Loosing 1kg of rolling weight of the bike?

u33db

Hi there,

I'm currently doing my commute on my MTB.

Its a Halfords Apollo (i know but i bought it as "cheap" bike before i started cycling to work). Thing is i've spent a fair bit changing parts out to lighten it up and it currently weighs in at 11.75 kg which is about 3kg lighter than when i bought it...a good result IMO.

I'm quite fond of the bike but obviously there comes a point when its not cost effective to make it any lighter, escpecially on a "low end" bike.

Well this is what i thought until the other day when i realised i can save almost another KG going from my Continental Travelcontacts to Continental Grand Prix MTB tyres.

Would i notice my difference from loosing another KG off the bike and/or from it being a thinner tyre (26 x 1.1 vs 26 x 1.75)?

As i said there comes a point when loosing weight off the bike isn't cost effective but its only £40 for these tyres which isn't going to break the bank...is it worth doing or just stick with the Travelcontacts?

Opinions appreciated

Safcstuie

IF the new tyres dont puncture, thengoing from 26x1.75 to 26x1.1, will be less rolling resistance so might feel quicker

supersonic

It would be noticable - are they really 500g lighter each? Though I guess the lighter tubes will help too.

u33db

Yep.

The TravelContacts are coming in at 690g each and the Grand Prix' are round about 300g each depending which site you check. Tube wise the average MTB tube (for 1.75 - 2.2) seem to weigh in at around 200g. The tubes to match the skinny grand prix' are around 50-75g as its pretty much a road tube you use.

So its around an 800 gram saving for the tyres and around 200g on tubes so basically 1kg all in.

I did think about the puncture aspect as the Travelcontacts are virtually 100% puncture resistant but my commute is only 7 miles though townso, if the worst happened i could walk the rest of the way or carry a spare tube (i carry tools already).

Tempting!

madtam

I am not sure how much you will notice the weight even though it seems like a significant amount. However I suspect you will notice the rolling resistance more. Going back a while I used my mountain bike for commuting and switching to a smoother narrower tyre was quite noticable although there were a couple of muddy parts of the route where I had to be much more careful due to the reduced grip.

Initialised

Get plenty of 1.1 tubes as getting them from retail isn't usually possible.

After looking up those tyres I'm tempted. Anyone k ow how they compare to Gatorskins?

The Rookie

Go to a half way house perhaps? I use 1.5" slicks which come in at around 500g each and use some Schwalbe tubes inside that are 120g each, the tyres are still a thick tread style.

I've tried WTB Slickasaurus, Spesh Nimbus and Panaracer Ribmo. Only just started using the Ribmo but it has a strange tread shape so that the contact patch is more like a 1.0" tyre.

Don't forget that the smaller tyres will also affect your gearing.

u33db

Initialised wrote:

Get plenty of 1.1 tubes as getting them from retail isn't usually possible.

After looking up those tyres I'm tempted. Anyone k ow how they compare to Gatorskins?

I actually ordered Gatorskin MTB's in the end.

Same size, weight and nearly price as the Grand Prix's.

From what i could see the GP's are meant to be marginally faster and marginally grippier but they lack the duraskin side wall protection the Gatorskins have which potentially makes punctures more likely.

They should arrive today;

2 x Continental Ultra Gatorskin City MTB Tyre 26 x 1.125 Black
1 x Continental Quality MTB Pack of 5 Inner Tubes 26x1.1-1.3 (Opt-C) Presta 42mm

£66.04 delivered on a next day service from Wiggle.