07-25-2018, 09:19 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-25-2018, 09:20 AM by danbrotherston.)
(07-25-2018, 08:31 AM)jamincan Wrote: There's a common misconception that skinny tires at high pressure are more efficient. This is only true on a smooth surface like a track. Anything rougher than that, the new consensus is that you are better off running at lower pressures with wider tires. Most World Tour teams now run on 25mm tires universally, and even wider (up to 30mm) in certain races like Paris-Roubaix where they are dealing with even rougher surfaces.
The benefits seem to be two-fold. First of all, with lower tire pressures, the bike is able to travel more smoothly over the surface due to flex in the tire. This means less energy is wasted in vertical motion of the bike and more of it is directed to horizontal motion. The second benefit is that the increased comfort for the rider means less energy wasted gripping the bars, engaging the core, etc. over the rough terrain and more can be directed toward pedaling. From direct experience, I can say that the second factor is considerable, but difficult to quantify.
Lol, I think some may have different definitions of "skinny" vs. "wide" tires. For me, 28c tires are skinny, 38c tires are wide (those are the two sizes of tires I ride frequently).
That being said, it depends on where you ride. Even our smooth MUTs have so many curbs and such which make them unpleasant to ride on. On the other hand, if you go bombing down Ira Needles you can do like 5 km without a bump. I used to do the latter a great deal more.