Before I start, a caveat. My adoration of 30mm+ road tyres hasn’t come about because of rolling-resistance tests, industry chatter, tyre company PR or data my colleague Simon von Bromley obsesses over. His history in time trialling and his disposition for data is something I admire. That, however, is not why I’m proclaiming that fat tyres are great.
I’m from an era when 23mm tyres were considered the fastest, 25mm were for the classics, 28mm were for touring bikes and anything above was definitely the domain of the European leisure cyclist.
But my preference for road bike tyres that are 30mm wide or wider – and I apologise to our global readership, because this is quite parochial – has come about because of the poor quality of UK roads. They have become simply dreadful.
More than 15 years of austerity has meant cutting and cutting again of the services that maintain our roads.
More dangerous than gravel?
It’s got to the point now where road rides feel, for me, more dangerous than a gravel or mountain bike ride. Potholes are everywhere, and the edges of the roads where we end up riding, despite the law, are simply treacherous.
It’s not only the potholes, however. The roads are generally scarred, cracked and uneven. They ride ‘heavy’ and a larger-volume tyre takes the edge off. When I use more slender tyres of 28mm or less (yes, I have a few bikes still running 25c) my ride is plagued by chatter and vibration, and I’ve even bounced off line when descending. Going bigger minimises this.
At least on a gravel road or trail, I expect the worst. On the road, even a simple puddle poses the question, how deep? Does it have a sharp drop into its middle and even worse a tall, sharp edge on the exit that will break my wheel?
Inevitably, that means swerving around the road to avoid puddles, annoying other road users and not having a great time.
Big-tyre bliss
I started experimenting with larger tyres a couple of years ago. I fitted a pair of 30mm Michelins to my Cannondale SuperSix Evo Gen 3. It was only 2mm more width than the 28s it had always run, but the difference in ride quality and smoothness was immense.
I got a bit more experimental when I worked with the Bike Tailor and Mosaic to create a custom superbike. Mosaic offered more generous clearances than my go-to, off-the-peg bike, so I opted for a 35mm Pirelli tyre. The combination of smoothness, comfort and grip was immense.
We can currently fit our bikes with the 38mm Schwalbe Pro One tyre, the Pirelli P Zero Race TLR 40, and a wider Continental GP5000 is on its way.
The only downside is, who has a bike to support these widths?
I’m not sure tyres this wide are always better, but the lousy, beat-up and neglected roads I endure daily could spur me to buy a new road bike that has enough tyre clearance to fit them. Obviously, that's not ideal, I love my current bikes and I don’t want to make such a big investment to feel safer cycling on the road.
Finding a solution
Having said all this, I might have found the happy medium. I recently built a new bike from British upstart brand Black Series. I wanted the bike to be swift and a great blend between race and endurance. I was fitted to it and it was built down with Dorset-based bike fitter Neil at Fit To Ride.
When it came to tyres, Neil recommended Tufo’s in-between size, a 32mm Comtura Prima tubeless tyre, and I’ve been impressed.
Usually, when you talk about larger tyres, the push back is weight. These weigh 254.9g on my scales, so lighter than the legendary Continental GP5000 S TR in a 28mm (280g).
Yes, they do have a lightweight casing, but I’d counter that the comfort enabled by running lower pressures means more compliance over crappy surfaces. So, fewer cuts and piercings from sharp edges. I’m not sure (and don't care) what their rolling resistance is (I’m sure Simon will fill us in, in the comments), but they feel plenty fast enough for me.
I don’t know yet how well they will wear. I’ve only ridden them a couple of hundred miles, albeit on crummy roads and they still look good.
What I would say, however, is if like me you live and ride on rural roads with deteriorating quality, then you should step up your tyre width to suit. Hopefully your bike can fit them.
