Ideal tire size

Scott Alexander

I know I've heard recently that the 700x25 are the "fastest" tires out there as of late, but is that only true on certain wheels/rims?

I've got a pair of non-Firecrest Zipp 404/808s from a few years ago. Is there a way to determine the 'ideal' tire size for my specific set of race wheels?

I'm going to try out a pair of more durable Conti GP4000s, instead of the soft Corsas that I've been running.

Satish Punna

I don't have an answer for you, but if you emailed Zipp they may be able to help.  I asked a similar question of Hed by email a while back when I was thinking of buying H3s and they got back to me within a couple of days! 

GMAN 19030

Scott,

I think the 700x25 being greatest thing since sliced bread is very dependent on the wheel.

For example, a 25mm tire would be horrible on a H3 as it would be an aero killer.  The 25mm tires probably work great on the wide Zipp Firecrest rims or Hed Stinger rims.

For the non-Firecrest rims (I have a 900 disc), I'd stick with 23mm tires (or even a 21mm on the front).  I think the brake track is about 21mm in width.

See the chart at the bottom of this article: http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/Rim_..._3537.html

 

DocShock

I had a question about tires for my Zipps also. I went to the Zipp website where you enter your phone number and a rep will call you back. I got a call in under a min.

Scott Alexander

What's the weblink?

Bob Irwin

Zipp told me that the fastest would be 20mm tires on my old style 404 rims. Said it would save abot 2 watts over 23mm. I've used the vittorias for several years and have been very happy with them. However, I just got a new set for my A race - they call them open corsa II's, and they were smaller than all of the other tires I've had. Runied a couple of tubes trying to get them on before I went and traded them for the GP 4000s. So far I like them a lot.