Do all type of tires fit your bike? No way. Find out how to choose the right ones in the article below.
Tires are an important part of a bicycle. They not only support the entire mass of the vehicle and cyclists, but also make it easier to move on different routes. Besides, they also affect safety, ride comfort, and speed. Therefore, choosing the right tires is essential for you to have the best experience for your bike.
Types Of Bike Tires That Are Suitable For Each Type Of Bikes

Tires For Mountain Bikes
The general form of mountain bike tires is larger than regular tires (with a size of about 30 mm or more). In addition, the bicycle tire edges are etched deeper and larger to increase tire friction on the rocky terrain, dirt and sand roads.
In addition, mountain bike tires are not pumped too much like the tires of other bicycles, which is to create smoothness and better friction on off-road terrain.
Tires For City Bikes
This bicycle tire is designed with the highest durability. It is lined with extremely durable kevlar fiber, which serves for daily travel by bicycle in various difficult conditions on the street.
Besides, the design of this tire is almost like bicycle tires for mountain bikes; however, its flanges are less and thinner. In rainy or slippery road conditions, these flanges help bicycles have better friction to prevent bicyclists from falling. However, the size of city bike tires is equivalent to that of mountain bike tires.
City bike tires are frequently inflated to help bikes to move more smoothly on roads.
Tires For Racing Bikes
Racing bike tires are designed to travel on high-speed flat roads for racing purposes. Therefore, this type of tire is one of the important factors for the rapid movement speed of racing bikes.
The design of racing bicycle tires is usually smooth, without flanges, and small to maximum size (usually 18 mm to 25 mm) to minimize the friction of the road surface on the tires. This also reduces the bike’s weight to help cyclists achieve faster speeds.
In addition, racing bike tires are as often inflated as possible, with a pressure range of 110-120 psi, so that bicycles can move with “light speed.”
Tires For Road Racing Bikes
At first glance, tires of road racing bikes are almost identical to those of city bikes, which are very durable to travel a long way. Road racing bike tires are often designed to withstand heavy weights, move continuously for a long time, through many types of terrain and still keep riders feeling most comfortable.
The road racing tires are often made of multi-layer designs, with the inner layer usually consisting of extremely durable nylon layers and the outermost layer is a durable rubber layer with thin, short edges, stretching along the whole tire. This increases friction on rocky roads and reduces maximum friction on flat roads.
Tires For Cruiser Bikes
The bike cruiser, as its name suggests, is for the relaxing moments of the bikers. When riding on these bicycles, the main purpose of cycling is to relax on paved roads or inside parks.
The cruiser tires are designed to be larger than normal (equivalent to mountain bikes), but the flanges are optimally reduced. They are quite thin to help the bike balance well on paved roads in the park or next to the coast.
This tire type also has lower pressure than normal tires, making the bike move more smoothly and creating the most comfortable feeling for riders.
Tires For Fat Bikes
With thick layers of snow and ice-filled roads, if you want to travel by bike, you need a bike with tires with superior designs. Tires for fat bikes have a lot of big flanges that are close to each other to make bicycles move on snow-covered roads.
In addition, there are thorny on all floating flanges to increase traction on slippery freezing roads.
Things To Keep In Mind When Choosing Bicycle Tires
Tire Size
Each bicycle tires has its own size and manufacturer specifications, and you need to be aware of them when buying bicycle tires. Tire sizes are usually embossed on the surface of bicycle tires in the form of 26 x 1.95, in which:
- The first number is the inner diameter of the tire in inches.
- The second number is the width of the tire in inches.
For example, in the above case, the size of the inner tire diameter is 26 inches, and the width of the tire is 1.95 inches.
Note that replacement tires only need to be the same diameter as the old tires, but the width may vary depending on your preference. For example, in the above case, you can buy a 26 x 2.1 tire to replace the old one.
The larger the width of the tire, the greater the ability to withstand the pressure of the bicycle. With a large tire, bicycles can move on bumpy roads with better smoothness and high friction. Therefore, it seems safer than a small tire.
However, the large tire also has the disadvantage that it creates too much friction with the road, making it moves quite slowly.
Tire With Or Without An Inner Tube
The appearance of tubeless tires makes the riders have more tire options. The decision to choose a traditional tire or tubeless tire is not easy. Compared to traditional tires, tubeless tires have the following advantages:
- No fear of puncture
- Can move at lower pressure, increase friction on rough roads
- If the tire is punctured, the inner glue will fill
- Lighter than traditional tires; reduces the weight as well as the resistance for bicycles, making it easier for riders to move at faster speeds
However, tubeless tires are usually quite expensive, and for some city bikes, the installation of tubeless tires is not necessary.
Tire Width
Some people think that the front and rear wheels are the same sizes, but the truth is that many bikes have completely different front and rear wheels. The front tires are usually larger to increase control ability, while the rear tires are usually smaller and lighter.
Here is the effect of each type of tire size (here we talk about tire width):
Narrow tires (1.8 – 2.1 inches)
- The friction is quite low, especially on rough terrain or sand
- Easy to accelerate, climb fast, easy to stop and change direction due to the small weight
- The level of protection of the rim in rocky terrain and trail is quite poor
Moderate wide tires (about 2.2 – 2.5 inches)
- The level of friction on rough terrain or sand is quite good
- Create a smooth feeling when moving because the air volume in the tire is large
- Slow acceleration, climbing, stopping and changing direction
- Enhance the protection of the rim for large wheels and large air volume
Wide tires (2.5 inches or larger)
- Protect the rim in the most effective way, have high friction
- Create the quietest feeling because the air volume in the tires is very large.
- The ability to accelerate, climb, stop and change direction is poor.
Above are some things you need to know about a bike’s tire. Just Not Sports hope that they help you have the knowledge to improve your bike and buy tires that fit your needs.
Besides the article about tires, Just Not Sports have many other related ones to help you choose a perfect bike. They are useful, so make sure you read them before going to the bike shop. Wish you a safe bike ride.