Rims and tires and spokes, oh my!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Bike also comes with All Terrainasaurus tires, 700 x 32c. I know I don't want those tires as I'll be 99% on pavement/asphalt/road.

I was reading how 700 x 32c has nothing to do with size/width of the tire but is some tire manufacturing code. So, does anyone know if these sized tires are fat, medium or thin (like rode bike tires). And will my next tires have to be the same width to fit on the rims?

And lastly and most important, based on the rim size any suggestion for a mainly road tire that will fit my new rims?

700 x 32cm tires are a medium-wide tire. I have 700 x 38cm on my bike, but I will be changing them eventually to slightly less wide than the 38's. I have wide tires because I was a new rider nad we were going to be riding a LOT of rough gravel roads, and I was very nervous about skidding and flats.
Now I am a bit more confident on my bike. DH and I still ride lots of rough gravel, and so we don't want to go skinnier than a 28cm wide tire to avoid flats. DH recently changed from a 700 x 38cm tire to a 32cm wide tire, and he really likes those. They are faster but can still handle monster gravel without flats. (did the test of fire yesterday!). A 700 x 25cm for example would have likely flatted out on us. I plan to change soon myself to the 32's.

But your situation can handle a slightly thinner tire, since you say most all your riding will be on asphalt. So for you, I would second Knotted's recommendation of 700 x 28cm tires- definitely not slower wide tires, but not dinky/racey and flat-prone either.

[Veronica]

I did some mud and gravel yesterday on my 23, 27 combo. That's a 23 in the front, 27 on the rear. I wouldn't recommend it. But it certainly can be done if you're careful.

V.

[Veronica]

but not dinky/racey and flat-prone either.

Knock on wood, but in two seasons of riding 23s, I've only had two flats - a double actually, when I was riding on a bike trail through a seedy part of town and picked up glass in both tires. Kind of hard to avoid when it has been distributed across the entire trail.

V.

[Mimosa]

Looking at the bike and the pavement you are going to ride on I would say low-profile 700x28c. And a tyretype with cevlar in it could help to keep of the punctures.

[BeeLady]

Thanks for the info - got it on 32 being wider than 28s. Now I know what direction to head. I can change the tires back to 32s if I ever do any off-road stuff.

Probably will shoot for a 28 and Kelvar sounds good if my LBS has it. Can't wait til I know enuf about all this stuff to look for deals on-line!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

The 700 x 28cm with Kevlar sounds just right for you in my opinion.

[KnottedYet]

Rode 10 miles on my new Vittoria Randonneur tires. They have completely changed the way the ride feels!

Smooth as butter, smooooooth.

I ran over parts I knew were juddery and twitchy, and Flosshilde just sailed through. Lower pressure does nice things for my erratic bumpy riding style.

I didn't notice a huge difference from the increased traction/tread, except maybe a tendency toward tracking straighter? Or maybe feeling more stable going around corners?

No slowing down from the lower pressure or tread that I could notice.

I really like these tires!