Originally Posted by
RedRockRider
Garcia, subjectively, I do think there is a bit more rolling resistance, but it is hard to tell if this is in my head or not, lol. The comfort, however, especially when going over rough or old pavement, is very easy to tell a difference, and on a 30-40 mile ride I feel less "beat up".
Hard to quantify the difference in tires, because I only kept one road bike, and it is a sub 17 lb carbon ride. It wears a 25 in the front, and I was able to shoehorn a 28 in the back, with about 1-2mm clearance to the frame, but they are still relatively lightweight road tires (Schwalbe Ultremos).
The Ti Century is about 5 lbs heavier, also, and less aerodynamic position, so on the same ride, I would say I average 2-3mph slower. I prefer the Ti Century on most of my solo rides, and usually only pull out the lightweight carbon bike when riding in a group, and want every advantage in terms of keeping up.
These are the 38's I put on. Really like Schwalbe tires, I have a set of 28c Marathons on my hybrid also. Killer deal at Jenson:
Schwalbe Marathon Racer 700C Tire > Components > Tires > Pavement Tires | Jenson USA
I am in the same boat as you, my road bike is a Scott CR1 Elite and I think, around 16.5-17 lbs. On it, I run 23mm Continental 4000s IIs, so I feel fast and my speedometer and GPS says so, relative to the Century Ti.
On my daily commute, I'm using the Century Ti, with Zipp Course 30 wheels and 28 mm Continental 4000s IIs. My speedometer and GPS says I'm nearly pushing the same speed, just miss the acceleration from a red light
Once up to speed, it's mostly battling air resistance any way.
Oh with the upgraded wheels and tires, the bike now weighs 20.4 lbs. On weekends, I swap on the factory tires with some knobbier tires to take on trails.
https://goo.gl/photos/vr9yrApyNwMmr4my5
I think I need to angle my handlebar down a bit
but the hassle of re-doing the handlebar tape is keeping me from doing that.