Paris Roubaix tyres?

What size tyres do they use on Paris Roubaix?

Since I started riding a road bike again there are a lot of cobbles on my daily ride and it is shaking me to bits and feels like it is trashing my bike. I have 23mm on and I was just wondering if they go to a much heftier tyre for Roubaix.

To start with they will be using tubs. Secondly a decent ride, what the team normally uses and what stays inflated will be the priority. Comfort will be dealt with by double bar tape.
Some teams use differnt bikes. Tyres maybe be changed but rider comfort via them is not a big concern. Why not go to 25mm or bigger. You will loose nothing and gain comfort and efficiency. 25mm's roll better.
A decent, high spec 28 would be my choice.

If you've got room in terms of clearances you could even try cyclocross
tyres, depends on your frame and the brakes you've got. It does make
a big difference to the comfort, feels completely different from normal
road tyres.
I put some cross tyres on an old steel frame for someone who's doing
L'Eroica. Looked a bit odd but still fitted the frame fine.

Johnny

Johnsqual":3ndcn0sg said:

If you've got room in terms of clearances you could even try cyclocross
tyres, depends on your frame and the brakes you've got. It does make
a big difference to the comfort, feels completely different from normal
road tyres.
I put some cross tyres on an old steel frame for someone who's doing
L'Eroica. Looked a bit odd but still fitted the frame fine.

Johnny

Click to expand...

Not a bad choice I think

PROs use 27 mm tubulars, typically made by Belgian and French artisans (Dugast and that other one whose name I can't recall), some use the Vittoria pave 27 (not many). Pressure is 65-85 PSI... Boonen uses unusually low tyre pressure 60-65 PSI.
Nobody uses clinchers, if you are on clinchers, I recommend 25 mm for short easy section and 27-28 for real long shakers Paris-Roubaix style. 90 PSI, with clinchers you can't get much lower

I wasn't really thinking about changing my tyres, more that I was curious how the hell they survive it.

Though something with a bit more heft than the 23s might not be a bad idea. Though I don't think I could go bigger than 25 in terms of clearance.

Bear in mind that the professionals both have the opportunity to change
bikes if something goes wrong and probably don't use the tyres they ride
in a race like P-R much more than once.
It would be interesting to compare how often someone like you who rides almost every day on cobbles gets flats and has to change their tyres compared
to someone riding on normal roads.

ugo.santalucia":1es9kwjn said:

PROs use 27 mm tubulars, typically made by Belgian and French artisans (Dugast and that other one whose name I can't recall), some use the Vittoria pave 27 (not many). Pressure is 65-85 PSI... Boonen uses unusually low tyre pressure 60-65 PSI.
Nobody uses clinchers, if you are on clinchers, I recommend 25 mm for short easy section and 27-28 for real long shakers Paris-Roubaix style. 90 PSI, with clinchers you can't get much lower

Click to expand...

FMB are probably the tubs you're thinking of - popular on the cyclo-cross circuit (if you've got the cash) and easily spotted due to their orangey-red sidewalls.

Some Paris-Roubaix riders (Christophe Le Mevel, IIRC) have even resorted to using a cyclo-cross bike with meaty road tyres on.

David

Johnsqual":1k3p8ri9 said:

Bear in mind that the professionals both have the opportunity to change
bikes if something goes wrong and probably don't use the tyres they ride
in a race like P-R much more than once.
It would be interesting to compare how often someone like you who rides almost every day on cobbles gets flats and has to change their tyres compared
to someone riding on normal roads.

Click to expand...

Unrelated... I have done several long events on cobbles and never had a puncture.

ugo.santalucia":3652a2jy said:

Johnsqual":3652a2jy said:

Bear in mind that the professionals both have the opportunity to change
bikes if something goes wrong and probably don't use the tyres they ride
in a race like P-R much more than once.
It would be interesting to compare how often someone like you who rides almost every day on cobbles gets flats and has to change their tyres compared
to someone riding on normal roads.

Click to expand...

Unrelated... I have done several long events on cobbles and never had a puncture.

Click to expand...

I'd imagine the combination of lower pressure and frequent bumps would
make the chances of snake bite punctures higher. I ride quite a bit on cobbled roads here in Flemish Brabant, but I couldn't say if I wear out tyres or get flats more often.
I do know riding on cobbles is hard on other components, particularly for
inexperienced riders who try and change gear at speed on cobbles. Seen more than my share of mangled mechs. A lot of riders use a little device to stop the chain jumoing off the small ring and Tom Boonen apparently has his rear mech adjusted so he can't shift into the biggest sprocket, to prevent his chain jumping into the spokes.
So maybe these things are more important than tyre problems on cobbles...