23mm vs 25mm vs 28mm - lots of hill climbing and sprinting?

toprock · 7 May 2019 at 11:05

Morning Guys,

Looking to swap my gravel bike tyres out for a pure road wheel set.

Leaning towards 25mm or 28mm, from what i've read 28mm have less rolling resistance, and allow a lower more comfortable pressure without much penalty, but 25mm are lighter and more aero for most rims, and aero is king right?

MM-Seat · 7 May 2019 at 14:30

Personal opinion: if you can take the bigger tyre do it. Any losses/gains will be miniscule and I'd much rather be comfortable then fractionally quicker.

Shimmyhill · 7 May 2019 at 16:45

I’ve gone from 23mm to 25mm (new bike to be fair) but can’t see myself ever going back, they feel so much nicer to ride on as lower pressure with no noticeable downsides. A cycling mate rides on 28mm and loves those!

Shamrock · 7 May 2019 at 19:46

I quite like asymmetry sometimes.

Front 25mm for aero, rear 28mm for comfort. :cool:

#Chri5# · 8 May 2019 at 14:04

I've got 28mm on my new bike, run them tubeless at 75psi. Very happy with the setup.

There's a test comparing the sizes in GP5000 here:

https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/grand-prix-5000-comparison

kiteloopy · 8 May 2019 at 17:06

never going back to 23's.
Current 'race' bike has 25's and the winter has 28's.

I'd have 28's everywhere if I could.

Drollic · 9 May 2019 at 14:00

Unless you're intending to race or the roads around you are well kept, I'd go 28mm.

area51 · 12 May 2019 at 00:35

Depends also on the tyre as Vittoria open corsa CX's the 18's was like 20 odds and the 23's i used was like a 25mm rode lush more like a tubular than a clincher still have 3 brand new in there boxs when they ended making them.

DarkHorizon472 · 12 May 2019 at 08:00

My bike came with specialized roubaix tyres which have 25mm tread and 28mm case, the are very smooth on the roads compared to my old bike on smaller tyres. It really depends what you are trying to achieve.

{SAS}TB · 5 Jun 2019 at 22:22

Nice to read - I have a new gravel bike coming with 700x40c fitted and also splashed out on another wheelset for road riding and was going to go with 23mm (what I have on my current roadie) but a mate linked that comparison link and ended up going for 28mm tubeless GP5000