Caustilicous

so, almost 2 years ago i've bought a hybrid bike kross evado 3.0. it's way superior than my previous bike in every way and i loved riding every time i had the chance.
now it's time for me to upgrade my bike a little bit and i started with tires. i'm rocking 700x40c mitas v84 gripper. they're great (almost 2000 km ridden and never ever had a flat tire).

i want to upgrade my tires to slick ones, the ones road bikes have.
and i looked up and found these goodies - continental contact speed. they come in a few models that we got for sale (700x28c, 700x32c, 700x35c). the question is what size could fit. surely the 700x35c should fit, but a size less is a headache. is there a big difference between those sizes and i'd be good with 700x35c or the less the better? the difference in size isnt that big imo, but does it play a role?

hybridbkrdr

Well, for that it's worth, I find it easier to roll on grass with 35c than anything under that.

Skipjacks

I recently tried a paid of Continental Contact Speeds

I liked the tread pattern. They get great rolling resistance reviews. They aren't terribly heavy.

But...they are tiny. The marked size on the sidewall is nowhere close to the actual width on the rim.

The sidewall was marked 37-622 and 700x35C

On a 15mm wide rim (probably a little thinner rim than you have on a hybrid) they mounted to an inflated width of about 32mm.

Continental is notorious for tires that mount MUCH thinner than their labeled width.

Caustilicous

alright, i've ordered a pair of 700x35c, hope they'll fit fine

if not return is a godly thing

Caustilicous

well, just got em installed and they're pretty nice

hokiefyd 

Cool -- are they true to size (35mm) mounted on the wheels?

Caustilicous

i mean, its written 700x35c on the tire and they fit and work, so i guess yea

hokiefyd 

Most Continental tires range from slightly to severely under-sized. Meaning, a tire that's marked "35mm" on the sidewall (as yours is) may measure only 32mm or 30mm when actually installed on a wheel and inflated.

I have a set of Continental SpeedRide tires, marked 700x42, yet they're really only 37-38mm tires.

Skipjacks

No.

They do NOT mount as 35mm tires.

Keeping in my the ISO sizing on them is 37-622

They mounted as 32mm for me.

On a wider rim they might mount a little wider when inflated, but I doubt they'd ever reach the 37mm they are supposed to be.

If you WANTED a 32-33mm tire I'd say to go for it with the Speedrides. I really wanted to test ride them. But if you want something wider for a smoother more comfortable ride, these aren't it. Not in the 37-622 / 700x35 sizing anyway.

Caustilicous

well my friend has schwalbe 30mm and they're thinner than mine, so yea