# Why does my tandem have such small tires?



## WFRTony (Mar 31, 2010)

Last Fall I purchased a used Santana Noventa. It has a brand new set of Specialized Armadillo All Condition 700x25C tires with a minimum pressure of 115psi indicted on the sidewall. According to my research, this bike was built with 700x26C tires in 1996.

My question is: Is there a reason that most tandems are sold with small/high pressure tires?

I ride 700x33.33 on my Soma San Marcos and 700x40 on my Surly LHT and they seem to roll just fine and provide a fairly comfortable ride. There seems to be plenty of room on the Santana to fit a 32 or 35 tire, but I was wondering if there was a downside to larger tires on a tandem.


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## MB1 (Jan 27, 2004)

Nope, skinny tires are just style and IMHO most riders would be better served with a wider tire. OTOH you do want to keep the pressure up in tandem tires so make sure whatever tire you chose is rated fairly high for the width.


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## WFRTony (Mar 31, 2010)

Would the Schwalbe Marathon HS 420 be a good choice for a 300# team? The 700x32C is rated for 90 kg @ 65-95 psi. I am assuming that I would want to run pressures closer to 95 than 65 psi.


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