At 225 pounds, and often carrying things on the bike, I find that anything less than 35mm is just too narrow for me. Funny, because a few years ago when I weighed 300 pounds, a Bianchi Volpe with Vittoria Randonneur 700x32 tires was just fine.
Can tires be too big? With my limited experience it's bike dependent. My Sam Hillborne doesn't seem to like 700x40 Marathon Supremes as well as 700x35 Pasela TGs. However, with non-Rivendell bikes, the Salsa Fargo seems to be really happy with the WTB Vulpine 2.1s which I ride both on and off pavement. The only limitations there are the rider. For a bike such as the Surly LHT in the larger size with 26" wheels have discovered that two inch wide tires are pretty much a "sweet spot" in handling. For winter, 1.75s studded tires work, but the handling and ride characteristics are not as nice. When I had the Atlantis, the bike just loved Big Apple 2.0s. Eric Platt St. Paul, MN On Jan 28, 2:03 pm, Jan Heine <hein...@earthlink.net> wrote: > running 35-622 Vittoria Randonneur Pro's that measure > > > around 34 mm on my rims. The extra width didn't give me significantly > > more comfort on pavement > > Talking about tire size makes sense only when comparing similar > casings. Given a choice between a harsh-riding 35 mm tire (like most > Schwalbes) and a 24 mm hand-made clincher like the now-gone Challenge > Triathlon, I'll prefer the racing tire any day. We have found that > casing and construction have a much greater effect on comfort and > performance than tire width. Once you compare apples to apples, the > wider tires obviously have more air and thus can run at lower > pressures without degrading performance or risking pinch-flats. > > If you live in a place with glass-smooth roads or ride on the track > mostly, you probably get very few benefits beyond 25 or 28 mm width. > However, there are few disadvantages until you reach about 42 mm (when > it becomes hard to make a bike with narrow crank tread/Q factor), so > why not go a bit wider, for the day when the road has been chipsealed > or you go on that trail where roots have pushed up the pavement? > > Of course, I live in Seattle, where the roads and trails are so bumpy > that even 32 mm tires feel awfully narrow. And then you have streetcar > and railroad tracks. Even if you know how to bunny-hop them, it's nice > not having to worry about them. > > Jan Heine > Editor > Bicycle Quarterly > > Follow our blog athttp://janheine.wordpress.com/ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
