Tyres suitable for recumbents and small-wheelers
The following table has been collated by John Lafford of the Arrow Bicycle Company to represent popular and available tyres that can be used on recumbent HPVs. Included at the end are three high performance 700c tyres at reasonable prices for use as rear wheels on recumbents. The data will also be relevant to small-wheeled bicycles.
Please note the following:
1. Some of the tyres are tested at pressures above the manufacturer's recommended pressure. This does not imply approval of operating tyres above the manufacturer's recommended pressure.
2. Most of the tyres are tested at several pressures to show the effect of pressure on rolling performance.
3. The 700c tyres shown are among the very best on the market. Most 700c tyres are not nearly as good as these. Some 700c tyres are awful. Do not be misled into thinking all 700c tyres are good just because the three shown are good.
4. You cannot assume that all tyres from a particular manufacture are fast or slow. Generally they have a range of rolling performance that does not necessarily have any relationship with their advertising literature.
5. General Rules for Good Rolling Performance:
A) Thin tread thickness tyres roll better.
B) Fat section tyres roll better.
C) Knobbly tyres roll badly.
D) Kevlar often gives poor rolling performance (except Vittoria).
6. For additional rolling resistance data see reports in magazines:
7. Thanks are due to the following for the loan of tyres for testing: Hilary Stone, Richard Grigsby, John Kingsbury, Michelin Tyres, Cambrian Tyres, Dillglove.
Testing Procedure
The tyre testing procedure involves rolling the tyre/wheel combination along a flat surface and so represents the real case of using the tyre on the road. The tyre is also loaded with a representative weight and rolled at a controlled speed. The speed of rolling is slow so that aerodynamic forces do not come into play.
The power to propel tyres along the road is directly proportional to the rolling Resistance Coefficient, the weight of the bike plus rider, and also the speed of the bike.
This link will open the table in a separate resizable window, so that you can easily correlate it with these notes. The table is zoomable and formatted to printout easily on two sheets of A4 paper. You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer to read the file. If you do not already have Acrobat on your system, you can download it free.
You can also view the same data but listed in descending order of efficiency. Alternatively, you can see the data listed alphabetically by the tyre manufacturer's name.
