what tires size is everyone running...

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addictR1
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by addictR1

thinking to use my CX as daily commuter bike. a friend of mine installed 700x35 panaracer on his raleigh CX and though it ride comfy, but felt very sluggish at 85psi.

so is anyone running 23, 25, 28 or even 32, slicks or semi slicks?

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the_marsbar
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by the_marsbar

I've been running 23 mm tubeless road tires during the summer. Next time I'm going with 28 mm.

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Marin
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by Marin

I'm running 40mm Schwalbe Marathon Racers (120TPI) tubeless on my CX, they roll super nice at 2.5 bars / 36 PSI, even when comparing them to the 25mm Conti GP 4000 S on my racer.

I did a 120km ride on them a week ago and they didn't slow me down.

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ITTY
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by ITTY

addictR1 wrote:but felt very sluggish at 85psi.


Wow. I would never put that much air in a 35mm tire. 45 psi max for road only duty, 25-30 psi for cross racing.

A 35mm tire won't feel all that much more sluggish than a 32mm tire, I'd say the tread pattern makes a bigger difference.
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gt5504b
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by gt5504b

Commuting through the city, I ride some 28mm Ruffy Tuffy checkerboard slicks around 60psi for longer road riding too, Grifo XS tubulars around 40psi on the roads then <30psi when I get to some fun dirt, and a set of old WTB all terrain(asaurus) 38s at 50psi until they sink to about 25psi, months later and need a top off.

addictR1
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by addictR1

@ITTY: i pumped up that high because the tire suggested that. plus wouldn't running lower PSI increase chance of pinch flats?

RussellS
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by RussellS

I have Panaracer Pasela 35mm tires on one bike. Road only. I use 50-60psi. Rolls fine. Good tires. Whether a tire is sluggish or not is more dependent on the casing material and thickness and tread pattern than the width. Usually wide tires have thick slow tread and thick tough casing. So slow. If you can find a wide tire with thin supple casing and smooth thin tread, then it will be as fast or faster than the skinny racing tires. Wide tires at low psi roll over the road irregularities, they do not bounce over them like hard high psi tires. So faster and smoother.

Lower psi and pinch flats with 35mm tires? I suppose if you ran full steam into a curb you could get a pinch flat. Maybe. Wide 35mm tires allow you to run almost no air and never get pinch flats.

I run 95psi in my 23-25-28mm road racing tires. Never noticed them being slow or sluggish. Rare to never on pinch flats.

addictR1
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by addictR1

Thank you Russell.

Tamu8104
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by Tamu8104

I run 27 FMB Paris Roubaix on my "road" wheelset and 34 Dugast Pipestrello on the "dirt" wheelset. I have 32 Grifo XS on the single speed. Agree that casing and tread have a big impact the feel. I think the "fastest" tire I've felt was a 25, not the 23 or 21 tires.
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addictR1
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by addictR1

How about when climbing with 35c.. still run at lite psi?

Marin
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by Marin

Sure, less air = lighter.

CXTony
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by CXTony

If you are planning to mostly ride on the road, why not use road tires?
I have some 33s on my cross bike for mixed use (commuting and cross practice sessions) and usually run them at 40psi. Sure they aren't the fastest on the road, but if I wanted to be fast I would use 25s or 28s that are road tires...

mattr
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by mattr

What does your commute look like?
Road, dirt track, mixed?
Might impact on your choice of tyre.

FWIW I commuted on mixed terrain using some small block 8s run tubeless. Officially 34s I think, but quite small looking. Probably get away with using them in UCI events (33mm max size)

addictR1
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by addictR1

I have a 2014 redline conquest team with panaracer tserv 35c. Took her up Mt Hamilton on last Saturday and 35c felt very sluggish climb at 80psi. Didn't want to go low and end up slowing down even more.

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Zoose
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by Zoose

Don't run road tires but my commute has some dirt shortcuts so I run Clement X'Plor USH which are 35c. They don't feel too sluggish but compared to road tires they are obviously slower.

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