anybody go to 28mm tires, and NOT like the switch?

[ChiZ01]

tired 28mm, totally hated it, doesn't feel much faster, went back to plush 38mm

[Calnago]

^Ha, read the first part of your sentence then thought the next part was going to read “went back to 25’s”. Lol. To each his own.

[AJS914]

A lot of it comes down to the roads you ride. I moved to NM last year and I have a C59 which is limited to a 25mm tire (27mm max actual size). I ride on tons of rough rural roads. I crave more volume and lower pressures on almost every ride. I've tried to attack Strava segments where the road is so rough that I know I'd be faster with a plusher ride. I see my buddy riding a Domane with 28mm tires and it looks like the perfect training bike for around here.

My Crux will take 45mm tires. I'm tempted to buy a wide aero wheelset and run 28mm width optimized tires. It could be my pile on the miles training bike. I could keep the C59 for the weekend group ride.

Or trade in the C59 on a more modern frameset that will accomodate wider rubber.

[Calnago]

Agreed, if all I was riding was heavily chipsealed coarse roads, then I may very well opt for larger tires. But for me, I’m good on ~25mm tubulars, at least on a nice road bike on decent roads.

[Methodical]

Is 84kg a Clydesdale now?

I figured anything over 180lbs is in the Clydes arena when compared to the string bean Vegans of the cycling world that sit at 135lbs or less.

[roadchallenge]

I'm 160lb. Went from: Bora one 35 + veloflex 25mm with latex (actual width 24.8mm) to Bora One 35 + Challenge 25mm (26.5mm actual width) to LightBicycle 36mm Wheelset (28mm outer/21mm inner) with 25mm tubeless Schwalbe pro one (actual width 29.1mm!).

Rode with schwalbe for a year - really chunky (can feel frontal drag), cornering is dramatically more confident, rolls really fast, very comfortable. overall felt pretty great, after 6 months wanted to go down to 23mm pro one's which still would measure 27mm actual and will 105% rule aero with the LB rim, 29.1mm just felt less agile on climbs.

But experience got tarnished by a few, moving away from Bora 35's is just always a downgrade, laterally not stiff light-bicycle wheel with dt swiss 240 ( steel figuring out if I can tension spokes slightly higer... or it's just a noodle setup with dt swiss 240's ...), and I realised I really don't care about aero, living in Bay Area, it's all punchy hills and crosswinds, and low weight wheel setup just feels much more pleasant.

Just put back on Bora 35's with 25mm/latex to see how different it is to larger tyre/tubeless, will post results (memorized my hr/watts/speed on flats)

Based on my road riding experience in past 5 years, I'm leaning towards 26mm actual width tubeless tyre on shallow but aero rim 27mm outer/19mm inner rim. (wish they made Campy Bora WTO 35, or jsut made regular Boras tubeless (( )

Still looking for that perfect wheelset/tyre combo. Next on the radar is Vision Metron SL 30 + 25mm GP5000TL, so I guess I'm going back from 28 to 25,

[Calnago]

DT 240's do not have the best hub geometry for producing a laterally stiff wheel, and it's quite noticeable for us bigger boys. I put the set I had, laced with DT Swiss Aerolites to older Reynolds DV46UL's on my girlfriend's bike and she loved them. Later sold them to a much lighter than me racer boy, and he loved them too. So, if you're light, they can be great, but if you're heavier then there are better options for sure. Campy's G3 lacing has always impressed me as I can ride these with confidence with only 21 light aero spokes in the rear, 18 in the front... versus the 28R/20F spokes on the Reynolds wheels I had which weren't nearly as solid.

Also, if you're used to braking with Boras and the red Campy pads, you're going to be in for quite a shock with the Vision Metrons I'm afraid. But try them for yourself.

[Etienne]

Agreed, if all I was riding was heavily chipsealed coarse roads, then I may very well opt for larger tires. But for me, I’m good on ~25mm tubulars, at least on a nice road bike on decent roads.

Most of my milage is made either on 25mm tubs on decent and dry roads ... or on 32mm tubeless tires on bad and/or wet roads (even short sections off-road).

I'd say that on good roads, larger tires don't offer any benefit, and you feel the main downside in my opinion, I mean weight aggravated by the fact that I have tubeless vs tubular, ie 120g of peripheral weight per wheel (mostly from rims and sealant, tires being the same weight around 290g each), very sensible when you want to accelerate (or deccelerate I guess).

On bad roads, chipsealed with patches and holes, the 32mm tires bring confidence and confort, but then it's just not a question of road buzz filtation (25mm tubs are very good at that) but going through holes & gaps.

So I went up to 32 and didn't regret it for bad roads (before that I had a winter bike with 25mm Conti Sprinters) ... but still prefer 25mm Arenbergs on nice dry roads