FAST TYRES TESTED
There’s no more cost-effective or easier way to speed up your bike for summer than a new set of tyres
One of the easiest and more cost-effective ways to boost your bike’s performance is upgrading your tyres - we test 16 to get you ready for summer.
Fitting fresh tyres is an easy upgrade and, depending on what you’re using already, it can make a massive difference to how your bike rides and feels.
It’s crucial to get the right ones for the riding you do and the performance priorities you want, so we spend all year riding and rating as many tyres as possible. That way now that spring has come around we can tell you exactly what you should be wearing this summer.
In terms of trends the performance of different sizes has been the biggest change in tyre technology in the past few years. While the exact stats vary depending on what rims you use, narrower (21-25mm) tyres are generally the most aerodynamic for fast riders. Their lighter weight means they accelerate faster for a more responsive, eager feel. Even the increased road rattle and skip – particularly at the higher pressures they generally need – mean they feel the fastest subjectively by tripping all your ‘speed sensors’ too.
Real-world and laboratory rolling road tests have repeatedly proved that fatter tyres at lower pressures can actually be faster on the surfaces most of us have to ride, at the speeds most of us can manage. That’s because each surface irregularity is proportionately smaller, and softer tyres use less energy to mould around them, leaving more momentum to keep you rolling forwards not bouncing you upwards. More tyre on the road more of the time also means better grip, so you can hold higher speeds more safely through corners.
Not all tyres are available in larger volume versions yet and they don’t fit in all race bikes either, so we’ve concentrated on 25mm options. We’ve tested 28mm or bigger options wherever they’re available and included those results in our reviews. Tubeless tyres are properly coming of age and finally delivering on their betterquality ride with self-healing, snake bitedodging puncture survival promises too, so we’ve tested the best of those options as well.
If you ride a ton of tyres, like we do, you would be amazed at the differences between them in speed, feel, ease of use, durability, grip and value, so don’t just rely on rows of stars to make your choice, make sure you read the whole review to find the best tyres for you.