Skinny Tyres/Wide Tyres?

dannyboycowe

I'm about to but a hybrid bike to commute from Stockwell to Thamesmead/Abbeywood (13 miles).

I've been driving the route for the past 3 months and noticed the sheer amount of potholes/sunken manholes and drains etc...

As I'm new to London and this type of riding, would skinny tyres take the impacts or just buckle? The reason I'm still considering them is the fact that I'll have a 26 mile round trip and any extra speed would be a bonus.

How much is the speed difference between skinny and slick mtb tyres?

BentMikey

For that sort of distance I would be serious about a road or audax bike - skinny wheels and tyres are far more than tough enough to take the punishment. What you'll gain over fat slick MTB tyres, you'll more than gain again by the better aerodynamic position of a road machine.

DavidTQ

Definetely road bike over hybrid distance in my opinion. My 14 mile round trip was made far more pleasant by switching to a road bike, its not justthe extra speed (which is a big bonus) its the comnfort and the "ease" of cycling on a good road bike, hills etc are simply easier on a good road bike I used to have to stretch after every cycle to prevent muscle pains, as soon as I got my road bike I no longer needed to it was just less taxing on the system still good for fitness as I make up for the lower strain with higher speed.

belgiangoth

danny, is that 13 miles one way? That's one hell of a commute! Even 13 miles return can be seriously tough. If you are thinking about a hybrid does that mean that you have MTB background, or are you relatively new to cycling?
Either way I suggest you look into a possible backup plan, maybe doing one of the journeys by public transport until you get used to the 26 miles/day? If you are new to cycling then I would further suggest that you wait until lighter and warmer weather to start communting (and buy good lights and a good lock).
For 26 miles a day I would want a racer - they get used in the paris-roubaix so they should hold up to tarmac in the UK.

cupofteacp

I know some on here feel that 13 miles is a long commute but I'm sorry I don't feel it is.

I'm on the wrong side of 40, got three kids who need to be got up in the mornings and put to bed at night and dog that needs walking morning and night.

In addition to that I run 3 to 4 times a week during my lunch break.

I do not call myself "fit", I drink, and eat what I like and weight 12 stone.

My commute is 15 miles across London, which I do on an old MTB, which takes between 40 and 55 minutes depending on which way the winds blowing and how much I've eaten or drunk the day before.

I would not recommend anyone getting an MTB for commuting unless his or her route is really “off-road”.

I don't know you're commute, and fully agree that if you heading up a mountain then 13 miles is going to kill, if you haven’t ridden a bike a in years then yes it will be difficult.

Why are you commuting? If any part of the reason is to get fit then getting the lightest bike will be counter productive.

If you’re serious and your going to do this everyday, you want something that won’t break, something that will take a hammering and keep going.

Are you going to be riding in traffic, will you need to carry anything.

Road bikes are great, but as you’ve said the route has potholes hit one of those when its dark on a road bike and you’ll be looking for a new wheel.

I would have thought a hybrid would make more sense.

BentMikey

Road bike wheels are tougher than that. If you're breaking wheels on potholes there's something wrong.

DavidTQ

BentMikey wrote:

Road bike wheels are tougher than that. If you're breaking wheels on potholes there's something wrong.

Id agree with that I can take speed bumps flat out with no prblems at all, an my wheels are those low spoke count type.

snooks

I've got a pair of Schwalbe City Jet 1.5 slicks (cheap from Ebay) on my 1995 (Rigid) Marin which I use to cycle 13 miles into work and 13 miles back again from Twickenham to Blackfriars....but due to the nature of my job (photographer) I'm not always in the office so I'll only be cycling this distance once or twice a week...I've tried it on big knobbly tyres on my other bike, and slicks make such a difference and can easily handle pot holes although because they are rock hard I try not to sit on my saddle if I do hit them :shock:
.

tiny_pens

The width of the tyres is near immaterial to the 'speed' of the tyres. In short a 35mm slick tyre that can be pumped to 120psi will be pretty much as quick as a 25mm tyre at 120psi. Its not quite as simple as this but for all 'practical' purposes the above is true.

OK so I'm not a physicist but hopefully this should point you in the right direction. The biggest factor in play is something termed rolling resistance. Rolling resistance is the idea that momentum is wasted as energy is dissapated into heat, sound and bizarely motion in the wrong direction (think vibration).

In short (as a generalisation) you should be looking at tread pattern (more tread = worse), and max tyre pressure (higher pressures = better) as a starting point. Weight affects things as well but this tends to affect acceleration more than top speed.

Some people will claim that larger diameter wheels (700c against 26") roll fasterbecause the wheel rolls further per revolution of the tyre and thus there is less friction at the hub. Again I believe this is such a small difference and for a commuting bike will probably be balance out as larger wheels will accelerate slower due to increased angular momentum. Note fatter tyres also suffer from slower acceleration. Plus some triathlon bikes have 650c wheels on.

I would try some low profile (slick) high pressure tyres that are still quite fat as you may find the extra comfort outweighs the slight performance loss. I had some really nice Kendo tyres that were 35mm (the same ones Marin fitted at the time) that I really liked on a previous bike but haven't seen them for sale of late. If you are stuck for ideas you might look at a specialized borough tyre (like the ones used on the Tricross). Its not bad.

HTH

Tiny Pens

BentMikey

Rolling resistance is only a small proportion for anyone cycling at speed. Bigger wheels also have slightly better rolling resistance because of the lower ramp angle, but again, it's minimal.

The main increase comes from better aerodynamics of skinny wheels and tyres, IMO, and even more so from the better body position on a road bike.

jokeyjon

I have been using a Cannondale hybrid on 700C*23 slicks for 5 years now. I'm 16 stone and carry far more crap on the bike than I should and I have never had problems with the wheels. Keep the tyre pressure high and (as mentioned elsewhere) you might want to be out of the saddle to hit a bump to keep the family jewels intact, but otherwise they have been great.

Bassjunkieuk

I'd recommend a road bike for that distance. I have recently upgraded mine to a newer, lighter model and have found the ride much easier. In fact I'm even taking a completely different route now as I used to avoid some of bigger hills in Crystal Palace on my old road bike as it was to heavy and the gearing didn't really go low enough for me, and I'd say I have fairly strong legs!

I've actually been quite surprised at the strength of the wheels on my bike, yes it can be a bit bumpy on the un-even surfaces but it was a positive joy on the newly re-laid section of Camberwell High Street!