Road Cycling Tips

Rolling resistance, sometimes called rolling friction or rolling drag, is the resistance that occurs when a round object such as a bicycle tire rolls on a surface. Factors affecting rolling resistance includes tire pressure, tire diameter, tire material, tire tread and tire width.

• The higher the tire pressure, the lesser the rolling resistance.
• The bigger the tire diameter, the lesser the rolling resistance.
• The more flexible the tire material, the lesser the rolling resistance.
• The smoother the tire tread, the lesser the rolling resistance.
• The thicker the tire width, the lesser the rolling resistance.

So even though typical road bike tires are thinner than mountain bike tires, they can be inflated to a much higher pressure, thus negating the rolling resistance advantage the wider mountain bike tires have.