Can slicks be used on light trails?

mympr02

Hi I'm very new to mountain biking, I wanted to get fit and shed some unwanted weight. Up until now the only exercise I've done is heavy lifting at the gym, so my CV fitness is crap. I am 18 stone so thought road running was a bad idea on my knees and shins. So biking was the way to go. I bought a Carerra fury which had continental gravity tyres on it which I have learnt are crap on the road. I bought some Schwalbe city jets as I live in Thornhill, Dewsbury and there are aload of country roads and paths near me. Now for my question, sorry about the long winded approach, I've found there are some trails near by, disused rail ways, canal paths and the like and was wondering would these slicks be up to these light trails?

Cheers!

supersonic

Yes, as long as is very light ie gravel and hardpacked surfaces. Anything rougher and you are lacking grip and tyre volume.

mympr02

Thanks mate, The tyres are 1.95 and the continentals were 2.3 is that aswell as the nobbles that make the difference?

supersonic

The wider tyres give more grip, and more cushioning, though 1.95 is fairly wide for a slick. Give it a go where you ride, see how you fair. Wtahc that front wheel sliding though, hard to recover!

supertwisted

I did much the same as you. My old Scott was gathering dust in the garage, so I decided to revive it. Thinking I'd only ever ride round on the road and cyclepaths, I whipped off the knobblies that were on it and fitted some Schwalbe Marathons (awesome on road compared to the knobllies that were on it).

Then I decide that actually, I'd rather like to hit the trails. Cue slapping of forhead and "d'oh". Not to be deterred, I thougt I'll just try it and see what happens.

So how do they cope? Well, not too bad considering what they were intended for. I've taken them round family friendly trail routes at a local forest, down a few bridleways, through some muddy bogs (more on that later) and of course pleny of road cycling too and from.
I've had one puncture, which ironically was picked up on road rather than off.
Grip, obviously, is a problem. As Supersonic says, on gravel and hardpacked terrain they are ok, but in thick cloying mud like we get this time of year, they just can't cope.
I tried to cross a flooded footpath a while ago. The water crossing was fine. but the earth on the other side had been churned up into a muddy bog. As soon as I hit that, the back wheel just span up while the front slid sideways.

As has been said, give it a go and take it easy to start with. Wet mud and grip aside, I think you'll be ok on canal paths and the like.

One tip, make sure you take a puncture repair kit or spare inner tube with you, you dont' want to be stuck miles from home on a dark winters night with nothing but the hissing of a flat tire for company.

dave_hill

mympr02 wrote:

I've found there are some trails near by, disused rail ways, canal paths and the like and was wondering would these slicks be up to these light trails?

Cheers!

You could try a half-way house like Maxxis High Roller Semi-Slicks. These have a "file" pattern centre section which has low rolling resistance, but heavily treaded shoulders so you have grip for cornering and changes of direction.

Or another approach would be something like a DMR Moto Digger. These have an all-over knobby tread, but the blocks are tightly packed which gives a lower rolling resistance. Great for hard-pack and fire-roads.

Bear in mind that if your bike had 1,95 tyres to start with, your rims MAY be a bit narrow for 2,35 - if they are too narrow, a bigger tyre will adopt a more rounded profile which may feel weird going into corners as it puts more stress on the sidewalls.

mympr02

dave_hill wrote:

Bear in mind that if your bike had 1,95 tyres to start with, your rims MAY be a bit narrow for 2,35 - if they are too narrow, a bigger tyre will adopt a more rounded profile which may feel weird going into corners as it puts more stress on the sidewalls.

No they had 2.3 to start with I've put 1.95s on!

cougie

I think its more to do with the way you ride.

I know we've had a club MTB Xmas race for a laugh a few times and road bikes with 23mm tyres did surprisingly well against MTBs !

Definitely give it a go - but start off gently !

The Spiderman

I have taken my road bike with 700c x 25c slicks for a bit of minor ,off road stuff,so I think you`ll be OK!

DV1

Its all a matter of speed !!! if you take it easy ,ride defenceivley you should be fine,

stubs

You could try putting a slick on the back and a nobbly on the front. This will give you front end grip but wont cut your speed too much on the road because most of your weight is on the rear its the nobbles on the back that slow you down most. Its what I have on my bike a lot of the time but I have a spare pair of wheels with different tyres on for the odd occasion that it rains and it might be muddy