Originally Posted by Vaportrail56

Hi all,the last time I rode was about three years ago on a MUP on weekends about 25 miles from where I live and one day through the week out at the beach one day after work. Since then I retired a couple years ago and turned into a couch potato so a couple months ago I decided to get back on the bike. I no longer have a car so I found a good route from the house I could ride early in the mornings with my road bikes. I really like my road bikes (Cannondale CAAD 10/Synaspe) but they were so uncomfortable when I road them with all the vibration in my hands and groin area I was getting. I put new gell padded seats on them and that helped some but not at all in my wrist. I got three flats on my Kenda Kountach 700x23s not long after I started riding again on my CAAD. These roads around where I live have all kinds of hazards on the shoulder. I decided to try a puncture proof and wider tire on my CAAD 10 now that I am riding in an urban environment. I went with Goodyear Eagle Sport 700x25 front, 700x28 back. I took it out for my morning ride and man oh man what a difference a tire change made. I have always run 23s on my road bikes but not no more. That ride was the best ride I have ever had on that bike. No numbness what so ever in my wrists or groan area. It was a wonderful ride! I just can`t get over how smooth the ride was, I was smiling all day. My Synaspe had the original Vittoria Zaffiro 700x23s on it from 2010, they had tiny cracks in them, so I figured that if it made that much of a difference on my CAAD then maybe I should go wider. I put some Continental Contact Speed 28 front 32mm rear. Well the same results, I took it out on my route and it was a very smooth ride too. I didn`t feel any numbness in my hands or buttocks. What a great ride. I have been riding these bikes on and off for a little over ten years and the last four rides, two with the CAAD and two with the Synaspe have been the best rides ever with them. I just can not believe the difference what a tire change can do for your bike.
The Goodyears seem to roll fast and have really good grip on the dry pavement. The Continentals have mini knobbies all over them and them seem to grip better in all kinds of surface, gravel, sand, pavement and small dirt piles at intersections. They also have a reflective strip around the tire for safety at night. The Continentals shoot pebbles off in all directions when I run over them, lol, it is the funniest thing, the pebbles will be going zing,,ping pow as I`m riding through them. I haven`t road in the rain so I can`t comment on that.
If you haven`t tried a wider tire on your road bike I would say go for it. I am late to the wide party, I wish I had done it long ago.
One problem is that it is such a tight fit that the 32mm on the rear of my Synaspe is rubbing just a little on both sides. It looks like the tire is just a little out of round but I can`t be sure


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. It doesn`t look like the rim is bent but when I spin it, it rubs in one spot just a little on each side. I aligned the wheel in the bike as best I could to where it rubs on both side just a tiny amount evenly, not sure if that is a good thing? You can see where the frame has rubbed some of the knobbies off one small (closeup picture) section right above where it says Continental. I let some air out and that helped get some clearance to where it barely rubs now. I hope it will be ok? I can not send it back because of the missing knobbies so I guess I will keep and eye on it, I might be taking a chance running it and maybe I might have to put a 28mm on the rear later but I really like the look and ride of the 32mm.
I like both tires and am going to see how they do in the rain. So I say if you still have your 23s on your road bike go as wide as you can, I think you will like the ride much better. If you have went wider too let me know how it went for you?