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Road tyre advice

MakmMakm Posts: 14
edited June 2008 in MTB buying advice
I'm doing the C2C route from Whitehaven to Sunderland at the end of June. I've got a GT Avalanche 3.0 with Kenda Nevegal tyres but as there is a lot of road riding on the C2C I'm looking at buying a set of semi-slick tyres.

After searching the forum I'm looking at these 2 as possibilities:
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1008&categoryId=132#
http://www.merlincycles.co.uk/?fn=product&productId=1022&categoryId=133

Anyone got any other suggestions or advice?
http://www.justgiving.com/longwayacross

Posts

  • robmanic1robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Racing Ralphs are pretty good IMO, haven't tried the Furious Freds yet, might get some for when the summer gets here!
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • SplasherSplasher Posts: 1,528
    Unless you're permanently converting your bike for road-riding, get the Panaracers as they're cheaper. No offence, Robmanic1, but don't buy Racing Ralphs at £25 a tyre to wreck then on the road.
    "Internet Forums - an amazing world where outright falsehoods become cyber-facts with a few witty key taps and a carefully placed emoticon."
  • robmanic1robmanic1 Posts: 2,150
    Non taken Slash, I get mine cheap!! :wink: Not had 'em for long so can't comment on longevity.
    Pictures are better than words because some words are big and hard to understand.

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/34335188@N07/3336802663/
  • MakmMakm Posts: 14
    Splasher wrote:
    Unless you're permanently converting your bike for road-riding, get the Panaracers as they're cheaper. No offence, Robmanic1, but don't buy Racing Ralphs at £25 a tyre to wreck then on the road.

    Yeah, the Racing Ralphs seem a tad expensive.

    Also saw these two:
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5300003704&n=Continental%20Traffic%20Tyre
    http://www.wiggle.co.uk/ProductDetail.aspx?Cat=cycle&ProdID=5360018714&n=Continental%20Continental%20Double%20Fighter%20II%20MTB%20Tyre

    The 'Double Fighter' sounds ideal - anyone got any experience with them?
    http://www.justgiving.com/longwayacross
  • BlackSpurBlackSpur Posts: 4,228
    Travel Contacts are VERY good, and get my vote without a doubt
    Tilmann Waldthaler, World Touring Cyclist wrote:
    The Continental Travel Contact is the best thing I have ever had on a bike
    "Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." ~James E. Starrs
  • janwaljanwal Posts: 489
    Makm,have a look at the Vredestien spider max like here for example http://www.freemanscycles.co.uk/product ... ider%20Max
    Have had mine 5 years and are still going ,infact it's the only tyre i have really used for all types of riding with the side knobbles giving enough bite when needed..I've only had two punctures in that time and the new max version is supposed to be nearly puncture proof.
  • NorwegianBlueNorwegianBlue Posts: 484
    Any tyres with slick centres and knobbly edges are a waste of time. They seem to be based on the totally false assumption that you will always be upright on tarmac. Slick or file type centre treads offer little grip on loose surfaces or mud. The knobbly shoulders and square profile are potentially lethal when cornering quickly on tarmac especially in the wet. They are faster than knobbly tyres when upright, but that just means the difference between straight line and cornering performance is even more pronounced. So in other words they are little better than full knobblies on tarmac.

    A more hybrid sort of tyre works well enough off road in dry conditions, but their profile and tread is better suited to tarmac work. I know the terrain isn't the same here in the south penines as the C2C but I have found Spesh Crossroads to work quite well on the bridleways round here in dry weather. For a slightly more knobbly tyre the Conti Traffic looks quite good.

    The only trouble with this sort of tyre choice is that it can all go horribly wrong if it starts raining.
    "Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker
  • MakmMakm Posts: 14
    NorwegianBlue wrote:
    A more hybrid sort of tyre works well enough off road in dry conditions, but their profile and tread is better suited to tarmac work. I know the terrain isn't the same here in the south penines as the C2C but I have found Spesh Crossroads to work quite well on the bridleways round here in dry weather. For a slightly more knobbly tyre the Conti Traffic looks quite good.

    The only trouble with this sort of tyre choice is that it can all go horribly wrong if it starts raining.

    I was looking at the Specialized Crossroads at the weekend and I might go for those but are they really that bad in the wet? Are they fast rolling on the road?
    http://www.justgiving.com/longwayacross
  • NorwegianBlueNorwegianBlue Posts: 484
    Makm wrote:
    NorwegianBlue wrote:
    A more hybrid sort of tyre works well enough off road in dry conditions, but their profile and tread is better suited to tarmac work. I know the terrain isn't the same here in the south penines as the C2C but I have found Spesh Crossroads to work quite well on the bridleways round here in dry weather. For a slightly more knobbly tyre the Conti Traffic looks quite good.

    The only trouble with this sort of tyre choice is that it can all go horribly wrong if it starts raining.

    I was looking at the Specialized Crossroads at the weekend and I might go for those but are they really that bad in the wet? Are they fast rolling on the road?

    They're great on wet tarmac, but their mud clearing ability is limitted so they quickly become little better than slicks in muddy conitions.
    "Swearing, it turns out, is big and clever" - Jarvis Cocker
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