I’ll start off by mentioning that I’m talking about road bike tires and not for use on triathlon/TT.
When I first started cycling (which wasn’t as long ago as many of you) 19-21 mm tires were the norm and 23mm was considered a wide comfort tire. Then 23mm became the norm for a number of years. Then it seems like people stared gravitating to 25’s and greater. Now we’re at a point where two of the more venerable tire choices, Conti 5000 and Schwalbe Pro One, are offered at 32mm and 30mm. Noticing now that there are also a number of road rims out there with 25mm Internal width in order to better mate with these wide tires. And to think, I used to think about 10 years ago the Hed Belgium and Velocity A23 which were 23mm External were considered the new big thing.
So at some point are a majorly of people going to be riding 50mm slicks on their road bike? (assuming the bike had clearance and tire rime widths continues to grow). Or is there a point of diminishing returns. What would I be ‘losing’ by running a 30mm tire on a 25mm internal with vs 25mm tire on 21mm internal? Increased weight and decreased aerodynamics. But less rolling resistance with the wider setup? Any other issues width going as wide as possible? Or is the trend to go wider overkill at some point?
Thoughts?
Matt
When I first started cycling (which wasn’t as long ago as many of you) 19-21 mm tires were the norm and 23mm was considered a wide comfort tire. Then 23mm became the norm for a number of years. Then it seems like people stared gravitating to 25’s and greater. Now we’re at a point where two of the more venerable tire choices, Conti 5000 and Schwalbe Pro One, are offered at 32mm and 30mm. Noticing now that there are also a number of road rims out there with 25mm Internal width in order to better mate with these wide tires. And to think, I used to think about 10 years ago the Hed Belgium and Velocity A23 which were 23mm External were considered the new big thing.
So at some point are a majorly of people going to be riding 50mm slicks on their road bike? (assuming the bike had clearance and tire rime widths continues to grow). Or is there a point of diminishing returns. What would I be ‘losing’ by running a 30mm tire on a 25mm internal with vs 25mm tire on 21mm internal? Increased weight and decreased aerodynamics. But less rolling resistance with the wider setup? Any other issues width going as wide as possible? Or is the trend to go wider overkill at some point?
Thoughts?
Matt