Podagrower

As i work towards my goal of riding a century, i know there are some equipment limitations for myself and my bike. I know most people would say to get a road bike, but I'm being a little stubborn, and I'm pretty sure riding drops is not for me anymore. So, right now i ride at a leisurely pace around 10mph, and I'm thinking a little more speed would be better. Right now, I'm riding the stock 700x35 hybrid tires, and I'm wondering how much speed i could pick up with a touring tire like continental travel contact, or schwalbe marathon plus. I don't want to go full race tire, as there is plenty of glass, rocks and thorns where i ride, but lower rolling resistance would be nice. I would like to stay at 700x35, so i can use the same wheels and tubes, but going upor down one width would still allow me to use the stock wheels.

johnnyboy1

I went from 700x35 to 700x28 and got a very noticeable speed bump.

Barrettscv 

There are are only a few flat-resistant tires that roll and ride like a good training tire. These tires use a light fabric belt made of a material like kevlar. These tires are noticeably faster and smooth riding than tires that use a solid material between the cords and the rubber tread.

I would also go down to 700x32 size. 700x32 is still very good on firm gravel, a smaller tire might not be.

Schwalbe Marathon Supreme is a fast tire with good wet road traction 700x35: https://www.schwalbetires.com/node/37

https://www.ebikestop.com/schwalbe_ma...x35-TR4876.php

Vittoria Voyager Hyper (aka Vittoria Randonneur Hyper) is fast, very plush riding and very tough and flat resistant 700x32 or 700x35:https://www.vittoria.com/product/touring/

https://www.jensonusa.com/Bicycle-Tir...yper-Road-Tire

Continental Gatorskin 700x32 this is a heavier wire bead tire, actual size is 30mm wide: https://www.conti-online.com/generato...orskin_en.html

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/produ...FegWMgodGS0AWw

Ratings;

Flat protection: Schwalbe Supreme, Vittoria Hyper, Conti Gatorskin
Fast-rolling & Light: Vittoria Hyper, Schwalbe Supreme, Conti Gatorskin
Best ride quality: Vittoria Hyper, Schwalbe Supreme, Conti Gatorskin

I've used the Gatorskin and now ride the Hyper and the Supreme. I've had zero flats on the Hyper and Supreme, the Gatorskins would flat about once every 1000 miles here in Chicago.

The Hypers are a little faster and better riding than the Supremes.

goldfinch

Tougher tires tend to be slow tires. I have heard that the Schwabe Marathon Plus is a slow tire. One possibility is to have tires just for the century ride. Nice, supple lightweight tires. To see how narrow you can go for your rims look at the table on Sheldon Brown's site, you have to scroll down to near the bottom of the bottom of the page. https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

You might want to read this article on tires: https://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/0...ance-of-tires/

sstorkel

I also like the Vittoria Randonneur Pro. It's almost as fast/plush as the Hyper, slightly more flat-resistant for me, and only slightly heavier.

mprelaw

700 x 32 tires are about that same width as the 27 x 1-1/4" tires that were standard issue on touring bikes in the 70s and 80s. I have them on my winter/back-up bike. I'm not appreciably slower on them than I am on the 700 x 23 tires on my main bike. Maybe 1 mph and that might be more of a function of tourer being about 8-10 lbs heavier, and that it climbs like an Army mule--sure footed but slow.

CliftonGK1

Panaracer Pasela TG, 32mm.
For the money, they're the closest feel to a handmade high-tpi tire while still retaining good flat protection.

Nightshade

First, try pumping your tires up to where they are rock hard to lower sidewall flex, then make sure that you're not running knobby tires.

If that's not enough of a speed bump then drop the tire size one , maybe two with care, to get a slimmer contact profile on the road to cut friction. Again pump'm hard.

That's about as far as you can go and sit upright into the wind.

paisan

Depending on what you mean by "rock hard" it should be noted that an over inflated tire may "feel" faster but actually has a higher rolling resistance. There are studies proving this and also articles on the proper way to set tire pressure or "sag".

Barrettscv 

You need to try the 120TPI Vittoria Hyper. Almost as smooth as my 260TPI Challenge Parigi-Roubaix and better flat protection than a Gatorskin.

achoo

No, you don't pump your tires up as hard as they can go to reduce rolling resistance. Don't confuse the road buzz you feel from overinflated tires with going fast.

https://lmgtfy.com/?q=optimum+bicycle+tire+pressure

Gee, that was difficult.

From one of those:

And FWIW, overinflating a large tire like a 700x35 can literally blow your rims apart.

Myosmith

I'm running Specialized All Condition Armadillo Elites in 700 x 28 on my flat bar touring bike and am very pleased with the performance. You should be able to use the same rims as you 700 x 35s and maybe even the same tubes. Specialized has a 28-35mm tube for 700s which is what I use. I also have a mixed surface trail bike set up similarly to my touring bike and it has 40mm Schwalbe Smart Sams. They are slower but not nearly as much as you would expect.

+1 on not overinflating your tires. There is a good chart on Sheldon Brown's website that helps you pick a pressure to get the appropriate tire drop for various tire widths and rider/bike weights. When I first started out I went with narrow tires inflated at or slightly above their max rated psi thinking I was getting less rolling resistance. What I got was a lousy rough ride. I now have 25mm tires on my road bike and 28s on my light touring. I'd go 28 on the road bike by my clearances won't allow it.

