Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Cycle-touring, Expeditions, Adventures, Major cycle routes NOT LeJoG (see other special board)

What is the tyre width on your main touring/bikepacking bikes?

25mm or less
4
4%
26-30mm
10
9%
31-35mm
36
32%
36-40mm
39
34%
41mm or more
16
14%
Mountain bike tyres (2.0 inches or more)
9
8%
 
Total votes: 114

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Paradiddle
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Location: London

Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Paradiddle »

I'm planning some tours in the UK this summer and wondering what tyres people use for their touring bikes. Especially as they say the best bike you should use is the one you already have.

My road bike can take up to 35mm tyres but currently have 30mm fitted as I mainly use it for commuting and road rides. Recently I did a short section of the Cantii way on a Brompton and 35mm marathons. Took it for the wider tyres as there were about 25% unpaved paths and light gravel on the route. I think doing it on my road bike would've been possible but more challenging with higher risk of punctures. If I were to do similar routes in the future, I'm thinking of going with 33-35mm tyres for the best balance between roads, unpaved paths, and the occasional gravel.

What tyre width do you use for your main touring / bikepacking bikes? How does it suit your riding needs and routes?
Cyclewala
Posts: 277
Joined: 7 Nov 2019, 11:07am

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Cyclewala »

35-40mm. Semi slicks. Comfort for road, extra grip for mild off roading. Off roading involves gravel paths, hard pack.

I find comfort is a big factor in touring.
WEBH
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Joined: 1 Jul 2022, 5:43pm

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by WEBH »

I used 35c Schwalbe marathon for the ruta via de la Plata in Spain, mainly because it was what I had. Mix of off and on road, they were fine. One puncture (on road) with massive thorn. Not the quickest thing on road but touring it wasn't really noticeable. Quite comfy ride. After the first go they went back on to the rims without tools.
Nearholmer
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Joined: 26 Mar 2022, 7:13am

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Nearholmer »

Depends how bumpy and lumpy, and for what proportion of the route.

I’m no huge tourer, more a week at a time person, but have gradually migrated up from 32mm, through 35/37mm, both Continental Contact Plus, to 40mm tubeless (Bontrager GR2) as I’ve migrated to bumpier and lumpier ground for more of the time. The only penalty with what are “gravel” tyres is steep climbing on roads, where the extreme suppleness of the tyre makes them feel a bit sticky. Comfort is wonderful!
tatanab
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Joined: 8 Feb 2007, 12:37pm

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by tatanab »

25-28mm. Cycle camping in western Europe, primarily back roads but with occasional forest tracks.

On more than one occasion I have been asked "don't you get a lot of punctures" because some people associate large tyres or knobbly tread with being more puncture resistant, which is simply not the case. My reply is usually "I reckon to puncture about once in every 6000 miles"..

I don't have a machine that would take tyres much bigger than 30mm, and I am certainly not going to change my stable of machines or my habits of over 50 years cycle touring - too late in life to try that and my current tyre size has served me well..
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MrsHJ
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Location: Dartmouth, Devon.

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by MrsHJ »

Mine are 37/622 continentals on my hybrid/tourer. The thorn has something a bit wider- it’s set up for slightly tougher terrain- this one though is nice on the downhills too.

I’ve gradually gone wider as a lot of the long distance routes now have gravel and crushed limestone sections. This is fine by me but some people prefer paved and so they can get away with something narrower.

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pjclinch
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by pjclinch »

I have 1.5"/40mm Marathons on my main touring bike, because it came with them when I bought it ~20 years ago and they seemed to work okay so I've replaced like for like. Before that I used 28 mm because that's what my bike came with when I bought it ~35 years ago and they seemed to work so i replaced like for like...

I'm just back from a trip where we did day tours with light luggage on our "everyday" bikes (my wife has a Gazelle (relatively) lightweight take on an omafiets and I have a Moulton TSR), and that included some mountain bike trails where we did have to walk for a bit but on the whole I managed with 28mm Durano road slicks... They weren't ideal, but they got me through okay, I would run wider but the brakes are dual pivots and don't have the clearance.

