don't think weight is a problem .It feels like im not getting my energy into the ground when I pedal , after reading stuff here I'm guessing that the difference between a good quality 35 and good quality 28 is small but maybe going from a big bad quality tyre to a narrower expensive one might be a good move

Civilian_Target

As cdaly says, not all 35 tyres are slow and not all 28s are fast. You might find this is an interesting place to start
http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews

cdaly_

barrymanilow wrote: »

I have the 35s up at the max pressure marked on the side of the tyre , i think its 65 or 70 psi there abouts , but its as high as recommended

I run mine at around 50psi. Don't go for the max rated, softer is just as good, sometimes better.