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Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components / Re: New frame 2025 : TFSA JH-35
« on: February 19, 2025, 07:24:33 AM »They either have less rolling resistance or more comfort, not both at the same time.
https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/specials/grand-prix-5000-comparison
And in my experience, albeit clouded by frame material etc, the road comfort going from even a 28c road bike to a 42c gravel bike is marginal. We're still talking about zero suspension frames and bumps being handled by a few mm of tire. Narrower tires are lighter and more aero. I think for decent roads 28c is the sweet spot. 32c makes sense more for flat insurance than comfort IMO. I have 28c and 32c on some of my bikes and don't feel a huge comfort difference.
The link you showed clearly states that the rolling resistance goes down as tire size goes up, and we know that wide tires are more comfortable because you can run lower pressures and have the same air volume in the tire. Whether you feel that difference is up to you, but the physics doesn't lie. Wider tires have less rolling resistance and are more comfortable.
Now, it's possible that after a certain size we start losing speed again, but 32s aren't that size (NorCal Cycling tested 28, 32 and 34 and found that the 34s were slightly slower than 32s, they were on par with 28s, with the 32s being the fastest ).