Do Cycling Tires Matter: Cycling Tire Guide and Upgrade Guidance

If you’re riding with a pair of tires that came with you’re bike, you may be wondering if there are any small changes that you can make on your road cycling setup that can help you keep up with the peloton. How do I decrease my overall weight? Do Cycling Tires Matter? Do upgraded tires last longer? Will changing my gear set affect my shifting speed?

These are all fair questions and in this post we will go into cycling tires in general and speak about road bikes in particular.

Before diving into it, we always do note with Routeonecycling that the fastest, most cost efficient and most time efficient way to get faster is to put more time on your saddle.

Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, we can talk about cycling tires and is it worth upgrading road bike tyres.

There is a lot of talk on Grand Prix 5000 tires, Gator Skins and Michelin tires for road bikes. We will go over Gator Skins and Grand prix tires as those are the most popular as it stands.

You will also learn about rolling resistance and weight of upgrading cycling tyres.

Do cycling tires matter?

Yes, when I upgraded my tires to Grand Prix 5000’s, I noticed a difference. The first thing was that it took me forever now to pump up my tires (though I am happy with my electric pump to make it easier) and they lose a little bit more air after a ride than my other tires that asked for less pressure in the tubes to run.

The other things that I noticed were that my overall speed increased. The tires are far lighter than the other set that I had on my bicycle. There is also less tread on them, yet there is more grip on the tires.

I don’t know how there is more grip, though I am more secure on the road when rounding corners.

After I timed my ride, there’s been an overall increase of 1 mile per hour on my rides.

The other thing that has made me really happy is that my tires have not blown out the same way that my earlier tires have. I train on Hawk Hill often, and deal with heating of rims with my rim brakes and perhaps I have learned to brake with both wheels to dissipate the heat or there simply is more resistance to the heat than my earlier tires, (Or I am now more confident with more grip on my tires which doesn’t cause me to lean into the turns as often) I am not sure.

All I know is that I was dealing with a blow out problem before, and now I do not with these tires.

The final thing is punctures. In San Francisco, we deal with many cycling issues on the ground. There are thorns around wooded areas of the city by parks. Burrs throughout that are blown from the palm trees in the city, broken glass from many visitors in the city that like to … see what is in other peoples’ cars that doesn’t happen to be the car that they own.

In the year that I have owned them, again, perhaps I am just getting good at knowing where these problems tend to be on the ground and routes that I go, but I am not dealing with frustrating slow leaks in the middle of long rides, or flats caused from rolling through a small piece of glass that punctures the tire.

Are they as strong as Gator Skin tires to stop flats? Perhaps not, though for what I want with a fast, slick tire that is great for dry runs on fun roads throughout San Francisco and Marin, they are fantastic and that is precisely why you buy a pair of them.

I was a bit hesitant before buying a new pair of tires, and will always remember my buddy telling me that the first thing I should replace when buying my bicycle were the tires. It took me 2 years and too many miles of riding in between to get around to it, though I do see why.

Do Road Cycling Tyres Matter?

Yes, road cycling tyres matter. Whether you are choosing Gator Skin tires, Grand Prix 5000 tires, or other fantastic options, they do matter.

My main source of happiness from upgraded tires is to not always look at my tires wondering if there is a slow leak, or a small puncture after every ride.

I got particularly frustrated when I saw a malfunction in my past tires where the tread was actually a weak spot and you were able to see a very small amount of tube coming through.

Road Cycling Tires do matter when you want piece of mind, added speed, and a small amount of weight taken off of your set up.

If you are commuting, it may be worth to consider the puncture resistance as well.

Conclusion: Do Cycling Tyres Matter?

Yes, Cycling tires matter. They affect rolling speed, weight and puncture resistance in your bicycle set up.

For training road cyclists, they are a great addition to your bicycle.