Need help with Mountain bike tyres (Changing to slicks)

SE43

Hi, I am wanting to change my rigid mountain bike into a hybrid commuter, that will be used on road and want some slicks.

Right now the tyres are 26" x 1.9.

Would 26" x 1.95 fit on my rims?

What would you suggest.

Thanks.

mattv

Chances are you can fit anything from 1.5" upto around 2.2" on your rims. If you want good, cheap slicks try schwalbe city jets. Not the grippiest rubber, or the absolute strongest against punctures, but they are quite good at everything. And only £14.99 each in 1.5" width.

SE43

mattv wrote:

Chances are you can fit anything from 1.5" upto around 2.2" on your rims. If you want good, cheap slicks try schwalbe city jets. Not the grippiest rubber, or the absolute strongest against punctures, but they are quite good at everything. And only £14.99 each in 1.5" width.

I thought this would be the case, thank you for the info and recommendation.

Initialised

1.1 Duranos, and best slicks for mtb

mattv

But a much firmer ride, and also won't fit alot of mtb rims. Wouldn't want to run a 1.1 on more than a 17 or definitely 19mm rim.

vimfuego

I did something similar - rather than using my roadie for the commute I "converted" my old hardtail MTB. it's a lightweight XC bike with lockable fork, so has been brilliant for commuting. When I say "converted" all I did was replace the nobbly XC tyres with Conti Ultra Gatorskins (1.125). Brilliant tyres, no issues so far with about 1500 miles in them - average 17mph each way on them. You'll just need to tape down a few cables (they rattle like b*ggery with the firmer ride).

Initialised

mattv wrote:

But a much firmer ride, and also won't fit alot of mtb rims. Wounldn't want to run a 1.1 on more than 17 or definitely 19mm rim.

1.1 = 28mm folders works fine on my mtb with budget Raleigh disposable wheels, yet to try it on the slightly posher MTB. They are easier to fit and change than supposedly bigger Gatorskins, better ride and wet traction too. I've heard of 23mm road tyres fitting 20mm rims so unless you have unusually wide rims you should be fine. I quite liked Continental Sport Contact 1.6 but found it punctured too often.

ChuckFH

I'll give another vote for the CityJets, been using them on an old steel Merida MTB for commuting for the last year or so with no issues. You can get them on Amazon for a tenner at the moment;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/City-x1-5-Bicycle-Puncture-Protection/dp/B000NNQFXU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1AJ4CA88TPH4F&coliid=I2O1ECJHNIARSR

DM222

If you want puncture proof go for Schwalbe Marathon

The Rookie

Have used WTB Slickasaurus (1.5"), Panaracer RiBMo (1.5"), City Jet (1.5"), Spesh Nimbus (1.5"), Bronx (1.95"), Conti Sport Contact (1.5")and Continental GP (1") all on the same 26" wheeled hybrid (some were borrowed to try out).

The CJ's are excellent value for money, can be found as cheap as a tenner each, not the grippiest and not the fastest rolling, but for the money unbeatabale.
Bronx are cheap but massively heavy, wear fast (500miles and shot), grip is only OK but they are so thick they are very puncture resistant, slow rolling though.
Conti Gp's were very fast, grip was very on/off, good when on, scary when off (and unpredictable), too twitchy feeling for a commuter with 6Kg of rack and stuff on the rear, taken off after 150 miles and sold on.
Sport contacts are fast rolling, grip well on tarmac but slip readily on metalwork (noticeably so!).
WTB Slickasuarus have been great, bought used and the one tyre has managed another 4000miles (just been changed - the rear lasted about 3000 miles), in that time I've had 2 punctures (both glass shards), grip is strong and predictable.
Spesh Nimbus, only just put one on and so far feels much like the WTB.
RiBMo, been on the front since the first WTB wore out, faster rolling and grip is good, strange contact patch aids low rolling resistance just gone on the rear with a Nimbus up front.

simon_e

I found City Jet 1.5s to be great, can be found for £20/pair delivered on ebay. Not puncture-proof, I have found glass shards and a nail got through the thin layer on mine, but acceptable. No shortage of grip, wet or dry and took ages to wear out.

Tried Specialized All Conditions 26x1" but a harsher ride, didn't feel as planted or reassuring in corners and no faster (thought there might be some gain due to their light weight) so sold them.

Now using Marathon Racer 1.5" as they were cheap at the time. Slightly more noise than CJs, which I guess is due to tougher protection belt, but they are doing the job fine. Hardly any wear and no p-words after nearly 2,000 miles of Shropshire lane and town riding.

goonz

Nimbus 1.5 I never had a puncture in a year riding. Great tyres even in wet imo.

zx6man

I use schwalbe land cruisers, after using city jets. When i did have to go off road, the jets were a bit iffy. I found the land cruisers were much better in the event of any minor off road duties

swod1

I thought i would post in this thread instead of creating another.

I've been riding to work on racing ralphs and while they arent so draggy as other mtb tyres on tarmac, i would like to change to some proper road tyres.

I've been looking at some and gathered a list from browsing this section

wtb slickasarus
panaracer ribmo
spesh nimbus
continental gator skins

Another thing that worrys me is i'm having thoughts if i change to road tyres of sliding out on very wet roads and what about when theres ice about etc.

