The article discusses the trend of increasing road tyre widths over the past decade, noting a significant movement towards 30mm and beyond during major cycling events like Paris-Roubaix. It raises critical questions about whether wider tyres, despite their advantages in rolling resistance, compromise aerodynamics at higher speeds. With manufacturers like Pirelli introducing tyres ranging from 26mm to 40mm, the piece explores potential performance gains and the importance of frame and wheel design considerations, questioning how wide is too wide in the pursuit of cycling efficiency.
Over the past 10 years, road tyres have been getting wider, and wider, and wider. From 23mm to 25, then to 28, and now, slowly, the WorldTour is eking its way towards 30mm.
It's widely accepted that wider tyres can offer a reduction in rolling resistance. But bigger tyres are, well, bigger, and so aerodynamically they are also theoretically slower.
Naturally, that question led to others, including: Does a wheel designed around wider tyres ... offset the aerodynamic penalty enough to make it a no-brainer to ride 40mm road tyres everywhere?
How wide is too wide? Is there a tipping point at which wide tyres start to become slower overall? Or in contrast, are we being restricted by bike frame and wheel design?
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