Road Bike Tires On Cyclocross
The cyclocross bike s unique tires and brakes make it ideally suited for off road conditions giving greater range to the rider at the cost of on pavement speed.
Road bike tires on cyclocross. But cyclocross tires differ from road biking tires. Cyclocross and road bike wheel sizes are typically the same because the activity involves both road and off road terrain. The majority of cyclocross tires are available with a width ranging between 30 to 35 mm. Due to their texture and added knobbles cyclocross tires roll with improved traction and better grip.
Wheels will be 700c and tires will typically range somewhere in the 30 40mm width range with small knobs to grip loose surfaces as opposed to the slicks you ll see on dedicated road tires. And as many more road bikes become gravel bikes or endurance road bikes with disc brakes we thought and. Frame materials vary widely just as with the other bike types but for high end cyclocross frames carbon fiber is becoming a more prevalent material. A road tire is usually around 23 to 25 mm wide whereas a cyclocross tire is between 30 to 33 mm.
Fitting a road tire with an inner tube you need to change a tire of road bike with. Rim brakes are less common. Depending on the width you choose there will be improvements in some aspects while reductions in others. Cyclocross tires as we have already said are halfway between road tires and mountain bike tires.
The cyclocross bike is a hybrid of off road and on road performance. Generally speaking cyclocross bikes generally have slightly different geometry usually burlier parts and will always have knobby tires. Thinner tires make controlling the bike over sand mud and gravel nearly impossible and rim brakes can clog with dirt and debris or become too slick to effectively stop the bike. Like other road tires these tires are also available two versions.
Switch to road tires and you ve got a road bike. Cyclocross is a hybrid sport and the right tires can make a big difference in your performance. Higher tire clearance in the fork and frame allow the use of much larger knobbier off road tires that keep their traction in unpredictable terrain. We recently did a video on the differences between a cyclocross bike and a road bike.
Ideally if you re using a road frameset you need to consider tires that are as narrow as possible whilst being geared towards cyclocross.