The Placebo Effect
I’ve never ridden my Surley with anything other than 700 x 28 tires until now. As I headed to work for the first time with the temporary 700 x 25’s Monday morning, I was immediately struck by how skinny they looked under my fenders. Then, I started noticing that they weren’t absorbing bumps the way the 28’s did, but they did feel more lively under me.
By the time I got halfway to work, I was sure those skinny tires were faster than the others. I felt like I was flying! I had lubed the chain over the weekend, so my computer got reset to zero. That meant when I got to work the average speed would be a true reflection of that commute rather than the accumulated number it usually is. I fully expected to see something greater than the 15.1 mph that it’s usually locked on from commuting.
When I got to work, I checked it with confidence that it would be a fast number! It was still only 15.1. I guess all that speed was just in my head.
Edit: Over the course of the last couple of days, my average speed on that bike has gradually climbed to 15.3 mph. Maybe they are actually a little faster. Who knows?
God bless…
TW
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March 28, 2012 at 7:28 pm
My 23c tires are nearly 5 minutes faster over 20 miles.
March 29, 2012 at 10:25 pm
One thing you need to check is the trip distance because there is a difference in diameter between 2 size tires. One of the things I do is on a route of a known distance I make frequently I check the hundredths digit on the trip meter to check my tire pressure to tell when I need to pump my tires. After a consistent trend of increasing by .03 miles on a 7 mile trip I know my front tire is low and needs to be pumped a bit.
March 30, 2012 at 1:12 am
It, is all in my head.
If you know what I mean.