What's the 'real world' difference between 60TPI tyres & 120TPI tyres?

cloggsy71

So, what's the 'real world' difference between 60TPI tyres & 120TPI tyres (& don't say 60TPI)?

I'm looking at some 700 x c35 CX tyres

TheBigYin

Usually about £20 a wheel...;)

less cynically, the greater the TPI, usually, the better the flexibility of the sidewalls of the tyre (more fabric threads allows less rubber in the sidewalls, and more flex - all of which aids comfort, and theoretically rolling resistance.)

So - with typical "Road" tyres, for a given pressure, the higher TPI tyre will ride "Softer", and will almost definitely feel more "in touch with the surface" giving better feedback in cornering etc. - Basically, think the difference between Schwalbe Durano's (wooden as a park bench) and Schwalbe Ones (pretty damned close to riding on tubulars)

Another benefit is that if the threads are finer, there's a chance that less threads will be "cut" if there's an invasive puncture (i.e. a thorn/peice of glass, rather than a snakebite puncture) - the fewer threads that are cut, the less likely that the tyre will end up being junked after a single puncture.

For 'cross tyres, it's mainly about the "terrain feel" and the cut resistance rather than the "comfort" - in that cross tyres are likely, if being used for their intended purpose - to be running at silly-low pressures anyway...

I know that the Vittoria's i've got on at the moment (there's 3 different treads, depending on the weather/conditions) are all 150tpi carcasses, and feel quite a bit more "responsive" and "in touch" with the terrain than the previous Schwalbes that were fitted - though the Schwalbe "Sammy Slicks" were the cheapie steel bead versions, which really wouldn't have helped their case...

ntnunk

@TheBigYin Thanks for that description. I've been wanting to pick up a set of Clement X'plor USH tires for the CX bike to put on my training/greenway/gravel wheels and I was trying to decide whether or not I needed the 120 TPI versions. I think I will go that route.

TheBigYin

I can vouch first hand for the difference on Clements - a friends got the Clement LGG's in the 120 on his cervelo - I had a spin on them and thought they were pretty damned good - maybe a little behind Conti GP4000 Black Chilli's, but that could just have been the rims they were on. So, I bought a pair for the "Project 1989" bike, but the skin-wall ones only came in 60TPI. They ride much closer to the "vanilla" Continental Grand Prix than the GP4000's - i.e. good training tyres, not race-day material.

Basic tread is identical on the two, though the 120TPI versions get a dual-density rubber on the LGG's (hard centre, sticky shoulders) - which also aids handling.

Wish I could have found 120TPI versions of the skinwall tyre

cloggsy71

ntnunk wrote: »

@TheBigYin Thanks for that description. I've been wanting to pick up a set of Clement X'plor USH tires for the CX bike to put on my training/greenway/gravel wheels and I was trying to decide whether or not I needed the 120 TPI versions. I think I will go that route.

These are the same tyres I'm looking at