Standard Road Bike Tire Sizes
Where you see a block of two or more compatible sizes having the same bead diameter you can assume that intermediate sizes exist that will also fit the same rim.
Standard road bike tire sizes. Mountain bike tyre sizes are usually stated in inches. The second smaller number is the tire s width. 23c 25c and 28c their width in mm. 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.
700 x 32c indicates a tire that has an outer diameter of 700mm and a width of 32mm. 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. Between 18 622 and 25 622 there are tyres of 19 20 22 and 23mm section. 26 iso size 559 is the most commonly used size for modern mountain bikes and is also used by many hybrid bikes.
This wheel size is the largest available for conventional bicycles giving a racing bike more stability at high speeds. Standard road bicycle wheel size today is 622 mm and it usually takes tyres of 23 622 or wider 25 622. Road bike tires generally come in three widths. Note that the c does not stand for centimeters.
Common road bike widths in millimeters come in sizes ranging from 18 to 23 with a typical road bike tire at 700 x 23. 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. As the width decreases there is less rolling resistance or friction and therefore is faster.
When shopping for road tires you ll look for 700c x your preferred width 23mm being the slimmest option and going up to 36mm. As the width increases the tire will have more contact surface with the road making it more stable and comfortable. A standard road tire is 700c x 23mm indicating a tire diameter of approximately 700mm and a width of 23mm. Typical road bike tire.
Some older road bikes still have the 27 inch size. 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. Finding the right inner tube depends on the size of the tires on your bike. It s a holdover from an old french system that designated tire sizes using the letters a b and c.
Because of the high pressure and desired low rolling resistance road tires come in narrow widths. The table below lists most of the sizes of tyre that are likely to be found in the uk.