Fast road tyre plus occasional trail shortcut?

ratcliffe

Hi all,

Just building up an old mtb with some 700c wheels and I'm really confused about which tyres to go for. The whole idea is to add some speed so I'd like something pretty fast BUT my normal riding often includes the occasional dry trail. Obviously no problem on the mtb tyres but am I asking too much to find a 700c tyre that will cope?

Have read various threads on tyres and yet to find anything matching my ideal. I wondered about some cyclocross tyres but are these going to be slow and fast wearing on the road?

I'm sure there's a fast rolling, light tyre with some small side knobblies perhaps out there somewhere! I picked up some Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres with the wheels but my feeling is that the tread isn't really going to make any difference and they sure are heavy so I think I'll swap them; but what for?

Cheers
David

skyd0g

There are these: http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Vittoria_Randonneur_Cross_Pro/5360035186/ that are alot loghter, but they haven't got that much more tread than the Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres you have.

It's gonna be a compromise one way or another. You can't have a zero calorie chocolate cake!

ratcliffe

I should add that the Marathon Pluses are 28mm so I'm also wondering if for what I've in mind I should go for something with a bit more volume?

Anonymous

Vittoria Open Pave.

24mm, fast rolling, very tough, good grip.

Awesome stuff.

Used for the very same reason you state...

No knobblies though...

ratcliffe

Thanks skydOg, I wondered about those, or some other Vittoria tyres. I'm not convinced that you actually need a lot of tread on dry trails and if it is at all wet they just fill up worse that a slick sometimes.

Do you think they'd roll better than the Marathon Pluses on the road?

ratcliffe

NapoleonD wrote:

Vittoria Open Pave.

24mm, fast rolling, very tough, good grip.

Awesome stuff.

Used for the very same reason you state...

No knobblies though...

\

Not too worried about the knobbles; I've ridden slicks on dry trails many times. Is it a problem the tyres being small volume (24mm)? Coming from mtbs that seems small if you venture away from the road.

Anonymous

I've not had a problem at all with mine...

Probably not great for deep mud though!

ratcliffe

Just checked the Open Pave's on wiggle and I think it's fair to say they're obviously a 'premium' tyre at £37.21 each. Still tempting though... especially as my bike is basically monochrome so the green would look groovy!

Anonymous

Ribble are cheaper. Believe me, they are worth it...

http://www.ribblecycles.co.uk/productde ... ITTTYRF400

ratcliffe

Any other alternatives worth a look? I did wonder about Conti GP 4 seasons but they look really small to my eyes.

maddog 2

I run 28mm GP4Seasons on my winter wheels. They do commuting and light trail work. Good grip/wear and handle most things and are a reasonable compromise.

ride_whenever

halo twin rails, same as the mtb ones, but 700cc. At full pressure they're very fast, but drop a bit out and you can smoke up the trails...

Monty Dog

For dry trails, your Schwalbes would be ideal - I have a pair that gets regular towpath use and the ocassional single track and rock-stewn MTB trail and they're fine, not one puncture in 4 years from one pair. I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 28mm - a big hit on a narrow tyre not just increases the risk of a pinch puncture, but also damage to the rim. I've got some 28mm GP4 Seasons that I use on my cross bike for road use - but I'm not sure how resistant the sidewalls would be to sharp flints on the rough stuff. Most cyclocross tyres are pretty lightweight, more designed for soft/muddy conditions rather than real offroad - they wear pretty fast on the road too.