My conclusions are... if you're not optimising for competition you can generally get away with quite a lot by just getting on with it. It's worth remembering that just about any general tour off-road that's gravel/bikepacking territory will have been done by folks 50 years ago on Galaxies with skinny tyres we'd laugh at today. So while current consensus will probably reflect what's best, don't feel you need that to do anything.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
PH
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by PH »

I luckily have a choice of touring bikes:
700c - 35/40mm, mostly on road and well surfaced trails. Lightly loaded
650B - 47mm or 55 is it includes more rough stuff. Full camping kit
24" - 1.75", though there isn't a lot of tyre choice in this size. When only a folder will do

I like the choice and some tyres are undoubtedly more suitable for some rides than others, OTOH I probably haven't done a tour that couldn't have been done on any of them. I voted 36/40 because the OP has 700c, in their position I think I'd fit the widest possible.
Angstrom
Posts: 179
Joined: 21 Nov 2018, 6:57am
Location: Montpellier, France

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Angstrom »

pjclinch wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 1:31pm I have 1.5"/40mm Marathons on my main touring bike, because it came with them when I bought it ~20 years ago and they seemed to work okay so I've replaced like for like. Before that I used 28 mm because that's what my bike came with when I bought it ~35 years ago and they seemed to work so i replaced like for like...

I'm just back from a trip where we did day tours with light luggage on our "everyday" bikes (my wife has a Gazelle (relatively) lightweight take on an omafiets and I have a Moulton TSR), and that included some mountain bike trails where we did have to walk for a bit but on the whole I managed with 28mm Durano road slicks... They weren't ideal, but they got me through okay, I would run wider but the brakes are dual pivots and don't have the clearance.

My conclusions are... if you're not optimising for competition you can generally get away with quite a lot by just getting on with it. It's worth remembering that just about any general tour off-road that's gravel/bikepacking territory will have been done by folks 50 years ago on Galaxies with skinny tyres we'd laugh at today. So while current consensus will probably reflect what's best, don't feel you need that to do anything.

Pete.
I couldn't say it better (no surprise, I'm French :wink: ). I agree 100%.
My stable consists of 3 bikes, which have different frames and purposes. I have limited choice on 2 of them <30 mm an rather large choice on the third. That is the one I use for loaded touring and on that one I've had different tires, different characteristics and prices. At the end of the day, whilst I can tell differences, I've never been doing a tour thinking "it would have been different (aka "better") if I 'd had other tires instead". I've even had expensive Rene Herse great and supple tires which I loved die on me in a rather remote place. I bought a cheap Michelin Country Rock tire to replace it (1/3 of the price) and the remaining bit of the tour was just as fun as the first part.
Since then I've decided to keep my expensive tire for times when speed and confort matters, which is rare for me.
"A cycle tourist doesn't have a track record. Just memories". Jean Taboureau
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Paradiddle
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Location: London

Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Paradiddle »

Thanks all. The takeaway so far is go with what you've got, people would've done it with skinny tyres in the past anyway. However wider tyres provide more comfort, especially when the route has more off-road sections.

I'll stick with my 30mms for now and try out a few trips. My current bike originally came with gravel-style 32mms but I had 3 flats (2 dodgy tubes, 1 puncture) in less than 1000km. Since switching to 30mm slicks I've had no issues and the bike feels more responsive, even if rough paths can be a bit more jarring.
simonhill
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by simonhill »

PLEASE NOTE there are lots of types of Schwalbe Marathon (14 last time I counted), please specify which model.

I use 26 by 1.6 Marathon Supremes, which would be 40mm. Very happy and not tempted to go to the larger 2" (50 mm) (Using " cos that's what they're usually listed as).

Not really a convert as 30 years ago I was using 1.75 (45) Marathons - the ones now called Original, but these were 2 generations pre current Original Greenguard.

