My bike uses a tire size of 700x23/25C. I understand that the 700 indicates the diameter of the rim. 23 is supposed to be the width of the tread which I believe means 23 mm, am I right? So what does the 25c mean?
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2Possible duplicate of What does the "c" in bicycle tire size mean? – ojs Aug 29 '17 at 17:22
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3@ojs nope - that's not a dupe because this is about two numbers for the tyre size, and not specifically about the c. – Criggie Aug 30 '17 at 08:15
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1Can you tell us what manufacturer and model your current tire is, and perhaps include a picture of the size info printed or embossed on the sidewall? – Argenti Apparatus Aug 31 '17 at 18:19
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Keep in mind that 2mm is hardly measurable. You can't get a repeatable measurement more accurate than that, especially on different rims. – Daniel R Hicks Sep 01 '17 at 12:13
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Some manufacturers (e.g., Specialize) offer two width measurements (e.g., 700x23/25c) to indicate that the carcass is 25 mm wide, but that the tread patch is equivalent to a 23 mm tire. I believe this is done to create a more supple tire (larger volume tires can be run at a lower pressure) while reducing rolling resistance.
Another possibility could be to indicate width/height profile differences. A tire profile that is perfectly found tire will be the same in both. I don't know if any manufacturers are doing this.
Rider_X
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1Another possibility is that the actual width of a tyre in use depends on the width of the rim it is mounted on. I haven't come across a manufacturer labelling then with a range though. – armb Aug 31 '17 at 16:41
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@armb I think a hyphen would make more sense to indicate a range. Slashes usually indicates a duality. – Rider_X Aug 31 '17 at 22:56