Podagrower

Glad to see we are all in agreement. I had already seen the bicycle quarterly article, which is an eye opener about tire widths-I grew up in the late 70's early 80's where skinny meant fast, and that was all we knew. I was not aware of the tire inflation charts, so I much appreciate that information from everybody. I thought the tires like the hypers and gatorskins were too flat prone for my riding, but nobody seems to be complaining about flats in the reviews. And the bicycle quarterly article shows a 20% difference between the best tires and the worst ones they tested-that's huge, both from a speed standpoint, and a distance standpoint-it could make your century feel like an 83 mile ride.

robble

If you decide to get the marathon supremes, Amazon has them for about $50.

bdinger

I gave up on skinny tires because I like comfort. And I believe I've found the perfect mix of comfort and speed, the 700x40 Schwalbe Marathon Dureme. I'm sure my bike would be faster with 700x25's or 700x28's but I have no problems flying along at a rapid rate for miles on end without a buzzing discomfort.

I too used to obsess over equipment, but now I enjoy the ride. Just today I rode around 2 hours outside in the 17 degree temps on a 700x45 knobby studded tire in the front (Innova) and a 700x40 studded Marathon Winter in the back - at 60psi. I had a blast and went fast enough.

The key to long rides and success is to ride more, and even volume. I know several who swear by fatter tires unless you are just running smooth pavement. I'm becoming one of those myself, dare I say it.

CliftonGK1

No. Read the article linked below, and the associated articles with the in-depth analysis. Rock-hard narrow tires are the old school way of thinking, before anyone did any real testing to prove that wider tires with a supple casing roll faster (up to a point. While a supple 35 or even 42mm tire may roll as smooth and fast as a 23 or 25mm over the same reasonable terrain, that's not to say a 3.8" street tire on a fatbike will have the same benefit. There *is* a tipping point.)

Probably this article by Jan Heine in BQ which you are thinking of.

bdinger

Couldn't agree more. I know some very hardcore gravel racers that swear by wider tires, and have the data to prove it.

Plus I know that my fatigue changed dramatically when I went from 700x32 rock hard Bontragers to 700x40 Schwalbe Marathon Dureme. That alone was worth it, and I can't tell a speed penalty. Of course the Marathon Plus was the exception to this rule, but we won't get into that.

Homeyba

Fat tires are one way (and probably the cheapest) to get a more comfortable ride but not the only way. To get that you are adding weight and worse aerodynamics. Not big deals but negates any rolling resistance advantage they may give. I always say that fat tires are a crutch for a well designed frame/wheel combination. I've ridden across the US four times and many other ultra distance events on 23 and 25mm tires perfectly comfortably.

As far as what tires have the lowest rolling resistance, who really knows. The BQ review included tires that they sell (hmmmm, guess which tires performed best). Schwalbe claims to have the lowest rolling resistance tires and has tests to prove it. An independent European bike magazine tested a bunch of tires and found Continentals to have the lowest rolling resistance but they used Continentals lab. I'm sure every tire mfg has some test to prove their tires role better than everyone else's. .

Yo Spiff

I have some Paselas on my converted MTB (26x1.5" tires) Noticeably snappier than the cheap Performance Gotham tires I previously had on it. I also have the TG version mentioned on my tandem. I can tell it is not as fast to accelerate as my road bike with 700x25's, but quite acceptable unless I am trying to keep up with a fast group. Paselas are a good choice. I've also hear nothing but good about the Schwalbes as well.

goldfinch

Talk to us more about other ways to improve your ride. My road bike can take tires only as thin as 25s. I run 23s, high quality tires with purported good rolling resistence. I find the bike nearly impossible to ride on chip seal surfaces. If the road is nice the ride is nice but rough roads are very difficult for me. I keep the tires at the lowest recommended pressure based on Sheldon Brown's chart on what pressure to run.

One person told me to get better wheels, rather than the stock wheels on my Madone. A bike shop said that is unlikely to matter.

I do like that BQ at least attempts some real world tests, but their testing protocol does lend itself to confirmation bias.

achoo

Ride 25s then.

Barrettscv 

I keep a road bike with 700x24 tires on 23mm wide HED rims. The bike rides well on most pavement. There are a couple of miles of bad pavement in my area that are hard to avoid, on these roads, a wider tire is faster.

I ride in the 17 to 22mph range on my 35 mile fitness route. I do find that at speeds above 20mph, the skinny tire is faster due to aerodynamics. The heavier tire with greater aero drag becomes more difficult to accelerate once 20mph is reached. If I spent all my riding time above 20mph, I would not want a tire larger than 700x25.

I've done a series of rides trying to determine what the speed loss/gain on my 700x32 Vittoria Hypers on my Carbon Fiber Cyclocross bike and my 700x24 Continental Grand Prix on my Carbon Fiber Road bike. The 700x24 tire has about a 1/3 mph average speed advantage. Some days, that can be an important advantage but most days it is not.

achoo

With different bikes, how do you know your own aero drag is the same on both?

And that's assuming the bikes and wheels themselves have identical aero drag outside of the tires.

Barrettscv 

I consider the tight tire clearance of a road bike frame and the smaller tire as a unit. The open tire clearance of the Cyclocross bike and the larger tire is also a unit. You can't have one without the other.

Other than that, the two bikes are very similar. Same producer, same drivetrain, almost identical wheels. If anything, The bike frame with smaller tires might contribute to the small added speed.

Keep in mind the rider is 85% of the aero drag. That portion of the test was identical :-). My results are only relevant to me, I never claimed that these results were universal.

Nightshade

I have good strong hands so "rock hard" to me is when I can't get any deflection when I squeeze the tire at my thumb.

Not scientific but it works for me!