Tire size for 180 lb rider

I'm 180 lbs (82kg). On good blacktop (tarmac) roads, is there any lower
limit on tire size below which I should generally avoid going? My gut
feeling is that I probably shouldn't go below about 21mm, but is there
any truth to that feeling? Or does it depend on the rim or another
factor I'm not considering? I know I need an appropriately sized rim
for whatever tire I use.

Disregard any ride comfort issues; for the purposes of this question,
I'm only concerned with tire and rim safety.

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In article ,
David Kerber wrote:
I'm 180 lbs (82kg). On good blacktop (tarmac) roads, is there any lower
limit on tire size below which I should generally avoid going? My gut
feeling is that I probably shouldn't go below about 21mm, but is there
any truth to that feeling? Or does it depend on the rim or another
factor I'm not considering? I know I need an appropriately sized rim
for whatever tire I use.

Disregard any ride comfort issues; for the purposes of this question,
I'm only concerned with tire and rim safety.

I suggest a 700x23 as the lower limit, and 25 probably a better choice,
but this does depend both on the amount of care you exercise while
riding and the conditions where you ride. Larger tires could make sense
for some conditions.

When it comes to rim safety, more air is pretty much always better so
you still have to make a personal decision about how much weight you
are willing to carry in exchange for longer rim life.

In article , cnhyf-
says...
In article ,
David Kerber wrote:
I'm 180 lbs (82kg). On good blacktop (tarmac) roads, is there any lower
limit on tire size below which I should generally avoid going? My gut
feeling is that I probably shouldn't go below about 21mm, but is there
any truth to that feeling? Or does it depend on the rim or another
factor I'm not considering? I know I need an appropriately sized rim
for whatever tire I use.

Disregard any ride comfort issues; for the purposes of this question,
I'm only concerned with tire and rim safety.

I suggest a 700x23 as the lower limit, and 25 probably a better choice,
but this does depend both on the amount of care you exercise while
riding and the conditions where you ride. Larger tires could make sense
for some conditions.

When it comes to rim safety, more air is pretty much always better so
you still have to make a personal decision about how much weight you
are willing to carry in exchange for longer rim life.

Thanks for the comments. I'm looking at some new wheels and tires for
fast training rides and racing, while keeping a separate set of
"everyday" wheels for club rides, commuting, etc. So tire and rim life
just from normal wear and tear aren't a major issue, but possible
catastrophic failure at speed is. This set would be for *good roads
only*.


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Remove the ns_ from if replying by e-mail (but keep posts in the
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"David Kerber" wrote in message
...
In article , cnhyf-
says...
In article ,
David Kerber wrote:
I'm 180 lbs (82kg). On good blacktop (tarmac) roads, is there any
lower
limit on tire size below which I should generally avoid going? My gut
feeling is that I probably shouldn't go below about 21mm, but is there
any truth to that feeling? Or does it depend on the rim or another
factor I'm not considering? I know I need an appropriately sized rim
for whatever tire I use.

Disregard any ride comfort issues; for the purposes of this question,
I'm only concerned with tire and rim safety.

I suggest a 700x23 as the lower limit, and 25 probably a better choice,
but this does depend both on the amount of care you exercise while
riding and the conditions where you ride. Larger tires could make sense
for some conditions.

When it comes to rim safety, more air is pretty much always better so
you still have to make a personal decision about how much weight you
are willing to carry in exchange for longer rim life.

Thanks for the comments. I'm looking at some new wheels and tires for
fast training rides and racing, while keeping a separate set of
"everyday" wheels for club rides, commuting, etc. So tire and rim life
just from normal wear and tear aren't a major issue, but possible
catastrophic failure at speed is. This set would be for *good roads
only*.


Well, if you are only going to ride these on good roads and have another
set, then 21 is a good choice IMHO. I have had a 20 and a 19 on a bicycle
and was ok with them and I weighed 200 at the time. I did get flats now and
again, but the roads around here are terrible and I had 20 pounds on you.

I think 21's would be fine for the use you are talking about.
Curt

In article ,
David Kerber wrote:

Thanks for the comments. I'm looking at some new wheels and tires for
fast training rides and racing, while keeping a separate set of
"everyday" wheels for club rides, commuting, etc. So tire and rim life
just from normal wear and tear aren't a major issue, but possible
catastrophic failure at speed is. This set would be for *good roads
only*.

Well if you care about going fast then the 700x23 is still good, apparently
the very small tire sizes actually have more rolling resistance.

I have been pretty happy with Michelin and it's easy to find them
at deep discounts. I use the Axial Carbon as a training tire and
have the Pro Race on a set of light wheels I use occasionally. Michelin
casings seem tough and stiff to me compared to most other high end
tires which is both good and bad.

I rode many of the Continental tires and find the tread lasts
well for me, harder tread to cut than the Michelins.

I went through Vredestein Fortezza Tri-Comps very quickly as they
cut easily and developed longitudinal cracks between the different
sections of tread... duh! The casing is also wimpy compared to
Michelin, rides nice for 500 miles.

