Fast MTB slicks?

rustncogs

At nearly a year, I think it's coming up to time to replace the 26" slicks.
How do you tell if they really need to go anyway... Count the broken glass holes?

I'm having trouble choosing between a pair of Specialized All Condition Pro's @ £40-ish, or the Vittoria Rubino's @ £32-ish that I've just seen on the web. The Vittoria's look appealing for a slightly softer ride and maybe more cornering grip at 1.5 compared to the Specialized's 1.0 width, but I don't want to sacrifice any speed.

Or, third choice; a second pair of WTB 1.1 Slickasaurus. Silly name, almost no puncture protection, so soft and sticky the first few weeks that they pick up anything small and pointy, but fast, grippy and £20 a pair...

Decisions, decisions... Anybody used any of the above, have any tips?

Cheers!

andy83

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwa ... 300003750/

i had these on my bike and they were great tyres, no punctures and im also a heavy rider and stood up VERY well

bomberesque

I had Hutchinson top slicks. 25mm at 110psi they fly, but uncomfortable as all hell and flatted all the time. Wore them flat in about 1500km and changed bikes to a 700c that I now have 34mm Schwalbe touring tyres on. Not as quick but OMG more comfy and the difference on an hour's ride is <5 mins so I don't sweat it. And I've not had a visit from teh fairy for 3 monthsd since i changed

so, my advice; get some puncture resistant 34s. A *bit* slower than 25s but much comfier and puncture less (obviously only if you get the puncture resistant ones....)

alfablue

I use Specialized All Conditions Pro 26x1 on my mtb commuter - never punctured in thousands of miles. Great performance, very fast, comfort no problem at all (though this is a Ti bike).

el_presidente

+1 for the Spec AC pros. mega fast and look supercool in the 1" width. keep them pumped up very hard though

rustncogs

The Schwalbe’s do look like good value, and I know they get big props on here for puncture resistance, but I’m more after all-out performance, with reliability second. (Having said that, only getting 1500km out of them would seriously p!$$ me off, I clock up about 130km a week.)
I just like going fast, but also, I’m off to somewhere slightly mountainous for a month in June – gruelling (for me) climbs up to about 600m followed by long, fast, twisty descents back down to sea level. (Mental note – buy new brake pads! )

spursn17

+1 for the Spec AC pros

gb155

I have used 1.5 city jets for 2100 miles and would ALWAYS recommend them

tardington

Yep. When you say performance, what would a puncture do to a 40 min commute? I know it takes me a good while to change a tyre these days, cos I only run p-resistant tyres. I'm totally out of practise. Five minutes, minimum, anyway.

Plus the City Jets are always on a special deal somewhere! Think mine were 10 quid the pair...

ThanksBye

Where were they from at a tenner a pair?

fossyant

I ran Hutch Top Slick 2's (26 x 1.2) for about 8 months, when the rear wore out. Very quick tyres, ran at about 70-80psi..... great value, only £10 each, and only got a puncture as they wore out.

Let them wear out as I was waiting for CTW to come in....now on proper off road knoblies, so my top speed is limited now....... the new fixed road bike should be with me in a week.

tardington

tomatoevousparlour wrote:

Where were they from at a tenner a pair?

From Wiggle, and it was actually 15 quid for both of them, a while back. Sorry!

bomberesque

rustncogs wrote:

The Schwalbe’s do look like good value, and I know they get big props on here for puncture resistance, but I’m more after all-out performance, with reliability second. (Having said that, only getting 1500km out of them would seriously p!$$ me off, I clock up about 130km a week.)
I just like going fast, but also, I’m off to somewhere slightly mountainous for a month in June – gruelling (for me) climbs up to about 600m followed by long, fast, twisty descents back down to sea level. (Mental note – buy new brake pads! )

hmm, I do the same mileage, and they lasted more than 10 weeks so perhaps I'm being unfair by saying worn in 1500km. Anyway, I swapped them round (front to back) and had both worn out by the time I changed bikes, which was 6 months after I started commuting, so I suppose 1500km for each rear tyre. but that's the price you pay for soft compund tyres, I dare say.

Still for out and out speed, I'd get the Hutchinsons (or similar, I'm sure there are other options). Keep them up to pressure and even then don't be surprised when you flat out a lot (my ride is thorugh the sity, so some broken glass etc)

rustncogs

“Yep. When you say performance, what would a puncture do to a 40 min commute?”

I hear what you’re saying. It’s just that I’m willing to put up with the occasional puncture if the trade-off is getting more fun out of my usual journey to work.
Part of me though is slowly coming round to the idea that I should just buy a dirt cheap hack MTB and put some Cityjet’s or Marathon’s on it for the commute.
Maybe later in the year…

Back to my first question; How do you actually know if they’re on the way out? Apart from a handful of glass cuts, my WTB’s don’t actually look that worn after a year. Recently I’ve thought they felt a little… squirmy or something. Does that sound like they’re wearing a bit flat?

cyberknight

I have the city jet 1.5s on my commuter and yes they seem fine a lot better than what came as standard on a halford subway special.

My LBS had them at a tenner each as well

bomberesque

as for punctures, I don't think I went a week without one on the topslicks, certainly not two.

Traditional signs of worn tyres include seeing the fabric however if you run your thumb aross the tread on a worn slick tyre, you will feel a flatspot, especially on the rear. Once this is pronounced you will be cornering on the ridge that it forms either side. What constitutes worn *out* is up to you, but I did not wait for the canvas to show

jimmcdonnell

Can you still get Tioga City Slickers? They were bomb-proof and fast+grippy when I used to ride an MTB on-road.

rustncogs

"as for punctures, I don't think I went a week without one on the topslicks, certainly not two" :shock:
I'll never say anything bad about the WTB's again! I've had the occasional run of puntures, but I'm begining to think they're not half bad.

So the general concensus seems to be: Cityjets win as the all-round budget/performance/reliability choice, and the AC Pro's win as the high-performance/not worried about budget choice.

No votes for the Vittoria Rubino Pro's? I thought the dual compound idea sounded quite promising.