Road Bike - running different sized front & rear tyres...

[prand]

Dumbass here has ordered 700c x 20 and a 700c x 23 on wiggle and it's too late to change it.

However I was thinking. Could this be a good thing? i.e the slightly wider tyre goes on front for extra grip and the thinner one on back for low rolling resistance. Or perhaps the other way round; fat at back to the driven wheel (like my car) and thin up front for better aerodynamics?

Or should I just return one of them and stop being so silly?

[beanbag]

A lot of people do this, albeit not on such extreme size differences.

I was running 2.3F 2.1R for a while but I'm on 2.1's all round now.

Makes a significant different for grip at the front while still maintaining momentum when climbing which I seem to be doing a lot of these days....

[Muzzlehatch]

Some people run a 25 rear and 23 front for a combination of better aero and more puncture resistance. It's up to you really if you want to go for the dragster look

[beanbag]

Muzzlehatch said:

Some people run a 25 rear and 23 front for a combination of better aero and more puncture resistance. It's up to you really if you want to go for the dragster look

Aero!?!?!!?

Yes, I can imagine it makes a massive difference!!!!

[prand]

Ah ok, so I could get away with it then, and I won't look like a complete wazzock (not that I can imagine the visible difference between a 20 and 23 is going to be massive).


Now I need to work out which is best, thinner at front or back....

[beanbag]

prand said:

Ah ok, so I could get away with it then, and I won't look like a complete wazzock (not that I can imagine the visible difference between a 20 and 23 is going to be massive).


Now I need to work out which is best, thinner at front or back....

Thinner at back and fat up front is the only way.

The other way around as suggested by the last person simply makes no sense. You get reduced grip under braking with a thinner tyre on the front and more friction on the rear therefore meaning harder pedalling with a fatter tyre on the rear.

[Paul1972]

beanbag said:

Thinner at back and fat up front is the only way.

Fully agree - far better to have the best grip on the front. If nothing else, losing grip at the front means you end up face first into the road. Lose the back and its quite possible to catch it after backing into a corner.... Moto GP styleee