Moutain bike Tyres for XC and road

Mapman
Mapman Posts: 254
edited June 2007 in Workshop
Hello all ,i fancy some XC and road trips on the mountain bike Noting too difficult, ie footpaths and bridle ways ,so need some grip ,but also would like to use tarmac in the same journey Any suggestions for tyres that would give me some grip off rd /but still roll fairly well ? Cheers

Comments

  • Unknown
    Unknown
    i'd be looking at something along the lines of anything of these: i'd be looking at a tyre which had a fairly smooth centre line of tread so that it ran on the tarmac well, but away from the centre, it had knobbles or decent grooves to cut into the softer ground that a basic off road track may have,

    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=18897
    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=9848
    http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=8527

    i expect the reality is that the tarmac would be taking up more of the time, so the bias would be towards that.

    also, there are plenty of touring / trekking tyres around which have a balance of smoother centre line and a bit of depth to the tread off centre.

    there are hundreds of options outthere . . . personally, i'm of the opinion that i'll not read tooooooo much into other peoples reviews of how well it grips in this condition or that condition. I'm more intrested in whether its puncture proof and how reliable it is . . .i'll look at a tyre and guess at whether it needs my needs or not in terms of tread, and if i buy it, i'll just run with it.

    sorry of that sounds like teflon shouldering the question.

    MTB eijit
  • monty_dogcp
    monty_dogcp Posts: 382
    There are a number of semi-slick MTB tyres, such as the Contis that are pretty good - they roll pretty fast but have side-knobs for grip and you'd be surprised how well they grip even in the soft stuff. Other options include the Michelin XC Hardtrail. A skinwall is preferable to a gumwall tyre because it's lighter and the carcass is more flexible - also, pump them up to max pressure if you need to go quick on the road.
  • Steve I
    Steve I Posts: 428
    Yeah, as Monty says, semi slicks are the way to go. I use Panaracer Mach SS on the montain bike for a mix of trails and roads. If it's dry, I'll go proper hilly mountain biking on them as well. Just remember to corner carefully on them on tarmac or you'll be on the side knobs and they might let go, painfully. They're also no good for muddy off road if there are lots of steep hills (obviously).
  • Crankycp
    Crankycp Posts: 11
    Agree with all the above. I've been using Continental Travel Contact on an MTB used for light/moderate touring over the past year. They're quiet and quick on tarmac and have held up well on some pretty rough off-road trails too. Also very p*****re resistant.

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