Had a road race bike now for 4 weeks. I purchased upgraded wheels to mavics and they came with 23c tires as standard. I commUte to work on it as well as Sunday rides. Someone told me to have a go with 25c because of the comfort factor and able to run with lower psi. Got some on the way from CRC but not sure if I’ve wasted my money. The tires my mavics came with are £70 a pair and seems a waste to take them off.

No.
Pressure’s the key.

Pressure is important but so is high TPI carcass deformation plus rim width and it effect on tyre shape.
A quality 23c on a wide rim will probably ride better than a cheap 25 on a narrow rim (both with ideal pressure for size and weight of rider)

Ordered these

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vittoria-rubino-pro-road-bike-tyre/rp-prod31765

And taking off these and using the rims.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/vittoria-rubino-pro-road-bike-tyre/rp-prod31765

I was in the ops shoes.

Merlin have conti GT 25c on 20quid special offer. Worth the ‘risk’.

Perfect

I run a 23 on the front and a 25 on the back

I think it makes it more comfortable with the 25 on the back

I seem to remember some people who actually know what they are doing also have this system!

comfort on a road bike is made up of many elements (tyres, pressure, wheels, frame, fit), I’ve used 23s and 25s and the difference is a feel for the grip, the 25s at the right pressure for you feels more planted on the road

comfort on a road bike is made up of many elements (tyres, pressure, wheels, frame, fit),

Good advice. I use 23c tyres on 32 spoke wheels, and they aremore ‘comfortable’ than 25’28cs on some 16/20 spoke wheels I tried. An faster.

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/commuting/article/ww-Wise-Words—Tyres-0

I enquired about this via a stem/bar question a couple of weeks back.

I was advised by the STW massive to tweak riding position and play with tyre pressures.

A 1 1/2 degree rotation of the bars and a drop in tyre pressure have resulted in a noticably more comfortable ride.

For the record I am 90 odd kilos and have 23mm tyres, I dropped from 100psi front and 110psi rear to 85psi front and 95psi rear.

Have switched to 25mm from 23mm. Like for like. No other changes. Massive difference in comfort. No longer wince in anticipation of every bump in the road. Being a ‘lady’ may highten importance of this?!

I tried switching from 23 to 25 and could not tell them apart my frame was a little tight with 25 so just changed back.
Oddly went tubless and it now feels harsher

I’ve moved to 25s on both my road bikes. I noticed a small difference in comfort for the better, but the main difference is that 25s do feel more planted and the bikes corner better. I’m not sufficiently scientific to know if other factors are involved, but that is my lay assessment.

If I’ve got to change tyres anyway, I guess there’s no reason to stay on 23’s as opposed to swap to 25’s? Casual / training rides around the Mendips, lots of crappy roads.

narrower = lighter, that is IMO the only reason and outweighed by comfort (at lower pressure).

switched from Specialized Turbo Elite 23c to Specialized SW Turbo in 26c

the 26c runs at a higher pressure (120psi) as its the S-Works tire, whereas the previous tire ran around 100-110psi

the new tire is definitely more comfortable on the same roads, its a much higher volume tire and feels substantially quicker (which is probably the new casing and compound rather than just the bigger tire

I also had the previous 2 generations of SW Turbo tires in 23C as a further comparison, and both felt harsh on the same roads

I noticed they offer this new SW tire in only 24c and 26c and its aimed at professional road racing

from what I’ve read the bigger tire are faster, which goes against the old thinking of narrow tire = faster

but once you go over 26c aerodynamics start to negate the advantages of lower rolling resistance that bigger volume tires provide

When I went from 23 to 25 on my Sempre I felt there was an improvement in comfort with the wider tyre. Both tyres were 4000s

Not much in it in terms of comfort with an identical tyre in 23 or 25mm, but I prefer the extra grip from 25mm, but I am wuss going downhill anyway.

Been intrigued by this one for a while…

I noticed a small difference in comfort for the better, but the main difference is that 25s do feel more planted

More planted? Really?
Does 2mm REALLY make that much/any difference?
Genuine question – as pointed out elsewhere surely it’s more about pressure as the volume or contact patch on the road must be virtually identical between 23 and 25, or maybe I’m completely wrong…

Rascal – Have you seen a 23c and 25c in the same tyre model?

There’s a surprisingly large volume difference for the stated 2mm (in Michelins anyway).

Makes the crucial difference that allows me to not worry too much about potholes etc – and I really like the extra rubber for cornering.

http://janheine.wordpress.com/2013/05/23/tire-width-how-much-difference-do-a-few-millimeters-make/

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/learn/25-vs-23

Thanks for the science bit – will read when I get a chance.
Like I said, it was a genuine question not a wind-up 🙂

That’s quite interesting, (Macavities link)

In purely numbers terms this came as quite a shock:

“That’s part of the beauty of the wider tire. You can run it at lower air pressure, and it feels softer and gives you more comfort. When you race, you just pump it up a little more. If you go by the numbers in the lab, if you have a 19mm tubular tire and a 25mm tubular both ridden at 9 bars in a 40km time trial, you would win with the 25mm tires by 50 seconds. That’s all just from the reduction in rolling resistance. “

I’ve gone from 25mm tyres to 35mm! Mainly for comfort but also because the back roads I use are in a horrendous condition. I’ve not lost any speed, but comfort is massively improved, and i can keep pedalling rather than riding out holes/cracks in the road. Not a size option for a regular road bike i admit, but go as fat as you can!

rascal – Member

Been intrigued by this one for a while…
I noticed a small difference in comfort for the better, but the main difference is that 25s do feel more planted

More planted? Really?
Does 2mm REALLY make that much/any difference?
Genuine question – as pointed out elsewhere surely it’s more about pressure as the volume or contact patch on the road must be virtually identical between 23 and 25, or maybe I’m completely wrong…[/quote]

I think it’s psychological. I’ve been challenging folk who come out with this recently and no one has convinced me. How do you know the level of grip? By exceeding it!

Comfort (at lower pressure) is significant, and it must mean more grip, but I don’t know how much!