Slicks for MTB - reccomendations please

drabfurs

I have been using a road bike I borrowed from a friend for 2 months but have had to return it due to his main bike getting mangled in an accident.

I have retrieved my old MTB Marin Bolinas ridge (no suspension), prob about 7 years old but hardly used. I rode into work this morning and loved the ride compared to the road bike, reminded me of my BMX days. However I have 2.5 nobblies on it and think some slicks would give me a little more speed. Recomendations anyone?

ride_whenever

I generally prefer large volume slicks, tioga make a nice one used to be the FS100 now is called something else, comes in 2.3". If you want a proper slick look at the specialised fatboys, superfast but a bit boring as you'll lose the fun bmx feeling.

DVV

I like Continental Sport Contacts - 1.6" for comfort, 1.3" for speed.

They also do a Grand Prix tyre in 26x1.2" which should be even faster, but at the expense of slightly increased puncure susceptability.

shaunos

Would recommend Michelin Country Rocks, been using them on my MTB Commuter most of this year.
Semi-Slicks, put plenty of air in 'em and they fly. 26 x 1.75's so they still take out a fair bit of road shocks.
Handle great on the road, wet or dry, and can take some bridleways in the dry OK.
Added bonus, head to ChainReaction and they are only £7.99 each..............

papasmurf.

Contis contact seires are good.. got some Maxxis dentonators recently and really like them, dual compound so grippy on the turn in wet or dry and best of all they are pretty cheap.

seataltea

I recently fitted Schwalbe Land Cruisers from Wiggle to my commuter. A little over £16 a pair delivered, they have a puncture resistant layer so are a little heavier than normal but have a solid centre band so roll very quickly.

drabfurs

The land cruisers look a good mix between slicks and trail tires. Iw ould still like to pop kerbs etc (big kid that I am) so they look ideal. Any thoughts to these compared to full slicks? I ahve also been recomend the Maxis Detonators by other peopl enot on this forum.

Tough decision?

Daz555

Spesh Nimbus are lovely tyres - 1.6" on my commuter if I recall correctly. They do a fully armoured 'armadillo' version but to be honest I've never had a puncture with the basic 'flakjacket' version.

MacAndCheese

+1 for Specialized Nimbus, I use a similar bike (10 year old rigid Marin) with them on, been using them 18 miles a day, 5 days a week for the last 4 months or so, they're wearing very well. I have the standard, not the armadillo ones, and only had one puncture in that time that was a very sharp piece of glass that i'm fairly sure would have gone through most tyres.

Skippy2309

continental town and country, brilliant in all conditions, very sticky and still give you that chunky look

they come in a few sizes, i went for 2.1's but if you want to go faster go for the narrower versions.

Highly recommended was doing 30miles a day over the london roads for 3 months and didn't get a single puncture or issue with them, still using them now on and off road and not had one slip, not even with the hellish weather we had the other day where we had 3inch deep puddles

(bare in mind the first ride will be a bit skittish as they take a little while to break in and become sticky)

Chris_H

+1 for the Michelin Country Rock. If you like stuff to be cheap and good then this is the tyre for you! Not a true slick but still a million miles more efficient than an off road tyre. I liked it because it meant I could still commute on the coast path on a nice day.

I ran them for about 6 months through all weathers, then bought a road bike. Now I'd never go back to commuting on a heavy MTB!