Is 1.5” slick front and 1.95” knobbly rear tyre ok?

dazzawazza
dazzawazza Posts: 462
edited October 2007 in Commuting chat
My MTB commuter / general purpose bike needs new tyres, but I can’t afford (justify to wife) new Continental Travel Contacts at the moment.
I commute on the bike every Monday with it’s panniers full of work cloths for the week. On the other commute days I ride the road bike, unless the weather is especially bad.
I also use the MTB for occasional light off road, pub trips and shopping.
In the shed house I have a 1.5” slick tyre and a 1.95” knobbly tyre, both in reasonable condition. Can I use this combination on the bike for a few months or is it a bad idea that will also look ridiculous?

Comments

  • whome
    whome Posts: 167
    I have no idea if it's sensible at all, but if it were, then how about the other way round. Slick at the rear. Since that is the driven and probably takes more of the weight.
    Training, highway design and increasing cycle numbers are important to safety. Helmets are just a red herring.
  • richk
    richk Posts: 564
    I did ride a bike with mixed tyres (big nobbly at the back, something smaller/smoother at the front - probably iirc a mix of 2.35 rear, 1.95 front) for a while with little or no apparent side effects. I'd just suggest try it & see.
    There is no secret ingredient...
  • cupofteacp
    cupofteacp Posts: 578
    I'd suggest the larger tyre at the front.

    The large tyre will give better breaking and strearing if the road's are wet / greasy / covered in snow.

    Having the small one at the rear where most of the weight is will also allow you to travel faster
    15 * 2 * 5
    * 46 = Happiness
  • dazzawazza
    dazzawazza Posts: 462
    Thanks for the advice.
    Would the larger tyre at front combination still be ok for some light off-roading? I would imagine that traction would be lost when climbing hills / accelerating, but better for steering / braking.
  • whyamihere
    whyamihere Posts: 7,714
    It will be better off road with the knobbly tyre at the front. If you lose traction at the back when climbing, you'll have to put a foot down. If you lose traction at the front while braking going downhill, you're going to hospital.
  • John the Monkey
    John the Monkey Posts: 37
    Sheldon Brown covers this in his piece about tyres here.
  • baudman
    baudman Posts: 757
    John the Monkey wrote:
    Sheldon Brown covers this in his piece about tyres here.

    From that article (thanks John the Monkey) "If your front tire skids, it almost always leads to a crash. "

    This was what I was going to say. My gut feeling would be to put the knobby on the rear as a road tyre provides superior traction - but it all depends upon what surface you are riding on most of the time - and you are having a bit of variation there as you said. You mentioned 'occasional light off road' - so that seems to suggest most of the time on-road. Many people don't realise how grippy road tyres are on roads (VERY) and comparitively how non-grippy knobbies can be.

    If you are going to be doing similar multi-use/multi surface riding, perhaps some sort of composite tyre could be better (when looking at your next purchase). I ride on GEAX Evolutions and find them a good best of both worlds.
    Commute - MASI Souville3 | Road/CX - MASI Speciale CX | Family - 80s ugly | Utility - Cargobike
  • dazzawazza
    dazzawazza Posts: 462
    I found another 1.5" tyre and an old wheel that's out of true in the shed house. So I'm going to put 1.5" on the bike front and back. When I have time I'll fix the old wheel and put the big knobbly on it.
    This way if I want to do some light off road all I need to do is quickly change the front wheel.
    Not ideal but a cheap solution. Thanks for the advice.

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