Put 25's on my Tricross !

FishermanJoe

Hi Guys

Since i bought my Tricross in the summer ive used it daily for work 2 miles, and simply enjoyed going for a wee run.........its my first "proper" bike and i love it !

Ive been toying with changing the 700x32's for 700x28's .................. but i thought id use them for this winter then change next year.

However my mate just bought a Sectuer and changed the tyres he offered me his 700x25's (less than a week old) for £20 the pair.

Yesterday serviced my bike and fitted the tyres, the difference is amazing its like a different bike ! so much smoother than the 32's that come with the tricross.

9pm last night thought id take her for a wee run about the houses.........ended up doing 10 mile ! Just didnt want to get off

Reckon i might put the 32's back on for the winter ? but we will see............................

redvee

25's on mine too and kept the CX tyres for the snow and added roadracer guards with some ingeuity with the brackets bodged from I/O blanking plates from a PC case.

mudslinger

Sorry to highjack your thread

I recently bought a 2nd hand Tricross for my 15 mile commute & while I'm very impressed with it I'm a bit disappointed with the speed I'm getting on road. My average speed (15.2 mph) is not much faster than I was getting on my MTB (with Schwalbe Land Cruisers). For comparison I do the same route on my roadie at 17.2 mph.

The Tricross has got the original Specialized Borough 32mm tyres & I suspect this is where my disappointment lies.

I want to vary my route slightly to avoid going over Ditchling Beacon (500ft climb) via the road & instead use one of the many bridleways going across the South Downs. So really I want a tyre primarily for quick riding on roads but can also handle a couple of miles off-road. Does such a tyre exist or is it best sticking with the existing tyres or going for something more road orientated?

For those that don't know the bridleways across the Downs have quite a lot of flintstones lurking around so the tyres need to be quite tough.

I took the Tricross through some woods on the way home on Friday & was amazed how well it coped

AndyOgy

mudslinger wrote:

Sorry to highjack your thread

I recently bought a 2nd hand Tricross for my 15 mile commute & while I'm very impressed with it I'm a bit disappointed with the speed I'm getting on road. My average speed (15.2 mph) is not much faster than I was getting on my MTB (with Schwalbe Land Cruisers). For comparison I do the same route on my roadie at 17.2 mph.

The Tricross has got the original Specialized Borough 32mm tyres & I suspect this is where my disappointment lies.

I want to vary my route slightly to avoid going over Ditchling Beacon (500ft climb) via the road & instead use one of the many bridleways going across the South Downs. So really I want a tyre primarily for quick riding on roads but can also handle a couple of miles off-road. Does such a tyre exist or is it best sticking with the existing tyres or going for something more road orientated?

For those that don't know the bridleways across the Downs have quite a lot of flintstones lurking around so the tyres need to be quite tough.

I took the Tricross through some woods on the way home on Friday & was amazed how well it coped

I'm a Brighton boy and I know the area well.

Some may disagree but I'm loving my 700c Schwalbe Marathons, 28mm and 100psi. They roll pretty well on the road and are surprisingly grippy off road. I've got them on my 'do anything' bike and they're proving to be a great all rounder.

emotionless_softcore

My tricross single came with some cheapo Spesh CX tyres (Houffalise?).
Good on towpaths and fireroad but puncture resistance was terrible, they were like paper!
Changed to Marathon Plus 28s off my old bike - immediate PF avoidance and a tangible decrease in rolling resistance compared to the CX knobblies. Still mostly serviceable off road.

Recently I changed to Halo Twin Rail Courier Berlins. At 24 mm, with "twin rails" roughly half the width of that running round the centre of the tyre, they 'feel' a little 'twitchy' to say the least, and road holding has at times been somewhat sketchy (generally in the wet).

However,

As per OP, the difference is amazing its like a different bike !
Freaking fast!... And so responsive.
Also seem v.light given the puncture resistance. (protective material inside, similar to e.g. Marathons, I think.)
I still ride the towpaths etc on these tyres, only with a little more care w.r.t. my centre of gravity over the wheels/unweighting and so on.

Buckled_Rims

I've got a Kona Jake the Snake CX bike and at the moment I have Schwalbe Marathon 25mm tyres on it. It can go on the road fairly fast (well apart from it's CX gearing) and can handle a bit of rough stuff as well.

The only limit is that stones and rocks can easily hit the rims, so 28mm or larger might be best for usual towpath and bridle paths that have a bit of rock and grit on them.

ex-pat scot

I have the original Borough 32s for winter use. They are very slow and heavy though.
I run 23s most of the time and the bike seems just as fast as my other road bikes. I also hammer through the local woods on 23s as well, and only have a wee bit of grip issues (in the mud and hammering the steep downhills on loose bends)

Wallace1492

On 25mm Gators at the moment, but will change back to 28mm Marathons soon. Wore out the Borough's, but might consider getting Cross tyres and doing some races.

Specialized Needs

mudslinger wrote:

Sorry to highjack your thread

I recently bought a 2nd hand Tricross for my 15 mile commute & while I'm very impressed with it I'm a bit disappointed with the speed I'm getting on road. My average speed (15.2 mph) is not much faster than I was getting on my MTB (with Schwalbe Land Cruisers). For comparison I do the same route on my roadie at 17.2 mph.

