Chinertown
Chinese Carbon Road Bikes => Road Bike Frames, Wheels & Components => Topic started by: cramy on June 26, 2025, 08:25:35 AM
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Hello,
The market is now going to larger tyres with 28C, 30c and 32c becoming the standard.
I see some people in the forum mixing the size between front and back, as for example 30c front with a 32c back. Or 28c front with 30/32c back.
What is the advantage of this configuration vs the same size front and back?
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A marginal gain in aerodynamics for a skinnier tire at front.
I remember my 2016 Canyon Speedmax coming with 23C at front and 25C at back from factory.
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Some people think that narrower tire is more aero so they use narrower in the front whilst using wider in the rear for comfort where aero does not matter as much.
But you should just use whatever works best with your rims.
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Unless you're racing or seeking the absolute fastest times you can get, this trade off in comfort for aero is not worth it imo. You can play around with tire sizes to find your sweet spot.
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that makes sense, no marginal performance gain, but more comfort gain
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there was a good video this week done with Jesse Coyle aero testing a bunch a wheels with different internal / external widths and various different GP5000 tire sizes. the results from it are actually quite interesting for most of us who are using wheels direct from China. a brief synopsis is that:
if you're using super wide rims with a big internal diameter there's not much to be gained from going more narrow on the front and in some instances can be harmful to the combined aero + rolling resistance data.
the Conti Aero 111 is a pretty quick tire but in a 29c actually measures very slightly smaller than a GP5000 in 28c.
if you're on older 21mm or 22mm internal width rims then an Aero 111 up front paired with a 28 or 30c out back would be a combo to consider to improved crosswind stability.