Standard Road Bike Tire Sizes

As the width decreases there is less rolling resistance or friction and therefore is faster.

Standard road bike tire sizes. 700 x 32c indicates a tire that has an outer diameter of 700mm and a width of 32mm. The second smaller number is the tire s width. Today when off road bicycles with wheels larger than standard mtb wheels started to be popular it s wheels are marketed as 29 but in fact are 622 wheels with wider tyres so that outer diameter is close to 29. When shopping for road tires you ll look for 700c x your preferred width 23mm being the slimmest option and going up to 36mm.

The size of a bicycle wheel is usually measured using the tire size which comes in several stock sizes that are universal across the world. Note that the c does not stand for centimeters. Some older road bikes still have the 27 inch size. Between 18 622 and 25 622 there are tyres of 19 20 22 and 23mm section.

There are five tire diameter sizes that are in common use on modern standard adult bicycles. 26 iso size 559 is the most commonly used size for modern mountain bikes and is also used by many hybrid bikes. Because of the high pressure and desired low rolling resistance road tires come in narrow widths. Size used on some high performance road and triathlon bikes especially those designed for smaller riders.

27 iso size 630 is an older size that was used for road bikes but since so many bikes were built with this size it is still readily available. Racing bikes use the 700c size which has a tire bead set diameter of 622 millimeters. Typical road bike tire. This wheel size is the largest available for conventional bicycles giving a racing bike more stability at high speeds.

As the width increases the tire will have more contact surface with the road making it more stable and comfortable. So a 29 inch mtb tube will have the same diameter as a 700c road wheel while a 27 5 inch tube will be the same diameter as a 650b road wheel. While you can find a variety of bikes with wheel sizes ranging from 16 to 27 5 inches the most common sizes include 26 inches 27 5 inches 29 inches and 700c. Road bike tires generally come in three widths.

It s a holdover from an old french system that designated tire sizes using the letters a b and c. The table below lists most of the sizes of tyre that are likely to be found in the uk. Standard road bicycle wheel size today is 622 mm and it usually takes tyres of 23 622 or wider 25 622. Mountain bike tyre sizes are usually stated in inches.

Common road bike widths in millimeters come in sizes ranging from 18 to 23 with a typical road bike tire at 700 x 23. A standard road tire is 700c x 23mm indicating a tire diameter of approximately 700mm and a width of 23mm.