beyerj

Hello, long time listener, first time caller. Hope this is the right place for this. I understand that the 23 will be a lot stiffer of a ride and I'm not so concerned about that. I rode with 23's before on my Fuji Newest. But as the title says, I curious about weight. I way around 250 lbs and since I'm a commuter, I do sometimes haul around maybe 20-30 lbs extra. The wheels on my KHS have 36 spokes. Sorry if this is a repost. Thanks in advance.

noquarter1

For what it's worth, I'm a hefty 315 and ride on 23's on Ultegra rims with 16 spokes. Am I courting disaster? Perhaps. But so far I haven't had any issues. Purely anecdotal, but so will be most people's comments.

Russ Roth

I also tend to ride on 23s and don't have any real problem doing so, currently sitting about 280lbs. I don't commute but on longer days do carry 10ish lbs of stuff with me.

Wildwood 

Clyde forum for best answers, maybe.

My answer would be - as always = It Depends:.
On your commute. Smooth trail, rough road, potholed, debris?
On your wheel maintenance. Yes, check spokes periodically
On how long you want tires to last.
On how much you REALLY like 23s at 120+psi,
in the rain and/or morning puddles - on those rough with debris sections on the commute.


I ride 22mms on a couple of racy bikes, but would suggest wider for a commuter. Depending.....

bikingshearer 

To avoid pinch flats on the 23s, you will have to run your 23s at high pressure. I weigh about 255, and when I ran 23s I ran them at about 120psi for that reason. A good 36 spoke wheel and running high enough pressure in the 23s and you should be okay. I would not recommend noquarter's set up - 32 spokes is as low as I am willing to go. If you break a spoke with 32 or 36 spokes, open the quick release on your brakes and you almost certainly can make it home with no problem. At the tension that is on each of the 16 spokes, a broken spoke means the ride is over and, unless you can replace the spoke on the road (bot likely), it will be up to your feet, your phone or your thumb to get you home.

Wider tires mean you can run them at lower pressures and still be safe from pinch flats. It has been a long time since I ran 23s (a frame I no longer have would not take anything wider), but I do run 25s at about 105-110 psi and 32s at 90-100. (I could probably go lower, but I'm pretty conservative that way.) The 25s at 105 to 110 are noticeably more jarring than the 32s at 90 to 100. The longer the ride, the more you will care.

If your KHS's tires are still in good shape, use 'em. But when it is time to replace them, I'd give serious consideration to getting 26s, 28s or even 32s (assuming they will fit on the frame). I resisted trying 32s for a long time, but I'm glad I finally did. Now I run them on the bikes I have that can fit them.

noquarter1

Likely true. I bought the bike that way and just haven't gotten around to changing it.

beyerj

I currently have two jobs resulting in 3 different treks. The first is a 15 minute ride over city streets. Here in Boise, all of the major roads have bike lanes and are fairly smooth and free of potholes. Going from job #1 to #2 (ha,ha), more city streets for 15 minutes and then 20 minutes on the Boise Green Belt, a nice bike path that takes me the rest of the way to job #2. The return trip home is 25 minutes on the Green Belt and 10 minutes on city streets. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there are bumps and potholes along the way but they are easily avoidable.

The weather here is usually pretty dry with some rain here and there.

The tires on my bike are tired and in need of replacing. They are 700c40s. We have a goathead problem here and these tires have already seen there share of them. Can't remember the brand off the top of my head but the 23s are GatorBacks and I've had better luck with them than others.

Wildwood 

Schwalbe Marathons for commuters near goathead territory. Come in various sizes. I use them on a tandem that's 380# loaded in 32mm width on 40spoke wheels with Phil hubs + tandem touring rims.

