Tire compatability

The 23s will work fine; the rims are no different. Hybrid bikes with their larger (35-38mm width) tires typically use larger rims, though there's nothing that says you can't. My bike came with 700x25s and when they wear out I'm going to replace them with 700x23s.

Wow I logged on to post this very same question 😄

Also are there any advantages in riding a 700x23?

The determining factor is interior rim width. A lot of road rims are ~15mm interior width and about ~20mm exterior width. Mavic OP and MA3 are ~15mm. I have MA40 and OP rims and run tires from 23mm to 28mm.

Another common width is 17mm. I use 17mm rims on my touring bike and run tires from 28mm up to 35mm.

For a more complete table, see http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire_sizing.html#width

Shredpirate said:

Also are there any advantages in riding a 700x23?

The thoery is less road contact equals less rolling resistance. Is the average cyclist going to see much difference in this area, probably not. Two other factors are the lighter weight of the 23 (again marginal for the average joe). More importantly the 23 width gives you a far greater array of tire choices since it is the standard width.

capwater said:

The thoery is less road contact equals less rolling resistance. Is the average cyclist going to see much difference in this area, probably not. Two other factors are the lighter weight of the 23 (again marginal for the average joe). More importantly the 23 width gives you a far greater array of tire choices since it is the standard width.

Actually, the contact patch of a 25c tire is no more or less in area than that of a 23c. Assuming both tires are the same brand and model, and given the same PSI and load on both tires, the contact patch will only assume a different shape (wider or narrower, longer or shorter). But the total area of the patch will be the same.

The difference in rolling resistance comes because on a wider or larger tire the sidewalls have less deformation and hence less friction. However, there is still much debate on what width tire (from 18/19mm through 25/26mm) gives the overall gain in speed considering resistance, weight, aerodynamics, traction, etc.

My rims on my road bike are 15 mm and I have run everything from 28mm down to 20 mm with no problems. On my touring bike I use 17mm rims and have actually had 38mm tires on it but normally I run 25 mm tires. Lately I have been buying Bontrager 25mm race lite tires for both bikes because they are cheap but hold up better than some of the expensive tires I have used in the past.

Shreklookalike said:

This may sound silly, but how do you determine what tire size is compatible with your wheels. I'm riding a Giant OCR-1 and it came with 700x25 tires. I've been considering moving to 700x23. Is this possible with my current wheelset? When I look at wheelsets for road bikes on sale, I never see anything about whether they are for 700x20,23, or 25, so what is the determining factor?

You can always go narrower than what's already on your bike. Most likely what's going to determine the widest tire you can put on a typical road bike is the frame clearance, not the rims. Touring frames are designed to take wider tires than your OCR-1 for example.

Personally I'd stick with 25's for their increased comfort (due to larger air volume) and because they're maybe a little more resistant to flats. There's evidence to suggest that there really isn't much of a decrease in resistance with narrower tires. There's a lot more to it than just the size of the contact patch. The reason that racers run the narrower tires is because they're a bit lighter and for those guys every gram counts. I like to run the widest tires that my frame will take. But maybe I'm a freak.

Wurm said:

Actually, the contact patch of a 25c tire is no more or less in area than that of a 23c. Assuming both tires are the same brand and model, and given the same PSI and load on both tires, the contact patch will only assume a different shape (wider or narrower, longer or shorter). But the total area of the patch will be the same.

The difference in rolling resistance comes because on a wider or larger tire the sidewalls have less deformation and hence less friction. However, there is still much debate on what width tire (from 18/19mm through 25/26mm) gives the overall gain in speed considering resistance, weight, aerodynamics, traction, etc.

That's true, all things being equal, but narrow tires are usually inflated to higher pressures than wider ones. A 700x25 inflated to 100 PSI will likely have more rolling resistence than a set of identical 700x23 inflated to 120 PSI. I understand this may not be true past a certain point in tire width, but in general, higher pressure smaller tires have less rolling resistence than larger ones.

A couple of things I've found with tyre widths...

20's make for ride that is too harsh for normal training or riding imo

23's are comfortable, fast enough and offer enough choice of tyres - they look the part too ;-)

25's are good enough for riding about but you will notice the difference with 23's

Recently used the Vittoria Open Pave CG for the winter, its a 24mm section and felt lovely

Cheers,

bicyclerubber.com

ganderctr said:

That's true, all things being equal, but narrow tires are usually inflated to higher pressures than wider ones. A 700x25 inflated to 100 PSI will likely have more rolling resistence than a set of identical 700x23 inflated to 120 PSI. I understand this may not be true past a certain point in tire width, but in general, higher pressure smaller tires have less rolling resistence than larger ones.

And most higher-end 25c's can be inflated to 120 PSI, so that issue becomes moot. For example, my Vredestein Fortezzas can go up to 135 PSI. Any comparison has to be made with as many variables controlled as possible, ie: PSI, load, carcass & tread design, rubber compound, wheel width & diameter, etc. If any of those differ from one tire to another, it will skew the results.

In fact, from all the tests that I've seen, and anecdotally as well, a 23c at 120 PSI is roughly equivalent in RR as a 25c @ 100 PSI, (maybe not exactly those PSI's but in that ballpark) so at those unequal pressures there is a gain from the 25c in shock absorption, possibly better puncture & pinch flat resistance, & longer wear. At 120 PSI, a 25c will have less RR.

ganderctr said:

That's true, all things being equal, but narrow tires are usually inflated to higher pressures than wider ones. A 700x25 inflated to 100 PSI will likely have more rolling resistence than a set of identical 700x23 inflated to 120 PSI. I understand this may not be true past a certain point in tire width, but in general, higher pressure smaller tires have less rolling resistence than larger ones.

Here's a test on wider tires:

tour-magazin.detour ...nav=21&ps lo=15Open ↗

Quick recap & translation on article:

- no difference on aerodynamics.
- same pressure 25mm tires had lower rolling resistance than 23mm.