The Tricross has got the original Specialized Borough 32mm tyres & I suspect this is where my disappointment lies.

I want to vary my route slightly to avoid going over Ditchling Beacon (500ft climb) via the road & instead use one of the many bridleways going across the South Downs. So really I want a tyre primarily for quick riding on roads but can also handle a couple of miles off-road. Does such a tyre exist or is it best sticking with the existing tyres or going for something more road orientated?

For those that don't know the bridleways across the Downs have quite a lot of flintstones lurking around so the tyres need to be quite tough.

I took the Tricross through some woods on the way home on Friday & was amazed how well it coped

The Boroughs are passable, but not great. What kind of off-road? Mud or gravel?

If gravel, then the M+ should be fine, as AndyOgy says . But they will be a little heavy on road (slower to spin up than lighter tyres), but probably still noticeably better on road than the Boroughs.

mudslinger

Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

I had a look at the Marathon Plus at lunchtime in Halfords & yes they are heavy but the puncture protection looks very impressive.

The off-road section is quite gravelly.

Wallace1492

Marathon's are faster than the Borough's, but the Gator's faster still. Going to switch back to the Snicker Plus soon (their new name) for the Autumnal/Winter commuting. If I had the inclination, should get some Cross tyres too and do some of the local Cyclocross races, but think I will just use my MTB, if indeed I go in for them.

biondino

When people say thin road tyres are sketchy in the wet, what do they mean? Are they actually losing grip, or is it a psychological thing? Because if they lose grip, you're on the floor pretty fast, but obviously most skinny tyres cope fine in the rain (I've not come off on my 23mms, and only had a few dodgy moments on wet metalwork that you'd get with any tyre).

hstiles

biondino wrote:

When people say thin road tyres are sketchy in the wet, what do they mean? Are they actually losing grip, or is it a psychological thing? Because if they lose grip, you're on the floor pretty fast, but obviously most skinny tyres cope fine in the rain (I've not come off on my 23mms, and only had a few dodgy moments on wet metalwork that you'd get with any tyre).

Same here. I switch between Scwalbe Lugano and CX Comps on my Kinesis and I never have problems in the wet with the 23mm road tyres. If you make a point of riding over manhole covers in the wet or overdo corners, then you might find yourself on your backside, but otherwise, no grip issues at all. The cross tyres are essential for mud though.

moonio

My new bike has Maxxis Detonator 28c and compared to my previous 32c Marathon Plus's its like riding on air..
I also have some 25c Gator's to fit when the Maxxis' eventually detonate..

gazzamil

I too have Maxxis Detonators - 28mm, on Ritchey disc wheels. Bike is Boardman hybrid pro. Do you think these wheels will accept 25mm or 23mm tyres?

jackthelad

I have 28mm nimbus armidillo on my tricross, I thought 28mm was the lowest you could go on the alex rims,have you guys with smaller 25c and 23c tyres changed the wheels or can the alex rims go down to these sizes ok. I was going by the sheldon charts and 28c looked like the lowest you could go,if anyone can put me wiser this would be appreciated

jackthelad

redvee

Standard Alex ace 19 on the front and a Halo Aerorage on the rear both wearing 25 Conti Gatorskins with no problem.

moonio

gazzamil wrote:

I too have Maxxis Detonators - 28mm, on Ritchey disc wheels. Bike is Boardman hybrid pro. Do you think these wheels will accept 25mm or 23mm tyres?

I hope so as I have the same wheels but have not yet fitted the 25c tyres....

moonio

double post(vision)

SerX72

Switched too 25's gators from the standard Spesh ones and very pleased. Road noise much lower, no grip problems and so far no punctures after ~500 miles.

My commute is 95% road with a short section of pot holed fire road which can get covered in mud by tractors which makes things interesting!

Taken about 10mins on average off my 23 mile commute.

emotionless_softcore

hstiles wrote:

biondino wrote:

When people say thin road tyres are sketchy in the wet, what do they mean? Are they actually losing grip, or is it a psychological thing? Because if they lose grip, you're on the floor pretty fast, but obviously most skinny tyres cope fine in the rain (I've not come off on my 23mms, and only had a few dodgy moments on wet metalwork that you'd get with any tyre).

Same here. I switch between Scwalbe Lugano and CX Comps on my Kinesis and I never have problems in the wet with the 23mm road tyres. If you make a point of riding over manhole covers in the wet or overdo corners, then you might find yourself on your backside, but otherwise, no grip issues at all. The cross tyres are essential for mud though.

Interesting - on reflection perhaps there is a psychosomatic element to it, in my case at least.

This may be due in part to the sensation of balancing on a smaller surface area i.e. lower (perceived?) traction (certainly seems to be more skidding involved), or perhaps to the 'twitchy' (responsive) front wheel threatening to lead to over correction at times, this being particularly hazardous in wet conditions (had a minor spill like this recently).

I wonder if I'd be better served with some 'slicker' skinny tyres, as the 'twin rails' on the eponymous Halos are quite pronounced.
In fact it appears that I've now worn down the pronounced section of my rear tyre quite a bit from skidding... I guess I'll let it get a bit more worn down ('slicker', hopefully), then try it out on the front.