I like Avocets but they are virtually impossible to find at
bike shops.

I recently tried the Trek Bontrager Race Lite tires and found
they also cut easily and did not get many miles from them.

I took a Kenda Koncept on a century ride because I had a piece of
wire embedded in my regular tire that I was having trouble extracting.
The Kenda was a one-ride tire, blew a 2" gash right down the middle of
the tread. Never saw what was stuck in it. They are surprisingly light
and cheap.

On Fri, 14 May 2004 20:31:57 +0000, Paul Southworth wrote:

Well if you care about going fast then the 700x23 is still good, apparently
the very small tire sizes actually have more rolling resistance.

Yep, there's quite a bit of info on this, have a google, it's rather
interesting.

I'm assuming you want the skinniest tire you can run safely because of a
desire for speed and low resistance? Wouldn't you want to ride something a
little fatter IF it didn't slow you down? I would, and do. I'm the same
weight as you and usually ride 25s--I'm not saying that's what you should
ride--but personally, they feel just as fast as 20s, but I have a little
more comfort and pinch flat insurance.

You should look into researching what the actual resistance is on
different makes of tires-- once you're in the sub 28mm category, width is
not the biggest factor, design is. From what I've garnered, what causes
resistance is tread "squirm" and sidewall stiffness. So with that logic, a
very supple tire with a high thread count and smoothish tread would be
good. That's why tubulars kicked clincher's butts for many
years--suppleness=fast.

As far as brand, don't ask me, I'm a cheapskate and ride 10-dollar Nashbar
Kevlar belt trainers. Not bad at all for the buck, and when you cut
one, you toss it without tears.

Happy exploring!

What is the deal...ride 15,000 a year? Less? Conti GP 3000 23's seem the
best from my perspective.


"maxo" wrote in message
news
On Fri, 14 May 2004 20:31:57 +0000, Paul Southworth wrote:

Well if you care about going fast then the 700x23 is still good,
apparently
the very small tire sizes actually have more rolling resistance.

Yep, there's quite a bit of info on this, have a google, it's rather
interesting.

I'm assuming you want the skinniest tire you can run safely because of a
desire for speed and low resistance? Wouldn't you want to ride something a
little fatter IF it didn't slow you down? I would, and do. I'm the same
weight as you and usually ride 25s--I'm not saying that's what you should
ride--but personally, they feel just as fast as 20s, but I have a little
more comfort and pinch flat insurance.

You should look into researching what the actual resistance is on
different makes of tires-- once you're in the sub 28mm category, width is
not the biggest factor, design is. From what I've garnered, what causes
resistance is tread "squirm" and sidewall stiffness. So with that logic, a
very supple tire with a high thread count and smoothish tread would be
good. That's why tubulars kicked clincher's butts for many
years--suppleness=fast.

As far as brand, don't ask me, I'm a cheapskate and ride 10-dollar Nashbar
Kevlar belt trainers. Not bad at all for the buck, and when you cut
one, you toss it without tears.

Happy exploring!

On Fri, 14 May 2004 15:49:51 -0700, Bartow W. Riggs wrote:

Conti GP 3000 23's seem the
best from my perspective.

Why?

In article ,
says...
On Fri, 14 May 2004 20:31:57 +0000, Paul Southworth wrote:

Well if you care about going fast then the 700x23 is still good, apparently
the very small tire sizes actually have more rolling resistance.

Yep, there's quite a bit of info on this, have a google, it's rather
interesting.

I'm assuming you want the skinniest tire you can run safely because of a
desire for speed and low resistance? Wouldn't you want to ride something a
little fatter IF it didn't slow you down? I would, and do. I'm the same

Absolutely; I want the one which will help me go the fastest. I was
assuming that a smaller tire at a higher pressure would have lower
resistance than the 25's I'm running right now, which I set up to 120
psi for races (lower for every day).

I am aware that a smaller tire at the same pressure will hurt the
rolling resistance, not help it.


weight as you and usually ride 25s--I'm not saying that's what you should
ride--but personally, they feel just as fast as 20s, but I have a little
more comfort and pinch flat insurance.

You should look into researching what the actual resistance is on
different makes of tires-- once you're in the sub 28mm category, width is
not the biggest factor, design is. From what I've garnered, what causes
resistance is tread "squirm" and sidewall stiffness. So with that logic, a
very supple tire with a high thread count and smoothish tread would be
good. That's why tubulars kicked clincher's butts for many
years--suppleness=fast.

As far as brand, don't ask me, I'm a cheapskate and ride 10-dollar Nashbar
Kevlar belt trainers. Not bad at all for the buck, and when you cut
one, you toss it without tears.

Happy exploring!


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Dave Kerber
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In article ,
says...
What is the deal...ride 15,000 a year? Less? Conti GP 3000 23's seem the
best from my perspective.

Less, approx 3k/yr. I've seen an awful lot of people recommend those
tires, but I haven't tried them yet.

.....

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Dave Kerber
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REAL programmers write self-modifying code.