Never knowingly used skinny tyres. Why would I.

Sadly probably my last Supremes as now discontinued.
Carlton green
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Carlton green »

I’m not really surprised that the 36 - 40 tyre width is most popular, a lot of bikes seem to run with 700 x 38c’s but to my mind it’s a slight overkill - an almost always unneeded ‘safety’ margin - and something just a little smaller is perfectly adequate … that’s significant when your bike is capped to 35mm wide tyres.

Why would I say the above? The answer lies in history and personal experience. In times past lots of folks did all types of rough stuff and touring on 1&1/4” tyres (say 32mm). Additionally, in my own limited experience, the right combination of rim and (1&1/4”) tyre both inflates to 34 mm and will happily enough take me over rough stuff; to be fair though I really had to look around to get wide 27” rims and wide inflating 27 x 1&1/4” tyres. Does anyone remember the old 26 x 1&3/8” size? When I was a child youths would take 26 x 1&3/8” shod bikes off of road and they went anywhere; that memory prompted me to look at optimisation and 1&3/8” is virtually 35mm. I find that 700 x 35mm tyres - on a wide rim, 19 mm IIRC - happily take me over any firm ground complete with a 13 kg passenger on the rear rack.

The 700C’s seem to have a much deeper section than the old 27 x 1&1/4” size too, so that (as well as width) also helps to give a more forgiving ride (wider and deeper section = improved comfort). The Imperial size worked fine for me - well, with some care and once I’d optimised things - but I’m very pleased that my daily rider now has 35mm 700c’s on it, it’s noticeably more comfortable to ride off of road and I’m no longer concerned about whether I’m going to buckle a wheel, etc. So for me - this is just my experience - the 35mm 700’s make that step change into carefree comfort and durability and skinnier tyres remain in the use with care range; hence beyond 35mm is, I think, just adding a margin of ‘safety’.

Providing the rim widths can support a wider tyre I’d go with the widest that will sensibly fit between the chain stays (ie. 35mm), but otherwise the widest that the rims will properly support - have as much comfort as you can with what’s available today.

Edit. Clarification details added.
Last edited by Carlton green on 4 Jun 2023, 5:46am, edited 1 time in total.
Don’t fret, it’s OK to: ride a simple old bike; ride slowly, walk, rest and admire the view; ride off-road; ride in your raincoat; ride by yourself; ride in the dark; and ride one hundred yards or one hundred miles. Your bike and your choices to suit you.
PH
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by PH »

Carlton green wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 4:44pm Why would I say the above? Well, in times past...
Fair points, but in times past there wasn't the same choice of wider tyres we have now, or the bikes that would take them.
Nearholmer
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by Nearholmer »

I was just going to say the same thing about lack of choice, and add that maybe older-style bikes, with nice flexible curved forks took some of the sting out that modern, stiffer-legged bikes don’t.

There’s also the point that on bigger, softer tyres, you can go quicker and/or more comfortably over bumpy ground, and with modern tyres, if you pick them carefully, you can do that without those same tyres presenting huge drag on smooth roads.
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mjr
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Re: Tyre widths on your touring/bikepacking bikes

Post by mjr »

PH wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 5:18pm
Carlton green wrote: 2 Jun 2023, 4:44pm Why would I say the above? Well, in times past...
Fair points, but in times past there wasn't the same choice of wider tyres we have now, or the bikes that would take them.
Indeed! In times past, the ordinary was the height of bicycling and the best maps were silk. Times change, materials and tyre tech improves and sadly the roads get worse. My town bike is a barely acceptable ride on 38s and I try to avoid taking the 28-shod road bike in there. I might tour on 28s but only with not much town riding and no rough stuff expected. 38s are far from overkill. 50+ would be better.
MJR, mostly pedalling 3-speed roadsters. KL+West Norfolk BUG incl social easy rides http://www.klwnbug.co.uk
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