Putting road tyres on Adventure Road bike

steve1978

Hi,

I am looking at doing the coast to coast this year and want to give myself every possible advantage. my bike is a Norco Threshold 2017 https://www.evanscycles.com/norco-thres ... e-EV277747

The tyres are a nobbly type "Schwalbe Racing Ralph 700x33c"

Today i got my first flat tyre (bugger) and now i am thinking it is a good time to change the tyres for a slick road tyre to give a lower rolling resistance for my 170 mile trip and to help with my training.

Can i just get any 700 tyre such as https://www.evanscycles.com/continental ... e-EV212744 will they just fit and work or do they need to have a certain width to fit my wheel?
Thanks in advance.

bendertherobot

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, it depends. They will fit. Some CX bikes have wider rims overall than road bikes. Not unusual. Hard to tell what yours are but if I were betting I'd say they'd be more road bike width than 29'er MTB wheel width.

So, you're fine.

In terms of what to fit, is there any gravel? Or just tarmac? Ones you've linked to are ok. Go big if you can, 28c+ or 30+ if you can manage it.

Hyper Voyager 32c would be my recommendation. Really tough and so very fast.http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vi ... lding-tyre

steve1978

bendertherobot wrote:

Short answer, yes.

Longer answer, it depends. They will fit. Some CX bikes have wider rims overall than road bikes. Not unusual. Hard to tell what yours are but if I were betting I'd say they'd be more road bike width than 29'er MTB wheel width.

So, you're fine.

In terms of what to fit, is there any gravel? Or just tarmac? Ones you've linked to are ok. Go big if you can, 28c+ or 30+ if you can manage it.

Hyper Voyager 32c would be my recommendation. Really tough and so very fast.http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vi ... lding-tyre

Thanks, They are cheap in comparison to some that I have been looking at too. the figure 28c is that the tyre width? if so my current ones are 33c so i guess that's my upper limit but I wasn't sure if that was also the minimum width, or if there is a minimum width!

bendertherobot

Yes, it's the width of the tyre.

Your minimum would probably be 25c. Your max is dictated by the rim and clearance on your bike but on a CX bike it would generally be up to 38c, perhaps more if you're not doing mud (i.e. a slick tyre)

So the range you can use is probably 25c-38c or so.

steve1978

bendertherobot wrote:

Yes, it's the width of the tyre.

Your minimum would probably be 25c. Your max is dictated by the rim and clearance on your bike but on a CX bike it would generally be up to 38c, perhaps more if you're not doing mud (i.e. a slick tyre)

So the range you can use is probably 25c-38c or so.

Thanks, Noob question but there is no shame in it as i am a noob, Does the figure 25 - 38c relate the to thickness of the tyre or the height of the tyre? in a car you would have say 20 (wheel height in inches) 245 (being the width of tread) 50 (being the wall height) here on my bike i have 700x33c.... how does it relate?

Looks like on-one dont have any of those tyres left. What are these like? remember i am just looking for a fast robust road tyres dont want to spend £60 plus on ewach one though.
https://www.evanscycles.com/vittoria-ra ... GwoddTwMPg

mrb123

Steve1978 wrote:

bendertherobot wrote:

Yes, it's the width of the tyre.

Your minimum would probably be 25c. Your max is dictated by the rim and clearance on your bike but on a CX bike it would generally be up to 38c, perhaps more if you're not doing mud (i.e. a slick tyre)

So the range you can use is probably 25c-38c or so.

Thanks, Noob question but there is no shame in it as i am a noob, Does the figure 25 - 38c relate the to thickness of the tyre or the height of the tyre? in a car you would have say 20 (wheel height in inches) 245 (being the width of tread) 50 (being the wall height) here on my bike i have 700x33c.... how does it relate?

Looks like on-one dont have any of those tyres left. What are these like? remember i am just looking for a fast robust road tyres dont want to spend £60 plus on ewach one though.
https://www.evanscycles.com/vittoria-ra ... GwoddTwMPg

Those Randonneurs are good, robust touring/city tyres but won't be the fastest.

Voyager Hypers in 32mm seem to be available here
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/v ... lding-tyre

Or you could try these Clement Strada LGGs in 28mm. Got a good review on here recently
https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/700-x ... e-700-622/

steve1978

Just been reading on another site, not sure if i am allowed to link so admins please remove if not.
bicyclerollingresistance.com/road-bike-reviews/vittoria-corsa-speed-2016

Here they have a load of tyres with rolling resistance tested. I can see that the best "touring tyre" is the Schwalbe
Marathon Almotion with a rolling resistance of 17.1w.

The best Road tyre is the Vittoria Corsa Speed (open TLR) with a rolling resistance of 7.7w.

Thats quite a difference, should i be looking at these figures? I am planning on riding 170miles in 3 days on road so need every advantage possible!

I notice most of these tyres are also 25, 28mm or smaller but previously you said i should go big if i can...why should i be be going big? what advantage does that give? sorry for all the questions!!!

Thanks

w00dster

The 700c is the rim size, however that's just a historic thing (referred to as 700c by the European Tyre and Rim Tehcnial Organisation), it doesn't relate to an actual measurement. The rim measurement has a diameter of 622mm's. You may also see on tyres something similar to 33-622, this tells you the width and the actual diameter. But we just refer to them as 700C wheels and the width being 25's, 28s, 32s, 33ss etc. (The s at the end just being the plural)

This is robbed from Sheldon Brown...."A general guideline is that the tire width should be between 1.45/2.0 x the inner rim width. "

Lots of different choices for tyres, I like Panaracer Gravel Kings for this time of year, they are good on the road and can be used confidently on gravel paths and light trails, 700 x 32mm normally about £32 per tyre. The Challenge Strada Bianchi is also a popular wider tyre for mixed use. Personally I'm not the biggest fan of the 4seasons, I prefer a more supple feeling tyres - I rode the 4seasons for years and they were ok, but more comfortable tyres are out there. Generally 25 or 28mm tyres are regarded as being the "fastest", 28's and above are regarded as being the most comfortable - but the right compound and a 30 or 32 are still not going to be slowing you down, you can run these at lower pressures and they will be comfortable and as quick as a narrower tyre.

If you just want the fastest tyre then have a look at this site.... http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/
Might be worth having a read about your route and the roads, might help to make a decision on what the best tyre will be for you. We're all looking for the holy grail, a fast tyre, puncture resistant and comfortable - the Schwalbe Pro One Tubeless is about as close as it is at the moment, but I doubt your rims could be set up for tubeless tyres.