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Science was telling us wider tyres were faster, we refuted this because they looked so slow
(www.cyclingweekly.com)
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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But it doesn't tell us why big squishy tires are faster.
in perfect coneitions the small tire is faster - but conditions are never perfect and the wider tire generally is faster because it is better at the common cases of imperfect. even in perfect conditions the difference is tiny and hard to measure on a bike. At least that is how I understand the science.
Better contact patch?
That only matters for acceleration doesn't it? If a race is about maintaining high speed then minimizing rolling resistance seems more important than maximizing friction.
Better acceleration does help, but yes, rolling resistance is definitely important. If two tires had equal rolling resistance, the wider one would probably still be better because there's less slipping.