rails to trail tire size
 

I wast just wondering what size tires everybody rides on the limestone trails. I just put on 700x28 for my trek hybrid 7500. Just had them put on have not tried them yet. Anybody using those size tires and whats been your experience with them? My last size was 700x32.

Before I got my bike I rented a Trek 7.5 which had 700x28 road tires. I drove off a paved parking lot into a gravel parking lot and had to walk it out. My new bike has Trek LT3 700x38 (they are a combo tire simular to the ones that come on the 2012 7500). I drove it on the same gravel parking lot and had no problem. I would think the rail trails could in some areas be simular to a gavel lot.

Some of the rail trails in my area have crushed limestone instead of traditional gravel. They are easier to ride on with narrower tires such as 28s, but I would still go with 32s or larger. The limestone tends to pack down more than gravel, making a firmer riding surface. A downside of limestone is that riding the trail during or after a rain can make for filthy, gritty brakes and drivetrain.

My main "rail trail" machine, I changed from stock: 32's to 38's and that really helps with our "sandy" trails out here. They only have the crushed limestone "in the city limit's", once out of them, it's all hardpack to sandy texture trails. FYI.

+1

I put a few thousand miles a year in on Rails to Trails in Wisconsin.

My main trail bike is a Trek 7.5 FX and i use 32mm tires after the trail is groomed. I find these perfect and you could probably get away with 28mm tires, but i think the 32 is just right.

Before the trails are groomed for the summer ill use 35 or 38 tires with minimal tread on my Marin hardtail 29er. The tracks left in the trail by bikes, humans and animals leave the trail pretty bumpy until the annual grooming and the front shocks help a lot.

In Wisconsin the trails are usually groomed in early-mid May.

I've run on packed limestone trails with tire widths down to 25 mm, maybe even 23. No problems.

If you are going from 32 to 28 then I think the result will be somewhat harsher. You can improve the ride a bit by lowering pressure but with 28 tires you risk bottoming out. For trail riding like that I would suggest Michelin City in 35 to 40 width.

You can pretty much ride any size tire on most any surface as long as it's semi packed, but the narrower the tire, the harsher the ride once you go below 32.

My Cannondale Quick 5 came with 700c38s and I have no plans to change them. Some of the area trails have limestone or even blacktop in sections, but in other places there is something more like small gravel with a lot of rounded stone, always loose. And one such spot is on a stretch where they deviated from the rail right-o-way and it has a 12% grade! In some of the Berks County end of the Schuylkill River Trail they have a habit of using whatever is handy to fill washouts and such too. It's not unusual to encounter something more like 3/4" crushed trap rock.

A few descents on the aforementioned 12% grade with my road bike is what sent me out to look at hybrids.

26x1.95 on my "hybridized" 1995 Specialized Rockhopper Rigid MTB/Single Speed with fenders ;)

Honestly, though, my girlfriend is riding 700x35c tires on her Trek 7100WSD and has never had issues. If its fine gravel thats packed, I would say 32 would be fine as well. If its bigger gravel that can be loose at times, go with 35-38c :)

I see guys with road bikes (23 or 25c) going buy all the time on the canal path. I wouldn't do that, the path isn't THAT smooth!