today's video I want to talk about tires and why fat tires a bear first though I've got some
errands to run so it's finally time to take it back to my gravel bike it's being repainted I've
got to send it off I need the copper box I don't know how I'm gonna carry it home yet is there well
I'm on my bike I'll figure out a way so this is the frame that's getting resprayed this is my
video Jana from last year it's got loads of little marks from the bike packing we were doing that's
just from the frame bags being attached the one I took across Australia so it's been through some
[ __ ] the guys from custom flow we're gonna do a sick paint job on it but I'm not going to say what
it is yet that'll be a surprise I probably need some bubble wrap for this done I sprayed now I did
say I was going to talk about tires this episode and I've ended up getting completely distracted so
let's get back on topic I think running fat tires on your road bike like 30 millimeter which is what
I've got on at the moment is one of the best things you can do now this does exclude racing
and going for stronger segments because it's not going to be the fastest solution but it's not that
much slower either now I started racing and riding in 2010 and back then most people were running 23
millimeter tires it was always GP for thousands super high pressure like 100 psi no one was
running to Bliss and to be honest we kind of had it all wrong now it might sound counterintuitive
but a skinny tire popped up to 100 psi actually has higher rolling resistance than a fat tire
even a 30 mil pumped up to 80 60 now obviously not every tire in the world has been tested
for there's some pretty good data on rolling resistance comm where they tested Continentals
and we can only assume the most slick racing tires have a lot of the same properties I'm going to
put some of that information here and down below in the description so you can look at it better
hey pickle I'm making a video about tires yeah what tires have you gone 23:23 yeah
why is it uncle 23 it's 20 20 very true but a lot of us are stuck back in 1980
1980 was even worse mate yeah probably no no okay - only two thousands then let's
get it right so I thought as we're out and about I would list some of the key benefits
to riding a wider tire one is way easier to ride off road see these guys are struggling
I'm just cruising pace this is dream I'm basically on a full stuff mountain bike
anyway - sits on the world's most relaxed bench it also inspires way more confidence around corners
I'm not sure exactly about the science involved but for sure when you're cornering it feels good
you can really push him and run right pressure do you know what reason number three is Tommy they
look cool that is they do look cool they look very cool they're like big fattie same reason
why monster truck looks good it means you can go anyway yeah do whatever you want what's it
I immediately regret my decision it also means you can run way lower pressures but still get the same
rolling resistance gains which therefore leads to more comfort and more fun you're like a parrot on
my shoulder I feel like a parrot on your shoulder what a parents say you know pickle there are some
cons to riding white tires though one of them you're experiencing right now which is I don't
fit on everybody's frames especially rim brake bikes 100% no sun-god mate they're also marginally
heavier because there's more rubber involved in the making of the tire as you can kind of predict
and the single biggest con is aerodynamics I'll get onto that later though the meantime man how
you could do that and just be like do you think 30 miles will fit in between a No no chance me
this bike is like I mean maybe I can cut that out yeah with the tire and then it will fit and
then be like ultra air will just shave it or just ride it loads with a fat tire yeah yeah exactly
and it'll be perfectly and then it'll be I mean it will be holy but it'll be Aero Oh a good friend it
might come out if you just start rolling should we see my friends that clinger owner needs to
be with his friends be freeing my face be free let's go pirates as I said earlier studies have
shown that why do you go generally the lower the rolling resistance of the tire is going to be so
the wider the tire is the less wattage is going to take to overcome that resistance on the road
well there's a plus for wide tires it's such a tiny tiny difference that it almost doesn't
matter talking between tire sizes as little as one watt of saving at 30 kilometres an hour that's for
the GP 5000 tyre I'll put that data down below aerodynamics is the other factor and it's much
more significant rolling resistance when it comes to your resultant speed because there's
so many different tire and rim combinations it's it's quite hard to find data that is relevant to
you but there has been loads of testing done but generally speaking having a tire that sits on your
rim nice and flush Korea - smooth edge is gonna be beneficial aerodynamics can be a funny thing
and the smallest features and tires and rims can make a big difference to so the tread of a tire
open to Butte is being sewn together and having a bit of an edge all of that can make a difference
to your result and speed modern rims like these hunts Andrew zips all tend to test pretty well
with twenty five mil tires at the moment putting a thirty on like I have it's it's really bulbous off
the edge of the rim and I'm guessing will test fair bit slower having said all that personally
it's not something I'm too worried about unless I was doing a TT or maybe a maybe a road race while
planning to go on a solo break most of the riding I do I'm riding with a bar bag anyway because I'm
carrying all my camera equipment and all of that stuff equally when you go out on a gravel bike
those tires on aerodynamic and you still cover ground so personally it's fairly low down on my
list of priorities and I'd rather be comfortable I've been doing a little bit more digging online
to try and see if I can find better data related to 30ml tires not just like 23 male versus 25
mil some Aero testing on some proper fat tires annoyingly all I've managed to find is a kind of
promotional video by specialized where they test things on a rover what they're basically trying to
sell some deep wheels but again even in their test the difference wasn't that significant we're still
talking like a couple of watts each way I'm sure with some more digging myself or one of you guys
might be able to find something but the main point I'm trying to make here is that the differences
are really really small even if you're looking at the arrow games which is more significant than the
rolling resistance for talking values as small as two to five watts per wheel which absolutely
would add up and is worth saving if you're doing a serious event but for your average weekend ride
just have fun so to conclude I love my 30ml tires I'm gonna keep riding him could ride
on the grass today had a great ride I'm gonna win today's video here really hope you enjoyed
it please like leave a comment down below what tire sizes are you riding I'll see you guys soon