How much difference does tyre width make.

[NEvans]

A make/model such as the Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 700C Duraskin Tyre comes in four different sizes: 32c, 28c, 25c, and 23c. Opinion would be about a playoff between weight and comfort. My general thought would be to go for the 28c for some comfort and durability, but is there much difference between them?

[softlips]

There is if you run them at the lower pressures wider tyres allow.

[reohn2]

If you're bike will take the 32mm all the better,you'll lose very little if any speed,which will be in acceleration,but the comfort will increase a lot over smaller tyres especially on UK crapmac,and if you run your tyres at correct pressures for load.
This chart is pretty acurate:- https://www.google.co.uk/search?num=10& ... NwExjl-QBM:

[The utility cyclist]

There is if you run them at the lower pressures wider tyres allow.

Yes, it will make for a significantly higher rolling resistance on all but continual rough roads

[reohn2]

There is if you run them at the lower pressures wider tyres allow.

Yes, it will make for a significantly higher rolling resistance on all but continual rough roads

No it won't,unless those roads are as smooth as billiard tables,and we all know UK roads aren't,in fact most are chip n seal or worse.

[The utility cyclist]

If you're bike will take the 32mm all the better,you'll lose very little if any speed,which will be in acceleration,but the comfort will increase a lot over smaller tyres especially on UK crapmac,and if you run your tyres at correct pressures for load.
This chart is pretty acurate:- https://www.google.co.uk/search?num=10& ... NwExjl-QBM:

How much improvement, can you quantify a figure on that? I couldn't and I still ride widths from 22mm to 42mm. To not lose speed you'll be needing to pump those larger tyres up considerably thus losing the comfort factor you say you'll gain and even UK roads they are not continually rough. The sites that test tyres Crr have continual rolling roads that are rough ALL THE TIME. Thus you WILL lose speed with wider tyres at the lower pressures where you might 'feel' you are gaining more comfort, most of it is in your head however, as with many unquantified matters.

Go wider, choose whichever tyre you like, put whatever amount of air in you like, but stop making out wider offers any real proven benefit comfort wise when it's all very subjective feel whilst also ignoring the actuality of losses in speed/rolling resistance because of the flawed comparisons between wider tyres having to be pumped up rock hard to give similar Crr ratings as narrower tyres.

OP, your intended use/most oft used terrain, your weight, your riding style (sat back/relaxed or on the rivet etc) as well as bike type will influence matters and what will be a good tyre width/pressure to give you a bit of balance. In fact even the internal width of your wheels influence things as the more modern rim has a tendency to be wider which can stretch out tyres up to 2-3mm wider than that designated.

Without knowing those types of things it's difficult to give advice that might be a best match.

[The utility cyclist]

There is if you run them at the lower pressures wider tyres allow.

Yes, it will make for a significantly higher rolling resistance on all but continual rough roads

No it won't,unless those roads are as smooth as billiard tables,and we all know UK roads aren't,in fact most are chip n seal or worse.

Yes it will lose you speed, have you not bothered to look at the testing? Even on continual rough rolling roads a wider tyre can only match a narrower tyre at undesirable pressures which would lose you any of your supposed/notional 'comfort' factor.
Whilst UK roads are not smooth for the most part they are NOT remotely as bad as the 100% of the time rough drums used in testing, in places where roads do get relatively smoother the narrower tyres win every single time, and at the real world pressures, not pressures where the higher tyre is having to be pumped up to to match the Crr in tests on unfeasibly rough roads, the wider tyre will be slower, that doesn't even take into account other factors.

[reohn2]

This subject has been covered many times on the forum and elsewhere your theories are not proven.
On real roads in real conditions wider tyres have been proven to be more comfortable and as fast when comparing the same model,they also hold those real roads better too.
As for tyre pressures tyres should be inflated for load per wheel and as per width using the table I linked to up thread,which is a good guide.
Over inflating wider tyres to the same psi as smaller section tyres just makes them uncomfortable and lessens their roadholding capabilities.
Of course there's a tipping point in tyre width and weight where a narrower tyre of the same make and model will be faster,but not in the 23 to 32mm range the OP is interested in.

[reohn2]

Yes it will lose you speed, have you not bothered to look at the testing?

Yes and done my own testing too.

Even on continual rough rolling roads a wider tyre can only match a narrower tyre at undesirable pressures which would lose you any of your supposed/notional 'comfort' factor

Rubbish.

