The tyre thing again

Kieran_Burns

Has anyone else got the Specialized Tricross Sport?

Did you swap the original tyres over to something 'quicker'

Yesterday on my first leisure ride in a year I was on a long (2 miles!) downhill and I was struggling to get above 26. I DID hit 29 on a very sharp little descent but that took some serious effort, I can't help but think that I'm using slower tyres - something I've never considered seriously before.

The stock ones are 32c CX style, I have some 32c road tyres (Conti City thingies). Would i see an appreciable improvement in speed / lessening of effort) if I swapped them?

I want to keep 32c as I have that off road 4 mile section that narrower tyres have proven to be poor on.

As an aside: One thing I did notice on the ride was that I've finally got more confident leaning into bends, even on these square tyres!

always_tyred

Yes, yes and yes.

What's the offroad section like? I manage a rocky/gravelly ca. 1 mile section on slick 28c's, although not when its particularly wet.

Absolutely couldn't manage with grass or wooded singletrack though, even if slightly wet.

Kieran_Burns

Always Tyred wrote:

Yes, yes and yes.

What's the offroad section like? I manage a rocky/gravelly ca. 1 mile section on slick 28c's, although not when its particularly wet.

Absolutely couldn't manage with grass or wooded singletrack though, even if slightly wet.

Remember that post of my commute I did where I got a polite pasting for being such a lucky bugger? :P

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=commute

shows the bridleway - there are some rough road sections to navigate as well

always_tyred

The photos look similar to what I navigate, only flatter (grip can be a slight issue if there are any rises). I have to pick my way though a rocky section at a field entrance, but on stuff like that I'm going full bore on the straights (slicks + gravel = slow cornering).

I am slightly mad though. I was at Glentress a few weeks ago, doing single track on slicks.

DavidTQ

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Yes, yes and yes.

What's the offroad section like? I manage a rocky/gravelly ca. 1 mile section on slick 28c's, although not when its particularly wet.

Absolutely couldn't manage with grass or wooded singletrack though, even if slightly wet.

Remember that post of my commute I did where I got a polite pasting for being such a lucky bugger? :P

http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopi ... ht=commute

shows the bridleway - there are some rough road sections to navigate as well

Not much help on your bike, I ditched my hybrid for a road bike long before I wore out the standard tyres that came with it.

But my road bike would do that section where you say roadies would be stuffed no problem on 23c gp4000s's. I assume the carbon forks and seatpost do their job well enough of dampening things down, as despite it being rough underfoot, the ride really doesnt rattle my teeth too badly . Ive got helmet cam clips somewhere of me going over stuff just like that.

That said I dont "belt along" on that sort of surface on the roady..

Jamey

I'm a Fellow Tricross Sport owner and I swapped the stock tyres (Specialized Borough CX, if memory serves) at the time of purchase. They're still sitting in my hallway and have never been used. Just kept them for emergencies but happy to sell them if anyone's interested

However, and this is where I probably become slightly less useful in the context of this thread, the tyres I swapped them for were (and still are) Schwalbe Marathon Plusses, so they're probably even slower than the stock tyres, albeit a shedload more reliable for year-round commuting with two full panniers.

Recently I've been wondering the same thing about speed but since my commute is very utilitarian (heavy panniers, as mentioned) I wouldn't see much benefit there, but for weekend leisure rides I have been toying with the idea of building myself some lightweight wheels with thinner rims and tyres.

Being a big chap I'd still need to have 36 spokes at the rear I think, but I could definitely get away with more dainty rims and tyres.

If you don't mind the slight threadjack, could some of you give me your opinions on how much of a noticeable difference I'd see from comparing the following two sets of wheels, please?

Current wheels on bike:
Tyres: Schwalbe Marathon Plus
Rim: Mavic A719 (touring rim)
Hub: Ultegra
Spokes: DT comp

Proposed new 'weekend' wheels:
Tyres: GP4000 or Ultremos or Pro Race 3 or something like that.
Rim: Mavic Open Pro (other suggestions welcome)
Hub: Probably Ultegra again or maybe 105.
Spokes: DT Comp again, for strength.

Opinions welcome. What sort of difference will I notice from those new wheels? Bear in mind I'm a fat lardarse commuter, not a lithe roadie type

DavidTQ

Gp4000s's are wonderfull tyres, they may wear out faster than some, grip under braking, around corners and in the wet is amazing, puncture resilience is actually pretty good as well, as long as they are well inflated, although the puncture resistance area is a fairly slim area of the centre of the tyre it seems to be pretty decent puncture protection, unlike my previous "kontender" tyres which appeared to use tissue paper for puncture protection...

They really help improve the feel of the bike, and confidence in the bikes abilities, regardless of any speed gains they make for a great feeling bike!

tardington

I found the basic tyres just fine (went to thurso on them) but put on narrow-ish Marathon Plusses; definately faster, despite the weight.

sarajoy

How narrow do Marathon+s go? 25mm?

tardington

I just went to check mine - they are 28mm, which the bike shop man told me were the narrowest it was okay to fit to the tricross wheels...

TopSpin

I bought the Tricross last week although it's the single speed version not the Sport. I did feel pretty slow on the standard tyres & gearing (like I even got passed by several mountain bikers :oops: ) . I've ordered some GP 4000 in 25mm so I hope that will speed me up but I don't plan too much off-roading, canal paths at the most.

roger_merriman

sarajoy wrote:

How narrow do Marathon+s go? 25mm?

yup.

Kieran_Burns

this is odd - I've dug out the road tyres - conti city ride. 32c but they have a max rated pressure of only 80 psi, whereas the CX tyres are rated to 100.

Is this expected? I would've thought the Contis would be up at the 100psi mark as well