tires/weight

[violette]

I need some advice; I have an OCR3, entry level bike. I was looking to upgrade to a Specialized Tarmac comp. Tried it on the weekend and loved it. My OCR is just 1 1/2 years old. But the Tarmac seemed a lot lighter and the tires were FAST.

My problem. Should I just upgrade the tires on the OCR? They are bigger than the ones on the Tarmac. It seemed like that was the difference between bikes.

[spokewench]

Rolling resistance in tires can make a HUGE difference in how a bike feels, i.e. how easy it rolls, how easy it accelerates. So, smaller tires can make a big difference in the way the bike may feel. I'm not sure what the weight differences are in the two bikes you are looking at.

Do you know? Weight is a huge factor in how a bike will accelerate and feel fast to you. However, less rolling resistance in tire size and lighter weight wheels will make more difference than just a lighter bike.

Hope that makes sense.

spoke

[rij73]

There is much more to the difference than just the tires. The Giant frame is aluminum and the Tarmac is carbon I believe... Everything on the Tarmac is going to be significantly lighter and smoother-functioning than the Giant. The whole wheelset too is lighter.