Tyres are everything says James Spender So why do so many of us do them so badly?
Like a Catholic repenting their sins, tyres are your one way to cycling heaven.
They are the only parts of your bike (we hope, genuflect) that touch the road. They roll, grip and cushion.
They underpin how well your bike rides.
Admittedly a slow bike shalt not be made fast by tyres alone, but even a thoroughbred will feel like a sluggish old nag with a poor tyre setup.
And looking around at so many bikes on the road, I reckon many are simply doing it wrong.
Puncture dreams
The most important function of a tyre is to hold air, so therefore the best tyres are the most puncture-resistant, right? It’s a logical notion, and it’s why I spent a long time riding Continental Gatorskins.
But while Gators are fi ne tyres for a zippy commute, such tyres are selling your race bike short.
A 25mm weighs a claimed 240g and has 20.2 watts rolling resistance – so says bicyclerollingresistance.com.
A 25mm Continental GP 5000 TR, by contrast, weighs 250g and has 9.3 watts RR. It is also pretty ‘puncture resistant’ in its own right.
But wait, it’s 10g more.
But wait again, it’s tubeless…
Use what you’re given
Tubeless, again much like God or KITT from Knight Rider, is all around you.
It came on your new bike. Check the sidewalls.
But brands don’t like sending you a tubeless setup bike – it takes longer to build, time is money, so your tubeless-ready wheels and tyres shipped with inner tubes.
So what are you waiting for? Spend a few quid on tubeless tape, valves and sealant (which might have even shipped with your bike), get a YouTube tutorial and convert those mothers.
First, tubeless tyres with tubes feel awful – unsupple and heavy.
Second, tubeless tyres feel great. They roll faster – a tube-type GP5000 has 10.7 watts RR – they’re often more supple, and flexible tyres grip better.
Then third, I refer you to the puncture discussion above.
The number of would-be ridehalting cuts in my tubeless tyres that didn’t end up halting the ride due to the sealant is mind-boggling.
I reckon I should have needed to change at least eight tubes this winter, but I didn’t.
Wide guys
So many people stick with the tyres their bike comes with, then replace like for like.
Which makes sense; you wouldn’t fit JCB tyres to your Toyota Yaris.
But even a decade-old frame likely has space for 28mm tyres unless it is a Colnago, while newer frames will fit 32mm or even 35mm.
OK, 35mm is too much for a race bike, 32mm is on the cusp.
But trust me, a 30mm tyre on a 23mm internal width rim makes everything so plush, so grippy, so fast.
Wide, low-pressure tyres are scientifically faster on the sort of road surfaces we call home, and that’s accounting for drag and weight.
Air time
This one is free: pressure.
Zipp’s online tyre pressure calculator says a 78kg rider on 25mm tubed tyres mounted on 19mm internal width rims should run tyres at 80psi front, 85psi rear (lower in the wet).
I bet your 25mm tyres are at least 10psi more than that.
The result? A slower bike, as overly hard tyres on bumpy ground make a bike bounce, which means precious energy lost.
Even more counterintuitively, 30mm tubeless tyres on 23mm rims need only 59psi front, 63psi rear. Let your tyres down now!
Pays ya money
I’m asking a lot, but just buying more expensive tyres than your bike came with will really make a difference.
Unlike a helmet or bibshorts, pricier tyres are 99% of the time much better tyres.
They will have a higher thread count so will be more supple, ride smoother and corner better.
The tread compound will be more advanced, grippier yet still robust.
They will be lighter. Yes, a Vittoria Corsa Pro tyre will cost you $145 RRP. For one.
But how much was your bike? Why spend so much then fall at the last hurdle? Spending less than 10% of your bike’s value to release so much potential and cycling joy is worth every cent.
So do it, spend as much as you can on tyres, go as wide as you can, get tubeless, get low pressure, get better.
I promise you good tyres set up properly are the biggest bang for your cycling buck.
And bad tyres set up poorly? You’re letting your bike down, you’re letting yourself down.
James Spender
As a child James spent most evenings taking his bike apart in his parents’ hallway for no other reason than to put it back together again He’s still the same in the office.