What size is recommended for fitting to mtb wheels because my rear wheel is an enduro rim so is about 24mm wide and i'm not a thin lad so was thinking of 26 x 1.75 or even 2.0.

thanks in advance for any advice you can give.

mtb-idle

1.5 schwalbe city jets worked for me fine.

then i wanted to go faster so i put 700c wheels with disc hubs on the bike. Wheee!

simon_e

swod1,

Road (slick) tyres grip better than knobblies in the wet. Nothing will grip on ice except studded tyres.

Plenty of heavier blokes ride with skinny tyres on road bikes so no, you don't need to use a 2" tyre. But you can if you want to. Just choose one of the models suggested above and go riding. If you don't like them / get too many punctures you can always change them.

swod1

Thanks I was just worried about in the wet, how slick tyres were with surface water.

Having looked at other tyres I have come across Schwalbe marathon plus, are these a harsh ride with the rubber puncture protection under the tread ?

Initialised

The puncture protection belt adds rolling resistance and weight, Marathon Racer HS look like a good balance.

For comfort go big with Kojaks.

swod1

Continuing my search of slick tyres for mtb, I have come across continental city ride 2 .

Anyone tried these out ?

simon_e

Marathon Plus are very heavy and draggy, overkill for most people.

As I said before, if you're not sure then choose one from those recommended by other posters.

swod1

I have bought some schwalbe city jets and will try them out this week.

Hope they quicken up my ride each way of 7 miles.

Thanks everyone for the replies.

Initialised

I'm riding 23mm (0.9ish) and have found them fine for light dry off road duty running 110 psi rear and 90 psi front like I used to on an MTB with Durano 1.1's (28mm). Basically you'll be fine unless you hit wet mud or a rock garden. No traction in mud or grass, pinch flats (snakebites) on rocks (gravel is fine, we're talking a path/'road' made up of tennis ball sized stones).

Duranos were great for me, just the one pinch flat after drafting a bus (35 mph ish) into a pothole.

swod1

i've put the city jets on and they are better but the ride is a little harsh i've noticed on the ride into work this morning, that is probably due to varying road surface types some bits are smooth others rougher tarmac.

i've got them at 40psi, how much do road tyres need to be inflated to i think it said on the sidewalls 30 to 65psi, that high you would ping off bumps in the road ?

Do road tyres need time to wear in or something ?

Overall so far a difference compared to the 2.25 racing ralphs i was using before.

The Rookie

The CJ's will have a stiffer carcass than the RaRa's.....

For slicks I pump them to the max and work back from there, I tend to run the rear at max pressure (80 on mine) and the front a bit softer as it's carrying less weight and you also feel the stiffness more, so I run around 65-70psi.

swod1

The Rookie wrote:

The CJ's will have a stiffer carcass than the RaRa's.....

For slicks I pump them to the max and work back from there, I tend to run the rear at max pressure (80 on mine) and the front a bit softer as it's carrying less weight and you also feel the stiffness more, so I run around 65-70psi.

thanks i pumped the tyres up and at over 40psi, i thought they were already hard enough, i guess not at what pressure you run yours at but you dont use city jets i remember ?

i think the city jets are heavier than my mtb tyres as they didnt feel to roll really fast like i was presuming a slick tyre would do on tarmac.

Can you spend more and get folding bead slick tyres ?

simon_e

swod1 wrote:

i think the city jets are heavier than my mtb tyres as they didnt feel to roll really fast like i was presuming a slick tyre would do on tarmac.

Can you spend more and get folding bead slick tyres ?

Possibly, but pressing the pedals harder is the best way to go faster

Weight isn't necessarily the issue, I found lightweight 1" tyres weren't noticeably quicker. I didn't find city jets to be particularly draggy anyway, usually run at ~50 psi.

swod1

I forgot to mention I bought the 1.95 city jets so if I had got the 1.5's then perhaps they would not feel as draggy.

I will add some more air to the tyres and see if it is any better, I'm not a skinny lad either but working on reducing that.

Initialised

With 1.95 try running 60psi front, 75psi rear. Worked for me on 1.9 semi slicks. Had to drop to 45psi for off road.

swod1

well this morning i was very unlucky a piece of glass punctured my rear tyre, the glass had got into the center groove bit of the tyre where there is less tread on the city jets.

i was looking at trying out some panaracer ribmo 1.75 tyres that claim to be more puncture resistant.

a bit annoyed but can't complain as the tyres were 20 pound for pair, now have to put my racing ralphs back on until i get another tyre as i cant ride it with a hole in the tyre, i did wonder if i could glue it ?

simon_e

You can't really blame the tyres. City Jets are an economy tyre, they don't have as tough a puncture belt like tyres such as Marathons or the Ribmo, but are (unsurprisingly) rather cheaper than those types. I usually had 1 or 2 punctures per year commuting with City Jets, invariably caused by a small glass shard or nail/staple.

If the hole is small you could superglue it and put a piece of duct tape across it on the inside of the tyre.

Vladimir2007

I'm all about the Schwalbe tyres.

My favourites are Marathon (normal, not Plus) and the Big Apple. Seriously grippy, comfy, and can be run at a low pressure for inbuilt suspension, or high pressure to behave much like (but not exactly like) the narrow tyres, that some people claim to be faster, but I'm not so sure. EDIT: wider tyres roll better than narrow ones, bike radar says so: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/article/bicycle-tires-puncturing-the-myths-29245/

I've got some pics on my site (which is woefully out of date at the moment) http://www.bicycleslondon.co.uk/schwalbe-big-apple-for-commuting-long-term-review/