Whilst UK roads are not smooth for the most part they are NOT remotely as bad as the 100% of the time rough drums used in testing, in places where roads do get relatively smoother the narrower tyres win every single time, and at the real world pressures, not pressures where the higher tyre is having to be pumped up to to match the Crr in tests on unfeasibly rough roads, the wider tyre will be slower, that doesn't even take into account other factors.

UK road surfaces are bad to ridiculous with small sections of good to very good,especially on back roads and small lanes.
See my previous post on tyre pressures.

We don't agree I've done my homework on the subject end of,perhaps someone else will engage you I won't comment further.

[andrew_s]

The sites that test tyres Crr have continual rolling roads that are rough ALL THE TIME.

They use a patterned aluminium plate, which isn't the same as a rough road, but the testing isn't real world anyway, because the load isn't applied by an energy absorbing human body, but by steel, which absorbs next to no energy.

The body can absorb quite large amounts of energy (far more than is lost in the tyres as rolling resistance), and you can pretty much equate the lost energy with discomfort. Testing has shown that "intolerable" equates to about 2 kW.

Tyres should be run at the highest pressure that is comfortable. Once it becomes uncomfortable, you are losing speed. If you find that you are running your tyres at an uncomfortable pressure to avoid snakebite punctures, you need a wider tyre.
The limiting case of a high pressure tyre is a solid tyre, and there's a good reason why they got abandoned back in the 1890s.

[PH]

32mm rear and 28 mm front is the perfect all rounder combination.
Unless your criteria or preferences differ in some way to mine, in which case it might not be.
You're more likely to get the usual forum bickering than a definitive answer, but tyres are cheap enough to experiment with.

[pwa]

A make/model such as the Continental Grand Prix 4 Season 700C Duraskin Tyre comes in four different sizes: 32c, 28c, 25c, and 23c. Opinion would be about a playoff between weight and comfort. My general thought would be to go for the 28c for some comfort and durability, but is there much difference between them?

I have ridden that tyre in 28 and 25 and there is a difference. I don't go above about 95psi, so my opinion is based on not having either version super hard. The 28 is a little more cushioning, which is nice on long rides. But on the bike I had it on it gave a bit too little clearance between tyre and mudguard and led to mild clogging on muddy lanes. 25s had no such problem. The 25s were not quite so good at hiding roughness in the road surface, so there was a subtle but real loss of comfort. But climbing steep lanes was easier on the 25s, which in itself can be seen as a comfort issue. I find climbing steep lanes a challenge after I have got some miles in, so I appreciate the benefit of 25s in that situation. Back on a flat section of road with a rough chip n seal surface I might have a slight yearning for 28s again. But overall I don't think there is a huge difference and neither is better than the other. GP4S is a great tyre in either version and is more comfortable and grippy than the similar Gatorskins.

[Vitara]

As previous poster suggested try them & see.

My own experience is that 18 months ago I started using 35mm tyres on my single speed bike and then on my geared bike. I've covered 20'000 miles in that time, including an SR audax series (200Km, 300Km, 400Km, 600Km). If my speed is effected on long distance rides it's to a fairly negligible degree & on the rides I do I'm easily keeping pace with riders on narrower tyres.

The added bonus for me is that larger tyres are very easy to remove and replace on the wheel in the event of a puncture.

For reference I use Vittoria Ranoneurs on my Single Speed, just £7.50 each, they feel a bit heavy and sluggish, but they are very puncture resistant & it's a bike I ride in all weathers & they fit the mantra "Train heavy, Race (Audax) light"

On my Geared bike I use Scwalbe Marathon Supremes which I feel offer a reasonable balance between lightness and puncture resistance.

[cycle tramp]

Opinion would be about a playoff between weight and comfort. My general thought would be to go for the 28c for some comfort and durability, but is there much difference between them?

Hope you don't mind me asking but what is the road quality like where you live? How fast and far do you normally cycle? How fast and far would you like to cycle? And how do you use your bike? Fitness tool? Commuting? Shopping trolley? All the above?

[mercalia]

some time ago one of the cycling mags did a comparison of skinnies v fatties ( not knobblies ) and found that fatties rolled marginally better than skinnes at their relevent pressures. The explantion thy came to was that fatties tended to deform at right angles to the motion ie across the tyre width therefore maintaining better roundness laterally where as with skinnies there was less rubber to deform across the width of the tyre so deformed laterally more .