Tyre rolling resistance - fat beats skinny

Rolling resistance is the force that you have to overcome to get your tyres to roll fast. Ideally you want as little resistance as possible, so you want tyres with very low rolling resistance. 

But how do you know what affects rolling resistance and ultimately gives you the lowest rolling resistance possible? Well you need to consider the tyre compound used, spacing of the tread pattern, width of the tyre and the tyre pressure that you run. Tyre pressures are a closely guarded secret by pro MTB and downhill riders, they will hardly ever tell you what pressures they use. Team specialized makes an annual trip to South Africa every year and spends several weeks doing tyre testing with their pro riders on the trails in Stellenbosch.

Most of the views out there are just theories with little published information. However there is one very useful test on tyre rolling resistance published in a German MTB magazine and kindly translated by www.bicicletta.co.za. This useful test looks at wide vs narrow tyres, low vs high pressure and how tread patterns and surface conditions affect rolling resistance. Skinny and hard is for the roadies, if you are ride MTB off-road then you need fat and soft to go fast - don't believe me? - check out the full test

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