Ironfish653

+1 on the Marathons.
th have a well deserved reputation for being tough and long wearing, even under high load conditions.
I find 32mm is a good compromise between contact patch (for speed) and air volume (for comfort)

beyerj

Thanks for the heads up on the Schwalbe Marathons. Never heard of them before and I'm always looking for ways of scaring the goatheads away.

chaadster

I don’t get what’s going on with the question. Is there an option to run something other than 23s? If so, I’d suggest doing it regardless of whether or not the 23s can take the pressure required for the combined 280lbs. Aside from cost to acquire wider-than-23mm tires, there’s not going to be a downside in this application to running, say, 28mm or 32mm rubber.

In fact, i’d say sizing up will confer benefits in comfort, handling, and durability. Reducing the pressure will reduce the casing tension and allow the tire components to flex more before they break, giving them more puncture resilience.

I mean, is the thinking here that a skinner tire has less likelihood of hitting a thorn than the current 40mm tires? That could be true— I dunno, but it doesn’t sound crazy— but I do think going to 23 is too extreme, and the risk reduction compared to a 28mm is probably nil. Other puncture mitigation devices, like resistant tires and tubes, or moving to tubeless, are going to be more effective in eliminating flat hassles than tire width downsizing.

PeteHski

It makes no sense in your use case to go from 40 to 23 mm wide tyres. Just get some durable tyres in a similar width. My recommendation would be Pirelli Cinturato Velo (35 mm version).

cyccommute 

Yes, they can. Tire width doesn’t make much difference in terms of weight carrying ability. You need to maintain a higher pressure on the narrower tires to avoid bottoming out on impacts since you don’t have as much volume in the tires, however.

squirtdad

Currently at 224 and have been as much as 280, should work if you use the proper presssure. I like this pressure calculator https://www.renehersecycles.com/tire...culator-intro/

that said my experience with commuting and riding says put bigger tire on 25mm or 28mm if a 28 will fit

I have commuted for years on 28, am running 32 now on one bike

beyerj

The reason I'm asking about 23's is because I have a brand new pair of GatorBack 23's sitting in the garage. I didn't buy them to put them on this bike. There is no other reason I'm asking besides the fact that I already have them. The bike currently has 40's on it and I'm not a fan of how slow they are. Sure, I could compromise and put on a size in between but that would be more money. I already have tubes for the 23's. Thanks everyone for your feedback and comments.

David_Harris

You could sell or trade the 23s for some 32s and not be out any or much money.

tyrion

Can a 700c23 handle as much weight as a 700c40

A 40mm wide tire handles weight more gracefully than a 23mm tire.

LarrySellerz

If they fit on your rim you're fine. There isn't a strength concern. You will need higher pressure in the tire to avoid pinch flats, but its not like a wider tire makes the wheel stronger.

I guess conceivably one could be so heavy that the pressure needed to avoid pinch flats exceeds the tire rating (if you follow those...) but maybe the math works out to where you need thousands of lbs for that to happen or something.

smd4

But a 23mm tire transmits way more road feel to the rider compared to a "graceful" 40mm couch cushion.

icemilkcoffee 

Let me get this straight- the bike can take 40mm wide tires, but for some inexplicable reasons you want to switch to 23mm? Why?
As for the goathead problem - I strongly suggest you switch to a tubeless setup. Then you don't have to worry about getting flats all the time.

OK. Now I get it. You want something faster. In that case a 32mm Continental GP5000 will for sure be faster than the 23mm Gatorback pumped up to 120psi.
There is a reason why the most of the Tour De France riders are riding on 28mm wide tires (and mostly tubeless at that). Nobody is riding on 23mm tires any more. Because the wider tire with lower pressure, has lower rolling resistance than the narrow rock hard tire. And keep in mind that these TdF riders are like 150-160lb.

beyerj

Great advise. I went do to my local shop and he was more than happy to trade them for some Continental 32's. Sooo much better than the 40s. Thanks again.

beyerj

Yes, I can definitely agree with that. The 32s are a very nice compromise.

tyrion

Lol, I'm a couch cushion aficionado.

smd4

Oh, you're not alone, of course. Lots of people here want bikes that look like Ferraris, but ride like Lincoln Town Cars.

Maelochs

Does the 700x23 work out as hard as the 700x40?