AdelaaR

"dont" isn't a word and "black" isn't a color ... in fact it is exactly the opposite and the absence of it.

bianchi10

Nobody said black was a color. He said he was stuck with some color on his bike and might as well get some colored tires to match the rest of his bike. I said they make all black tires now, but never made mention that black colored tires were the way to go

Biscayne05

How long have you been running this combo and how long does the rear wear out compared to the front?

I'm due for a new set in June/July and I took advantage of the 4000S deal @ PBK. Bought a 23/25 set. I looked at the Attack/Force combo but it seemed to be they're more aimed for race day.

rjones28 

25mm Serfas Seca RS

-what bike you ridea: Old steel Schwinn

-what wheels you have: Mavic MA40

-what tubes you are using: Whatever butyl tubes the sell at my LBS.

Soloist Assassin

I punctured my rear tubie on my race wheels. That's when I first tried it middle of last summer. I really liked it. I had to send my clincher training wheels out to get new bearings pressed in, and have them serviced soon after, and I rode the tubies for more than usual. The wear seems fine so far. I am sure the rear will still wear out faster than the front, but it should be better than if both were 23's from what I've gathered. I then wore out my tires on my clinchers, and I went with the same 23/25 combo on those as well. I really like the ride of the bigger back tire. It doesn't seem any faster, or slower than using a 23 on the back, but it does ride better. That alone is worth it to me, especially on poor road conditions. The bigger tire is less likely to pinch flat as well.

Just for reference, my tire of choice is Vittoria Evo CX, which is available in both the clincher (open) version, and as a tubie.

Psimet2001 

This just in....

I just checked and everyone I know and sponsor has exactly the same win/loss ratio on 23's as they have on 25's.

Turns out the same goes for wide rims.

calamarichris

Just another half-@$$ed empirical observation from a 180-pound Conti fan.
Put 25 4000s on my steel-framed, 32-spoke, 19mm Velocity Fusion recovery-day/cruiser bike, to run lower pressures and get a less-harsh ride. Noticeably cushier than 23s @ 120psi, (but it never occurred to me to try running the 23's at a lower psi. ) Still running 23s on all my 22.1mm Dura Ace C24 wheels (which are already supercushy.)

Both comfort-wise and traction-wise, the difference between 23's and 25's is not as noticeable as the difference between the Gatorskins and the 4000s IMO.
I no longer use Gatorskins on the road, only on my indoor trainer wheels.

Commodus

I always use the largest tire possible.

Drew Eckhardt 

This depends more on how much you weigh. At 150 pounds you can run 23mm tires under 90psi front and rear which is about where you don't notice rolling resistance problems and they make for a nice ride. Approaching 200 pounds that invites pinch flats on problem roads although 25mm tires are still OK.

With middle aged spread I like 25mm tires which I can start at 90-95psi front and 95-100 psi rear and ride for over a week without worrying about pinch flats. At my 145 pound racing weight 23mm was great.

AdelaaR

They all kept statistics on that?
It makes sense since the terrain and the weather conditions are the deciding factors that make certain gear combinations better than others under those circumstances and even then the main deciding factor remains the rider and especially his mental condition at the time of the race.

Psimet2001 

Essentially...yes. Every racer that won a particular race on 23's won it also the next year on 25's. Every rider that lost a particular race on 23's also lost it the next year on 25's.

NRZ

-what bike you ride - Cannondale Caad9
-what wheels you have - Mavic Krysium Elites
-what tubes you are using - LBS stock
-Preference between the 2 tire sizes or pros/cons? I ran 4 pairs of tires at 23 (Pro4, training tire, stock Vitt's and Schwalbe Ultremo ZX's) and switched when the Pro4's needed to be replaced with something asap and found the 25c's at the LBS. I had been thinking about them and went ahead with it going into winter I figured it was the best time to try it out. I feel no negatives only positives in my decision. The ride is better (195 pounds, 5' 10") running 100 PSI and smoother. No loss in speed.

And seriously, 45 grams, time to build a bridge and get over that weight difference. Blow your nose before you ride, problem solved.

bianchi10

I wouldn't expect someone such as yourself who obviously isn't concerned in the least bit what their bike weighs to understand. I NEVER cared about weight. I never cared about cutting weight. over the summer of 2012 I came across weightwennies.com from a couple other members on this forum. I checked out a couple things there and just figured every person on that forum was crazy and stupid and had nothing better to do with their time and/or money. First I was just scanning through pages of hotness and then later I started reading what these people were doing to their bikes. One afternoon, my wife and kids were gone and I was bored. I made a chart with all my parts and what they weighed in at. (At this point most pieces were fairly stock) I then started making a list of items that I was planning on replacing anyway and researching the weight of those items. I quickly started to see that I could really reduce the weight of my bike just from the purchasing the items I wanted to replace anway. I started swapping out items on my bike while watching how each piece had an effect on the total weight. Its addicting. Once you start paying attention to how much parts weigh, its hard to not to have it be a factor in your decisions when you upgrade items. Will 45g make me faster???.....absolutely not and I am totally aware of that. That is not why I try to lighten my bike. I do what I can to lighten my bike because it is simply something I want to do. It is fun. I don't make a ton of money so I take baby steps and buy my parts in pieces when i can. 45g is nothing to someone who isn't involved with trying to drop weight on their bike, but 45g can become a big deal when you have done all the big obvious things.

Like I said, I wouldn't expect you to understand unless you understood.

zonatandem

25s on both our tandem and racing single for the past 10 years.
The bikes are both ZONA custom built carbon fiber.
Brand of tires: Maxxis Re-Fuse; folding Kevlar bead and Aramid layer to fend off punctures.
25s ride a tiny bit cushier than 23s. We run 120 PSI.
In 2011 we had ONE flat in 5,400 miles. 4 flats in 2012 in 5,200 miles.
Our weight is 135 for the pilot and 103 for the stoker.
At ages 80 and 77 we are no longer weight weenies . . .

Pedal on!
Rudy and Kay/zonatandem

StephenH

32's on a Raleigh Sojourn.

NRZ

Ok.

sced

Norman Bates has been found.

canam73

But maybe they were like way more comfy while doing it....like a girl snuggled in a blanket reading an Anne Rice novel.