I have a road bike with tires 700x28. A few people have mentioned that if I change the tires to 700x23 I can gain a couple or so mph on my average. Is this true? If I reduce the width of the tire I can gain some speed? Also, if I do that would I have to change my rings as well to fit the 23 mm tire?
This Site Might Help You. RE: compare 700x28 vs 700x23 tires? I have a road bike with tires 700x28. A few people have mentioned that if I change the tires to 700x23 I can gain a couple or so mph on my average. Is this true? If I reduce the width of the tire I can gain some speed? Also, if I do that would I have to change my rings as well to fit the 23 mm tire?
The best way to know what the problem is, is to hook a scan tool to your vehicle to see what sensor or sensors are not working properly. Run a diagnostic on ABS system will driving your vehicle to see what readings you are getting from your sensors. Once you know which ones are not working properly, check wiring and sensor(or sensors) replace sensor or repair wiring. Most sensors are easy to replace which have a wiring harness plug and one mounting bolt. You may have to remove the tire(or tires) to fix your problem. If you remove tires use jack stand to hold vehicle up safely, don't trust the jack to hold it up.
700 x 28 tires can be run at lower pressure to provide a smoother ride. If you often ride on rough roads wider tires can actually be faster. The difference in width between 23 and 28 mm is not very much, and individual variations between tire makes can mean that the difference is even less. Tire construction and the pressure you run in your tire will make more difference than tire width. Narrower tires will be slightly lighter, but they can actually have more rolling resistance than wider tires. If your 28 mm tires are lower end, heavy models, switching to a set of lightweight 23 mm tires will make a difference, but if your 28 mm tires are really good quality, you might not feel any improvement. The biggest advantage to 23 mm tires is that there is a much wider selection of high quality tires available
I ride 700x25. I think that there are many more factors involved in the decision to change tire size than a couple of MPH on your average speed. Also, other, unrelated factors may have greater influence on your average speed. If the issue is whether you can find a faster racing tire for competition events, then your question rises to the level of experts and you should be spending a lot of money on the lightweight racing treads. However, more likely you are concerned about everyday performance. The way that I addressed similar issues because I ascend 500 vertical feet to my home every night after work is that I bought slightly slower, heavier tires that are thorn-resistant, Schwalbe Marathon Plus, because I could not afford to be late for work on account of a flat tire. Counting the five flat tires that I encountered with racing tires, my average speed plummeted and could have cost me hundreds of dollars in bonus money for tardiness in my workplace if I had not switched to more durable tires. I have lowered my flat tire incidents to zero with the better touring tires. As far as tire weight is concerned, I always believed that I can take a few pounds off my waist more easily than stripping my bicycle of tires, headlamps, emergency gear, or trading-in on a lighter, more-expensive bike frame.
