LHawes

I have this feeling this might have already been beat to death but couldn't find anything in a search and I just discovered the site. Does the data match real world rolling resistance? Is the test too constricted and not real world enough to give accurate feedback? Can a buyer depend on the data to buy an easy rolling tire?

Bicycle Rolling Resistance | Rolling Resistance Tests

Retro Grouch 

The problem with laboratory testing bicycle tires is replicating real world conditions. The more that I read about rolling resistance and tire air pressure, the less convinced I become that it matters very much.

If you want to go faster with the same amount of effort, work on your position on the bike. Once you exceed about 15 MPH the energy required to push your torso through the air exceeds all of the other factors holding you back.

LHawes

Yeah I figured as much but have never personally compared a couple different tires and compared that with those lab tests and was wondering if anyone else had. Or is it just such a subjective test that works differently for everyone once they are mounted that the data is useless at best?

TimothyH

I like the site for comparing weights of tires, puncture resistance, actual vs advertised size, etc.

It shows data for tires on standardized rims so that different brands/models can be objectively compared and does a good job of testing any given tire at at various pressures and so eliminates some of the guesswork on pressure.

Rolling resistance is only one small part of the puzzle and the site does give that data but also much more. I would not focus on rolling resistance as the single data point for choosing a tire.


-Tim-

Cheddarpecker

The review there made my mind on my last tire purchase with rolling resistance being the singular selling point. I wanted light tires and I got them pretty cheap. There are much faster tires out there, but these are much faster than the ones they replaced. I sacrificed puncture resistance in exchange, but they'll never leave the street. Other factors contributed, but their position on the list is what sold me.

Hop on a fat bike and tell me it's all wind resistance. Going from a road bike with $10 tires to one with $20 tires that show up on the list is a world of difference to me. I look forward to spending a little more and moving up a bit on my next tire purchase.

ThermionicScott 

+1. I have great confidence in their ability to accurately (and repeatably) measure the factors under test. The problem with this sort of test is that it doesn't measure all of the watts that can be lost in the rider's body on imperfect surfaces, and so it mistakenly led people to select the narrowest, highest-pressure tires they could get, for a long time. Only recently have people started to look at the bigger picture here.