Fat Tires...Skinny Tires?

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sprucemoose

sprucemoose

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My natural impulse is to put the biggest tires I can find on my bikes--balloon tires are aces. But in terms of speed on a bike you're looking for less tire to road surface area. I road my brother-in-law's road bike and it was like floating on the road and fast as all get-out. The tires on that bike were pencil thin (not to mention it weighed as much as my handlebars). So I went out and got the skinniest tires I could for my 'vette--these are 26 X 1.25--the skinniest tires I've had on any bike ever:

nearly_3.jpg


I can't say I've notice any great improvement in the speed category, but I have noticed a stiffer ride (not really a bonus). Then I read this:

http://www.balloonbikes.com/en/die_vorteile/vorteil_3/

Balloon tires equal a smoother faster ride? :? What do you guys think?
 
Alot of what the Schwalbe site says is based on using their tires. The Big Apples and Fat Franks have a nice ride and not hard to pedal. Part of that is do to the profile/shape and the other part is the tread pattern. The closest to these is Felt's Quick Brick.
 
On a large geared bike the difference between a 1.5 road tire and a big tire is pretty noticable. On a 1-speed, you'ld need like a 48/16 set to go fast enough to notice. Everything changes once you drop your seat and/or leave the asphalt. P.S. VERY nice 'vette
 
deorman said:
On a large geared bike the difference between a 1.5 road tire and a big tire is pretty noticable. On a 1-speed, you'ld need like a 48/16 set to go fast enough to notice. Everything changes once you drop your seat and/or leave the asphalt. P.S. VERY nice 'vette
Click to expand...

thanks! :wink:

I went to skinny tires after replacing the old dented wheels and replacing the 2-speed hub with the 7-speed nexus--so I didn't setup a good control...
 
Sheldon Brown had discussed this at length, I'd recommend checking his site. On a road bike, aerodynamics are important and a skinny tyre has a smaller wind profile.
Not so important for us.
 
I would agree that a skinnier tire equals a faster ride, but in my experience it is easier to leave a brake skid mark with a fatter tire.
 
these are my fat franks. as you can see, theres not much of the tire that actually touches the ground. for the most part your riding on one line of tread. (2 when turning)

they are indeed a smooth, fast ride.
IMG_4726-1.jpg
 
What exact tire are you using?

I am of the opinion that the tire makes all the difference. On my wife's roadie we went from a 25mm Specialized slick to a 23mm Michelin Krylion Carbon and she swears its more comfy and faster (more efficient). I know this same Michelin is faster and more comfy that the junky kenda 23mm I replaced on my bike.

Maybe you just have a "slow" tire.

I have also notices that thorn resistant tubes seem to slow me down as well.
 
nice vette, man. i am partial to fatties, but i find that a little extra psi in the tires (to max) helps for bigger treads. i have a schwinn tempo at home with 700 x 23's or 25's. they were nice when i used to road race, but now with all the pot holes in this county, it stays parked.
 
icyuod2 said:
these are my fat franks. as you can see, theres not much of the tire that actually touches the ground. for the most part your riding on one line of tread. (2 when turning)

they are indeed a smooth, fast ride.
Click to expand...


Nice example that really gives a good visual of how the tire functions. I'm thinkin' maybe a pair of the brown fat frank's would tie in with my seat... :idea:
 
I think a lot of the rolling resistance depends on the rubber compound and the air pressure in the tire. I have been through a few different brands of slicks on my 'urban' mountain bike before I found a good, quick setup. I am currently running a set of Specialized Fatboy 26 x 1.25 @ 100 psi and they are amazingly smooth and fast. They are a little 'stiff' so a well-broken in Brooks is a must :)

Tioga City Slickers are a good set of tires with a decent rain tread and they come in 1.25, 1.5 & 1.95 widths.

http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_deta ... 4302693841
 
This is my wife's 1988 DB with Tioga City Slicker Gumwall 1.00's. This bike has an unbelieveably stiff ride. I am probably going to switch to the 1.5's as soon as I find the bluewall ones.
IMG_0045-1-1.jpg
 
i've always thought skinnier tires or higher pressure is certainly faster- IF you a lab technician and the tire is rolling on a metal drum. in the real world you have to weigh that against the loss of efficiency from bouncing around the road and fatigue from the rougher ride. also, 'maximum pressure' doesn't neccessarily mean 'recommended pressure'. years ago our continental rep was telling us how all the retired 7-11 team guys around boulder rode high end 700x28 conti's on their personal bikes. it sounded good to me, so i thought i'd try some. "oh, we don't import that tire to the u.s....." i guess u.s. marketing is firmly on the side of skinny=fast. i suppose it's just easier that way :? of course different brands run thin or wide despite the size on the tire. michelin road tires are known to run chubby- a 700x25 pro race easily equals a conti 28 in the width department!
 
sprucemoose said:
My natural impulse is to put the biggest tires I can find on my bikes--balloon tires are aces. But in terms of speed on a bike you're looking for less tire to road surface area. I road my brother-in-law's road bike and it was like floating on the road and fast as all get-out. The tires on that bike were pencil thin (not to mention it weighed as much as my handlebars). So I went out and got the skinniest tires I could for my 'vette--these are 26 X 1.25--the skinniest tires I've had on any bike ever:

nearly_3.jpg


I can't say I've notice any great improvement in the speed category, but I have noticed a stiffer ride (not really a bonus). Then I read this:

http://www.balloonbikes.com/en/die_vorteile/vorteil_3/

Balloon tires equal a smoother faster ride? :? What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
One problem is that these rims don't do real high pressure tires.On skinny tires,65lbs feels soft, on fatties it feels hard as a rock.
 
I was rolling through loose dirt and got a glimpse of how much tire was coming in contact with the road. Compare this to the picture of the Fat Franks. I would say there is easily twice the amount of tire to road contact. Really showing that a skinny tire only functions properly on skinny rims on the right bike.

tire_contact.jpg


icyuod2 said:
these are my fat franks. as you can see, theres not much of the tire that actually touches the ground. for the most part your riding on one line of tread. (2 when turning)

they are indeed a smooth, fast ride.
IMG_4726-1.jpg
Click to expand...
 
i like that bike and its set up to go fast cafe style with the dropped bars if u stay with the skinnys lose the fenders u can always put fattys on and the fenders back on or even half fenders with the skinny tires it almost looks like u need to lower the fenders or try some thinner ones just my 2 cents
 
On my cruiser i've gone from 2.5 rear, 2.0 front to 2.0 rear, 1.6 front, I prefer narrower tyres nowadays. On another bike I went from 1.8 + 1.75 to 1.35s, no problem. I love the look of cream fat franks and white with black sidewall Halos though.

Has anyone ever said at what width a regular becomes a balloon tyre?
 

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