Swapping between knobbly / slick tyres for commuting?
cps26
Posts: 12
Apologies if this has already been done to death in previous threads!
I'm planning to get back into commuting to work on my mountain bike, which I purchased at the end of last summer. The commute is around 10 miles each way along roads and canal paths.
Currently the bike (a Cannondale F4) has knobbly offroad tyres, which is good for the weekends when I use it cycle offroad in /around Epping Forest. However, I understand that for commuting on the road, the bike would run much better with some kind of slick tyre on.
My question is - does anyone regularly swap the tyres on their bike from slicks for commuting to knobblies for the weekend? If so, how much of a hassle is it?
Would it be better just to run on some kind of 'all round' tyre, or is that just going to be a jack of all trades / master of none? I'm reluctant to compromise the offroad ability of the bike too much, since I bought it primarily with a view to cycling off rather than on the road.
I guess one option would be to get a cheap road bike and use that for the commute - however, I haven't really got the storage space for that at the moment. I also imagine that it would be quite expensive and difficult (though not impossilbe) to set up two sets of wheels with disk brakes, cassette etc and swap between those.
Thanks!
I'm planning to get back into commuting to work on my mountain bike, which I purchased at the end of last summer. The commute is around 10 miles each way along roads and canal paths.
Currently the bike (a Cannondale F4) has knobbly offroad tyres, which is good for the weekends when I use it cycle offroad in /around Epping Forest. However, I understand that for commuting on the road, the bike would run much better with some kind of slick tyre on.
My question is - does anyone regularly swap the tyres on their bike from slicks for commuting to knobblies for the weekend? If so, how much of a hassle is it?
Would it be better just to run on some kind of 'all round' tyre, or is that just going to be a jack of all trades / master of none? I'm reluctant to compromise the offroad ability of the bike too much, since I bought it primarily with a view to cycling off rather than on the road.
I guess one option would be to get a cheap road bike and use that for the commute - however, I haven't really got the storage space for that at the moment. I also imagine that it would be quite expensive and difficult (though not impossilbe) to set up two sets of wheels with disk brakes, cassette etc and swap between those.
Thanks!
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Comments
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How much hassle it is depends on you, really. Can you really be bothered to do it every weekend? I know I wouldn't.
As for a second set of wheels, I think that's far simpler. You could probably find a second hand pair (or a whole second hand bike, and use the wheels from that).0 -
Found myself with the same problem.
A half decent pair of replacement wheels, rotors, tyres, tubes, cassette and chain will likely set you back in excess of £250. By the time you've buggered about switching them you could probably have just switchedd tyres and tubes on your existing rims. And for that money you might as well just save some more and buy another bike.
I settled for a pair of Conti Gatorskins 1.125 tyres which I switch with the knobblies for commuting. Would cost maybe £50-60. Sometimes if I can't be bothered switching I'll just commute on the knobblies for a few days.
If you're on canal paths (gravel?) you probably want something with a bit of bite, maybe the Continental Travel Contacts? If you go down the switching tyres route, make sure you get tyres which are easy to get on and off the rims. My gators are a biyatch.
If you get into commuting you'll find yourself wanting another bike after a while so I'd go with switching the tyres and see how you get on...Rules are for fools.0
