Iām relatively new to cycling so have only used a couple of different tyres. The tyres my road bike came with were garbage, so I switched to Gatorskin tyres for the puncture protection. Since putting them on Iād never really put much thought into changing them (assumed different tyres would only give a marginal advantage).
After reading this Training Peaks article Iām feeling pretty foolish! An 11:02 saving over IM distance by switching to GP 4000s
I donāt race IM distance, but thatās still a massive gain over an Oly distance tri.
Itās accepted gators are slow, but donāt forget this is theoretical modelling. Real world rarely shows consistent similarity to modelling, I donāt notice any difference whether Iām using my winter gators or summer GPs.
I still race in GPs, I think itās worth it, but I think Iād notice a plus 30W advantage.
Most of the tire info I have seen are from actual, physical rolling resistance tests on drums. There are multiple tests from various sources that show the same trend (even if the precise values vary a bit).
This may not be āreal worldā flat testing since it is on a curved drum, but it is far from ātheoretical modelingā (which implies mathematical and computer analysis). The testing on drums is a relative comparison between the tires with only one variable (the tire itself) changed between the tests.
Even if the actual wattage values are incorrect and not representative of the number we will see on the road, the relative differences between tires are real. The Gators are consistently slower than many other tires to a significant degree. It is real, measurable, and repeatable.
FWIW - I have ridden a couple thousand miles each on Gatorskins and GP4000ās on the same roads in an urban and suburban setting over a couple years. While the Gatorskins are more robust in the sidewall, the fact is the the marginal difference in the actual number of puncture flats is very small on the roads I ride on. Granted, we have a bottle deposit law so glass in the road is pretty uncommon, there are no native thorns or goatheads here and most of the streets I ride on are pretty clean. Iāve ditched the gatorskins and just ride 4000s and flats are pretty rare. Frankly I notice no difference in flats in my environment.
Gatorskins are tough and if you are riding in rough environments the drag is worth it. But for ānormalā roads, there really is little point suffering with Gatorskins when the 4000ās are almost as puncture resistant and way faster, and they feel better too.
There are 2 measurements for bike tires - the diameter and the width. e.g. a ā700x25ā tire fits a 700c wheel and is 25 mm wide. The measurement numbers are on the side of your current tires.
Almost all road bike wheels are 700cās. For width, any road bike and 700c wheel will fit 23mm or 25mm tires. These 2 sizes are basically the standard. After that, the frame clearance starts to be an issue you need to consider. If the tire is too wide it may rub on the frame. And as tires get wider than 25mm, the rim width can be an issue too. So, if you have a normal road bike and wheel set, any 700x23 or 700x25 tire will fit. Wider tires might fit your frame, or not, and as tires get wider, you might need a wider rim.
Mountain bikes have much more variation in wheel sizes so you need to know your bike.
So about 13 watts per tire. Thatās a lot. And thatās on a fairly smooth, fairly pronounced radius of curvature, roller. Give how much supple tires outperform non-supple tires on real world rough tarmac itās probably even worse on the road.
The context was go faster, not save money, so cost is a judgement call. Iāve got one bike, and put all my money into #SaveAllTheWatts
Around here there are a lot of thorns, road debris, and old country roads beat up by time/weather. Since switching to tubeless have avoided flatting AND saved watts AND have a more comfortable ride for the win-win-win.
plenty of fast clinchers if you donāt want tubeless. There are some tradeoffs, and personal preferences, so start with something good and see how it goes!
