6 Point Road Bike Tyre Buying Guide

The contact point between your bike and the road is the all important element to get right on a road bike to give you maximum performance and safety. There are several ingredients that go into making the best road tyre choice for your bike and we’ll cover them here in this guide.

1. Road Bike Tyre Sizes

Unlike other bike types like MTB and BMX, road bike tyres come in a very small range of sizes. One major factor is that road bikes are quite literally for the road unlike BMX/MTB which can cover a huge variety of terrains.

Size wise you’re looking at most bikes using 23c, 25c and 28c. There are larger and smaller sizes but most fall into this race (obviously on a 700c diameter wheel!). The reason for such thin width tyres is rolling resistance, less tyre touching the road at any one time means less rolling resistance.

2. Road Bike Tyre Tread Patterns

The choice of patterns available to the road cyclist is many but also few. Smooth is the order of the day and tread is more about water displacement than grip. Maintaining a solid contact point in all conditions while balancing the need for lower rolling resistance is paramount.

3. Road Bike Tyre pressures

Road bike tyre pressures are in a word, high. Having higher pressures (obviously within the manufacturers guidelines) means less resistance and a faster rolling speed. All well and good but if you’ve a rough surface sometimes running too high a pressure can have negative effects with a consistant contact area especially while cornering. Be aware of your terrain and adjust the pressure accordingly.

4. Road Bike Tyre Protection

Everyone hates a puncture but perhaps none more so when you’re chasing times and could be a long way from home or help. Luckily manufacturers know this and many road tyres come with protective layers embedded within the tyre matrix. However, as is the way there is a trade off of weight vs. protection. That said some protection is better than none but even the toughest tyre can be susceptible to a nail or screw ruining everything.

5. Clincher Tyres

Clincher tyres are what you’ll find on nearly every bike type. You could call them the typical tyre type for bikes. The name comes from the design of the tyre and how it hooks under the wheel rim and clinches on!

6. Tubeless Tyres

Tubeless is exactly what it sounds like. Going for the ultimate in performance benefits you have to go tubeless. No tube means less weight (and less rotational weight) however the trade off is when you get a puncture it’s way harder to get going again than simply swapping out a tube.

We hope the above guide gives you some indicators of what to look out for and prioritise when it comes to selecting your next pair of road bike tyres.

So why not check out your next Road Bike Tyres from our great range here at Click Cycle.