Attack // Force tire style narrow front wide rear tire

[ReapThaWhirlwind]

So, I had someone slash one of my brand new Pirelli P7 Sport tires. It looked like someone used a razorblade and the gash was through to the casing. I had my other 32c Pirelli P7 Sport tire set, from which also the rear tire was vandalized. I decided to combine the two sets looked up any insight on running this style. I found that the Continental Attack Force tires are exactly this, although typically only 2mm difference. I feel like acceleration definitely increases with this style, which would make sense since there's more grip surface for that using the wider tire in the rear. This now might explain for me why people are compelled to believe that wider tires roll faster, despite that there's more friction. This might solve that conundrum. This style might also solve the conundrum around why they began making 26c tires. It's so you can run this style with 2mm difference between the front and back with a 28c tire in the back. I am intrigued to try that next and compare to this.

Running this style there's definitely more comfort, and it's also more aero with the narrow tire in the front. I feel like handling is really good. I am running the rear at max psi, which I believe is like 87psi and the front at around 90/95psi. So they are incredibly close. I have really enjoyed the experience so far.

Anyone else familiar with this? I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

[Logan-Kane]

Interesting setup! Mixing tire widths like that makes a lot of sense, with better grip in the rear and improved aerodynamics up front. Glad to hear it’s working well for you. Definitely worth trying!

[meamoantonio]

(06-01-2025, 12:47 AM)ReapThaWhirlwind Wrote:  So, I had someone slash one of my brand new Pirelli P7 Sport tires. It looked like someone used a razorblade and the gash was through to the casing. I had my other 32c Pirelli P7 Sport tire set, from which also the rear tire was vandalized. I decided to combine the two sets looked up any insight on running this style. I found that the Continental Attack Force tires are exactly this, although typically only 2mm difference. I feel like acceleration definitely increases with this style, which would make sense since there's more grip surface for that using the wider tire in the rear. This now might explain for me why people are compelled to believe that wider tires roll faster, despite that there's more friction. This might solve that conundrum. This style might also solve the conundrum around why they began making 26c tires. It's so you can run this style with 2mm difference between the front and back with a 28c tire in the back. I am intrigued to try that next and compare to this.

Running this style there's definitely more comfort, and it's also more aero with the narrow tire in the front. I feel like handling is really good. I am running the rear at max psi, which I believe is like 87psi and the front at around 90/95psi. So they are incredibly close. I have really enjoyed the experience so far.

Anyone else familiar with this? I'd definitely recommend giving it a try.

Do you run a power meter? i'm super intrigued to know any watts savings generated from a setup like this, I wanna see numbers, its a very promising and intriguing theory that I wanna test out too haha

[GirishH]

You guys are true bike geeks! :-)

I honestly believe that wider tires roll faster, even if there’s more friction. That’s why I’m out bikepacking on my 4-inch fat bike. :-) Sorry to digress.

I’m just curious—what’s the difference in width between the front and rear tires? @ReapThaWhirlwind