Best Tire Width for Hybrid / Fitness Bike?

winphoto1 · Aug 6, 2013

Thinking about getting a hybrid / fitness bike to compliment my road bike. Road bike has 25mm tires. It seems that the hybrids come in tire sizes 28, 32, 35 or 38. This bike will be used around the neighborhood, on rougher bike paths, stone and gravel paths, etc., but I still want to be able to get some decent speed on the bike.

My question is, what would be the "best" tire width for all-around riding? (a go-anywhere tire) Seems the 28 would be good for speed, but not as good on gravel paths and probably just the opposite for the wider tires. So I'm assuming that the 32 or 35 width tires are wide enough for gravel paths?

Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your responses.

Mike T. · Aug 6, 2013

32mm would be great. I had them on my cyclo-cross bike that I used for gravel roads and trails.

headloss · Aug 6, 2013

28mm works well on finely crushed gravel and crushed limestone trails... the only time I ever had regrets for not mounting a 32mm or wider was on the C&O towpath. Of course, I can think of other scenarios where a 28mm would be too narrow (but, so would a 32mm in those instances).

JCavilia · Aug 6, 2013

How much do you weigh?

winphoto1 · Aug 6, 2013

I weigh 170 pounds. Probably a wider tire for a heavier rider?

Zen Cyclery · Aug 6, 2013

Wider tires will have slightly less rolling resistance but this will be made up for by the fact that they're heavier.

I like wider tires because they allow me to run a bit lower pressure, which can give you noticeable enhancements in ride quality.

Jay Strongbow · Aug 6, 2013

The bigger the better. If you care about speed and weight leave the hybird and home.

JCavilia · Aug 6, 2013

Jay Strongbow said:
The bigger the better. If you care about speed and weight leave the hybird and home.

I wouldn't go that far, but you want big enough. OP is average size, and you're correct that a heavier rider generally wants a bigger tire (to have adequate pinch-flat protection without requiring excessively high pressure).

If you hadn't mentioned gravel, I'd probably say 28 is plenty. I ride a road bike with 25mm tires (I weigh 150) on dirt and crushed-stone roads occasionally, and with some care it's fine. But gravel, depending on the size and type of stone and the manner of road maintenance, can be a very different matter. Sharp edges that can cause pinch flats are virtually the whole surface sometimes. So I'd go with 35 or at least 32.

I'm a little curious why you want this other bike. Depending on how you want to use it, I'd almost suggest a rigid-fork MTB rather than the hybrid. You can still get "decent speed" (what does that mean?) with inverted-tread tires of medium width at medium pressure, but you can handle the dirt and gravel with much more confidence.

winphoto1 · Aug 6, 2013

Thanks, JCavilia. I don't post much, but I read the forums a lot and always value your thoughts and opinions.

I currently have a road bike for normal road riding and also a 12-year old Walmart "Mountain" bike that's ok, but very heavy and with wide, knobby tires. It's actually held up good over the years. A new hybrid would simply give me a nicer bike to ride around the neighborhood for a few miles, around some reservoirs we have close to us which have gravel paths around the tops (not a finely graded limestone, but a coarser graded stone). Maybe ride some finer crushed gravel paths instead of taking the road bike on those trails.

The "decent speed" comment was made so I have a bike to keep up with my young boys who are quickly getting faster than I am. Around 10-14 mph will be enough for this bike. Faster rides will be out on county roads and nice bike paths and then I'll use the road bike.

Thanks again!

Soaring Vulture · Aug 9, 2013

winphoto1 said:
Thanks, JCavilia. I don't post much, but I read the forums a lot and always value your thoughts and opinions.

I currently have a road bike for normal road riding and also a 12-year old Walmart "Mountain" bike that's ok, but very heavy and with wide, knobby tires. It's actually held up good over the years. A new hybrid would simply give me a nicer bike to ride around the neighborhood for a few miles, around some reservoirs we have close to us which have gravel paths around the tops (not a finely graded limestone, but a coarser graded stone). Maybe ride some finer crushed gravel paths instead of taking the road bike on those trails.

The "decent speed" comment was made so I have a bike to keep up with my young boys who are quickly getting faster than I am. Around 10-14 mph will be enough for this bike. Faster rides will be out on county roads and nice bike paths and then I'll use the road bike.

Thanks again!

I have 28's on my hybrid and it works fine on dirt trails. I use it for commuting and can hold 16-18 MPH on pavement. I tried my road bike with 23's on the same trails and it was horrible. But, as one may expect, I get tons more speed on pavement.

David Loving · Aug 9, 2013

I'm amused at the new "gravel Bikes" Mine is a CAAD5 triple with 28s. works just fine on dirt, gravel, stones out in the country. But it's not a hybrid

Social Climber · Aug 9, 2013

I have 32s on my hybrid. Seems like a pretty common size for hybrids and works well on most surfaces. Though when I am riding the hybrid I am not exactly out to crush speed records.

Dunbar · Aug 9, 2013

I would say go with at least 32mm tires for a secondary bike like a hybrid. I use 700x35 Vittoria Voyager Hyper on my townie road bike (it looks like they no longer offer this size.) Great tires and the ride is smooth at 45-55psi. The rolling resistance is very good too. No exaggeration, they roll almost as well as the 25c GP4000s tires on my carbon fiber road bike. I might actually have gone wider if I wasn't rolling 622x15c road rims since I welcome a cushier ride when I'm not hammering away on the carbon bike.

Tachycardic · Aug 10, 2013

I ride 700c x 32mm slicks on my hybrid and find that it's great if you're riding mostly on blacktop. There have been times when I've ridden on trails and wished for something wider as the 32s dug into the softer stuff. If you're looking for an all-around tire size, I'd say go 35-38mm slicks, or 32mm gravel clincher.

Best Tire Width for Hybrid / Fitness Bike?

winphoto1

Mike T.

headloss

JCavilia

winphoto1

Zen Cyclery

Jay Strongbow

JCavilia

winphoto1

Soaring Vulture

David Loving

Social Climber

Dunbar

Tachycardic

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