I think that certain frames handle and “feel” better with narrower tires. As I described earlier, my 1999 Riv Road custom handles more nimbly and at least “feels” easier to pedal — to maintain a given cadence in a given gear in given conditions — with 175 gram 28 mm Elk Pass tires than with the also excellent 300 gram 42 mm Naches Pass ELs. The NPs “mute” the handling and “feel” hard to accelerate and even to maintain steady state speed — over and over again during the 25 years I’ve owned the Riv, it has just seemed more nimble and easier to push a given gear than with other bikes.
So many things come together to create such sensations, but the sensations have been consistent over the years. On Sun, May 11, 2025 at 8:49 PM Jason Fuller <[email protected]> wrote: > I know people who don't like the feel of wider tires but I can't > understand it. The narrowest tire I'm interested in running these days is > 40mm and even then I don't think the trade off makes sense. If I were > racing, or trying to hang with fitter riders than I on club rides, maybe. > I had been running the Sam as my drop bar bike with Babyshoe Pass or > Pumpkin Ridge (both measuring around 40mm) but recently swapped the drop > bars to my Bombadil on 48mm tires and the difference is significant in > terms of how I can ride the bike (ie hopping curbs, hitting sections of > rooty or rocky trail, or bad pavement) but negligible in terms of how fast > I am going. The payoff is clear for me. Above 48mm I think there are > quickly diminishing returns though, particularly because running any lower > pressure (I run my 48mm around 28-30 psi) will result in poor feel on > pavement anyway. > > Definitely agree with trying things out as the opportunities present > themselves, but don't fall prey to this idea that you need narrow tires to > be fast on pavement. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgtwhR1rfDswzZ02-oW5xK0ahFodVfEY4NXj47DQr%3D-s4A%40mail.gmail.com.
