Road Quality and Increasingly Wider Tires

[RyanH]

Am I just getting old and soft or are the roads just getting worse? 10 years ago I used to run 23mm tubs on deep V Reynolds rims pumped up to over a 100 psi. Over time I've moved to 25mm (around 2016) and then to 28mm tubs around 2018.

I bought the 2022 Crux with the original intent to try 650b x 42 as a cush pavement bike (before I have Rob English do a low trail dedicated 650b bike) but that has turned into an experiment with various wide 700c tires to see where the right balance of road handling and taking the edge off bad roads is. This is leading me to wondering if I'd be happier on wider tires all around, which would unfortunately necessitate replacing the T3 as a primary road bike and most likely giving up tubulars as I don't think anyone makes a 32mm pavement oriented tub.

My initial thoughts on the Crux with 35mm tires is that it's not that wildly different handling wise. I was expecting it to sluggish and piggish but it hasn't been but that's still preliminary as I'm only on week one.

Here's some pavement shots I've saved over the past couple years:

Hollywood Reservoir


Franklin Canyon


My neighborhood


Typical concrete Hollywood Hills descent


Not atypical in Hollywood Hills

[PoorCyclist]

I have not been riding for a few years but when I ride recently I see many people riding on balloons that you must be refering to. I think there is a limit. I put 700c x 28mm @ 65 psi and it's already super cushy for me. I have a gravel bike with 40mm and it climbs super slow on pavement because of the tire drag and weight.

Worse case examples? I rode up Angeles crest years ago wasn't so bad at all.

Handling with wider tire (descent and corner is) much more easy for me. Can go over cracks with more confidently, slow down less and I can "feel" the contact patch is bigger.

[G104xG320]

I have the same feeling, infrastructure in US is sometimes shit.

I believe there is a reason for westerners to love gravel bikes, the tire is simply wider...

[pdlpsher1]

I’m now doing rides on broken pavements more and more these days in order to avoid vehicle traffic. To get a suspension effect from the tire you need tire height. But to get tire height you also need a wide tire. There’s a sweet spot on how wide of a tire. I’m now running GP5K S TR 32s at 55psi. The tire isn’t too wide but it’s still tall enough to get the suspension effect that I want. The tire is fast enough on smooth roads, and can handle large potholes at speed with no issues. My other bikes have Terra Speed 35s and 40s. They are on very wide rims (25mm ID) and way overkill for ‘all-road’ riding. Now my narrowest road tire is 32mm. I look at my friends’ 28s and they look so tiny!

One downside to tall/wide tire is it changes the gearing. Effectively you lose a low gear.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[maxim809]

I've seen the roads Ryan rides and ya it is terribad in parts of SoCal.

I've recently had the opposite where I live. The city used the lack of car traffic from the pandemic as an opportunity to repave many major roads. I came out of lockdown to fresh tarmac on several of my regular routes.

Lucky me, I guess. Wider tires are dope tho.

[TobinHatesYou]

Roads are getting worse. Budget cuts, heavier cars, newer/cheaper types of asphalt (slurry seal, sealcote, etc.)

[RyanH]

@PoorCyclist Angeles Crest was repaved with chip seal about four or five years ago, so that's in the category of a good/decent road.

Edited to add: those images are typical of Hollywood Hills which is where I'm based out of and do most of my riding. Griffith park is similar to the worst of the images above on the climbs that are closed to traffic. Pacific coast highway just got around to filling in the huge pot holes that developed over COVID (in a very half ass manner) so those are still mildly jarring even on 35mm tires. I can't remember if they repaved Yerba Buena but parts of that were painful on 25mm tubs.

[MikeD]

There was some thing about 10 years ago about Sonoma County (worst roads in the Bay Area) turning paved roads to dirt using some experimental enzymatic treatment. Didn’t turn out too well.

[TobinHatesYou]

Also 50000lb garbage trucks are the main reason why roads go to shit and these days roads see waste management vehicles 3x as often in certain jurisdictions. One truck each for garbage, recycling and compost.

[tjvirden]

Lol to those Hollywood Hills pics!


No doubt most countries have wide variation, but I don't get to ride on much smooth pavement these days - my tire choice (size) reflects that. On the rare occasion I spend an extended time (like a week or two) on roads I know will mainly be smooth, level tarmac then I'll still use an actual 23mm front, 25mm rear with around 90-100 psi in. That's with an all-up weight around 82Kg. No problems with comfort and the speed seems just fine. Otherwise I'll mainly be on something around 30 to 32mm on "roads", including a bit of "gravel". Sometimes even 35mm, but that's if I have a bit of stuff to carry, or I'll be spending more time on unmade roads.

Where I ride atm, road quality has deteriorated in the last 4 years.

Heavy trucks really do cause a lot of damage when they are turning and braking, I think.

[PoorCyclist]

Tire width and volume may depends on rider weight as well, my son's bike has 26" x 23mm.
It looks "wide" to that scale and I'm sure it will be fine with enough cushioning at lower PSI. There would be no need to pump to 100 psi for a 30kg rider.

[TobinHatesYou]

I switch between 25mm and 28mm tires, but I don’t really know why. In spite of the 105% rule, there is basically no difference between my segment times on 25s vs 28s… and 28s are significantly more pleasant to ride. Now I did experiment with racing on 30mm Corsa Controls and that did cost me a couple of race finishes, but it also helped win me a race with a gravel sector where everyone else flatted (heh.)

[Mr.Gib]

if you are dealing with a few bad spots, it's one thing, but if you have mile after mile of broken road than I would want 35mm. But that would still be such shitty riding no matter what the tire. OTOH, if you have the odd patch of broken road and you are mostly dealing with a rough but consistent surface, than 28mm on a wide rim (so about 30mm WAM), is fine. Get's you through the bad spots and still feels like a road bike the rest of the time. Rough pavement, gravel, OK. The broken stuff is a no go for me.

[pdlpsher1]

I actually seek out the worst roads possible. The worse the road the less unwanted vehicle traffic. Some of the roads that I ride on have pavement that are completely gone in places. The county doesn’t fix them because there’s very vehicle traffic. The harshness and buzzing give me a high. The worse the road the harder I push. Riding on smooth tarmac is so boring.

When I’m on my gravel bike I tend to seek out the best gravel roads possible. No washboards for me. Funny how that goes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AJS914]

The main reason I'll buy a modern disc brake frame is so I can ride 30-32mm tires!