Long story short, my climbing bike, which I need for a race in two weeks, is narrow in the rear. A 25mm conti 5k tubeless won’t fit. I bought these 24mm Vittoria tires but both lost a two inch long chunk of the outer tread within 200 miles! I don’t trust them to do long descents.
Anyone know of a narrower 25mm tire that will work?
Specialized Turbo Cotton with a latex or tubalido. Slight and narrow and fast
I have Michelin Power 25 mm on my 2009 SLC-SL where Conti 5000 in 25 mm was to large. Michelin is of a slightly smaller diameter.
Did I understand your question correctly?
Think you are going to be limited for options for good sub 25mm tubeless tyres.
I think you might be better of sticking a tube in unfortunately.
Yes you did! I’ll give it a look. Thank you!
Either way, I still need a narrower tire. Any thoughts?
If with tubes then Gp5000 in a 23mm or the turbo cotton in a 24mm
Avoid tubeless for skinny tyres. In my experience the sealant fails.
Get some TPU tubes and a descent clincher tyre.
I did a 23 GP5000 rear and 25 front with latex tubes on my 2012 Cervelo R3.
I also would not do tubeless in narrow tires, do latex or TPU tubes
I hear you, but tubes aren’t an option. I’m a heavier rider and our roads are rough as hell. I get constant snake bites.
I get you, but you might check around as most people did not like tubeless in skinny tires. The air pressure in the skinny tires overwhelms the sealant, it just sprays out and doesn’t seal. If you are getting snake bites with tubes it likely from running too low of pressure.
For example @ 215 pounds or 97 KG I would run 100 - 110 PSI in tubes and would inflate before every ride. This would keep me from getting snake bites except for extreme cases.
I can’t believe nobody’s said it yet….. but it sounds like you need a new bike.
Amen to that! Ironically, I have a custom job that should have been here months ago, and will in fact finally arrive about two weeks AFTER my race. That bastard will allow up to 50mm tires. Problem solved - just not for this race!
That’s exactly why I’m trying to find a slightly smaller 25mm than the conti. I just need a tiny amount of clearance. Definitely not looking to go back to 23mm. Running at higher pressure with a tube on these roads will so painful that I might as well not race. It’s 210 miles on rough roads. Constant snakebites were what drove me to tubeless to begin with, even at those pressures.
Thanks for the help. I’ve ordered some tires and hopefully one of them will fit!
The GP5000 S is pretty much the narrowest “25mm” tire they have listed on Bicycle Rolling Resistance.
I’m guessing this is a rim brake bike? What skewers are you running? Using a Dura Ace skewer may help to keep the wheel dead straight.
I don’t know how much you weigh, but a tubeless tyre at 23c wide only allows you to drop the pressure by about 2-3psi relative to the tubed.
I ran some numbers with the zipp calculator: at 95kg with a 10kg bike your recommended tyre pressure is 98psi rear, 92 on the front.
(I’ve used the calculator to great effect personally - it gets you in the right ballpark)
If your tyre pressures are too low it will make the bike less comfortable as you aren’t getting the suspension effect from the tyre - you effectively go through the travel of the tyre and bottom out. If you’re getting snakebites that’s a sign your tyre pressures are very low and you need to increase them regardless.