Zilla said:Dumb question (but I'm an engineer and learned
in school that there are no dumb questions).
I have 700x23's on my road bike now, and saw
the same brand on sale at Performance, but
700x25. Any overwhelming reason why I can't
use these? I know my frame will take the extra
2mm. I ride for fun and excercise so I don't care
about the extra rolling resistance the 2mm may
give.
Dear Zilla,
It's unlikely that you could even tell the difference in wind drag,
rolling resistance, or rotating mass just by riding them. Even with a
stop watch, you'd need a lot of runs on calm mornings on the same
course.
Technically, there is indeed a slight performance loss, but it may
well be outweighed by the ability to lower the tire pressure slightly
and stil have a comfortable ride.
In practical terms, the real slowdown would be due to the slightly
increased number of flat tires.
In the long run, a slightly wider tire will run over slightly more
glass, thorns, wires, flints, and so forth. The only time that I wish
that I was running skinnier tires is when I see a goathead whirling
around on the sidewall of my 7000x26 tires.
Cheers,
Carl Fogel