some help with tyres required

chris_bass

Hi

I am currently commuting about 10 miles each way to work and ride a mountain bike (GT Aggressor XC 1 to by precise!) and i was thinking of changing the tyres as they are not really suitable for a lot of road cycling. Could anyone recommend any good tyres for commuting? i would still like a bit of grip on them, not sure why but road tyres just look too thin and slippery for me, maybe too much of a difference from what i'm used too!

also, my tyres are currently 26x2.35 will any 26" tyres fit my wheels?

thanks in advance

Chris

cjcp

Check out the Specialized Armadillos.

CometGirl

Check out Wiggle's selection of MTB road tyres.

If you're currently running 26x2.35s, you probably have wide rims and don't want to go down below 26x1.5. You should be okay with 26x2ish though, and the Continental Town & Country tyres look pretty good. Anything that wide shouldn't be even slightly slippery, even if they're not knobbly. A lot of people prefer to avoid Gatorskins, you may have seen them referred to as Hamsterskins due to their lack of puncture resistance. I'd go with Schwalbe Marathons, which are solid as anything, or Continentals. You won't be racing in the Tour de Commute on those but they'll be nice and solid, and should be fairly p*nct*re-proof.

For commuting I use Panaracer Pasela 26 x 1.25s which would probably be a bit too narrow for your rims, but they're a good tyre if you can ever hunt the things down.

chris_bass

hello again!

thanks for the replies, i found them very helpful.

i've had a look and as i will still want to do a bit of trail riding, nothing too serious just not always on tarmac i had a look at these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Continental_Traffic_MTB_Tyre/5300003704/ anyone know if they'd be anygood?

cjcp

Someone who rides mtbs much more frequently than me will have to educate me here, but my view is that knobblies along the centre/rolling line of the tyre means less rubber on the road, which means less grip than a smoother surface. If you're using them on the road, the knobblies will also wear out quicker, making them less effective on the trails.

I rode my cross bike with my Michelin Mud 2s on the commute in January and came off on a corner in the wet. I've been suspicious about knobblies on the commute ever since.

itsbruce

Chris Bass wrote:

Hi

I am currently commuting about 10 miles each way to work and ride a mountain bike (GT Aggressor XC 1 to by precise!) and i was thinking of changing the tyres as they are not really suitable for a lot of road cycling. Could anyone recommend any good tyres for commuting? i would still like a bit of grip on them, not sure why but road tyres just look too thin and slippery for me, maybe too much of a difference from what i'm used too!

Question for you: why do you think F1 cars have two sets of tires, one for wet and one for dry conditions? The wet tires have treads, to cope with aquaplaning, but the dry ones are slicks. If F1 drivers prefer slicks for speed and control, maybe that's an indication of how much more traction you get from slicks on paved roads.

Treads only give you more traction in mud and loose earth, because they dig in. You can't dig in to tarmac and the rough surface of the paved road provides all the friction you need; slick tyres thus increase your traction by giving you the maximum contact with the road.

roger_merriman

cjcp wrote:

Someone who rides mtbs much more frequently than me will have to educate me here, but my view is that knobblies along the centre/rolling line of the tyre means less rubber on the road, which means less grip than a smoother surface. If you're using them on the road, the knobblies will also wear out quicker, making them less effective on the trails.

I rode my cross bike with my Michelin Mud 2s on the commute in January and came off on a corner in the wet. I've been suspicious about knobblies on the commute ever since.

it's size most MTB tires are 2inch plus so 50mm at least, plus MTBs tend to drift rather than snap away.

this said my MTB is booted with mud tires which are thin (1.95 inch) and tall care is needed on tarmac or hardpack for that matter.

sc999cs

Chris Bass wrote:

hello again!

thanks for the replies, i found them very helpful.

i've had a look and as i will still want to do a bit of trail riding, nothing too serious just not always on tarmac i had a look at these:
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Continental_Traffic_MTB_Tyre/5300003704/ anyone know if they'd be anygood?

Have you considered Halo Twin Rails. When used on road you inflate to a high pressure and they run on two narrow central strips. Off road you drop the pressure and use the tread on the rest of the tyre.

The Rookie

I commute on 26" wheels as does my daughter.

I'm using skinny 26x1.3" WTB slickasaurus and they are great, the daughter uses heavy PF 'resistant' Bronx 26x1.95 (ebay sourced), a lot heavier but cope well with the thorns prevalent on her route and are stiff enough to be almost 'runflat' in use!

Simon

Mr Sworld

cjcp wrote:

Check out the Specialized Armadillos.

+1 for those.

Recently swapped my MTB knobblies for these and wiped 5 minutes off the commute time overnight!

Alphabet

i use Continental City Contacts on my MTB when I'm commuting.

There's no point having a half way point between knobblies and slicks as you'll end up with tires that are crap at both - just swap them out if you want to go off road