MTB slicks thread...

danielhaden

If you want to convert a mountain bike into a road bike, you'll need some equipment that does exactly the same thing: Trade safety for speed.
Road bikes are 400% more likely to crash with male riders, although there is no safety difference for female riders.

Here's how:
Mavic XM317 rims
Continental Grand Prix 26x1

Now, you no longer own a mountain bike and you're much more likely to crash.

gclark8

After looking at some of your stats, I measured the flat bars on both my bikes, 560mm & 580mm. I wonder, statisticly speaking, what the increased risk would be if I fitted 400mm time trial bars to one of the bikes, considering TT bars are similar to flat bars with bar ends. (not aero bars)

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Cheers,
George.

danielhaden

Time trial bars? Well, unless you're very tiny (small size shirts are too large) then it's going to be hard to breathe, difficult to ride a distance, and possibly cause a deformation of some sort that requires extensive physical therapy. Those are built exclusively for time trials, and they don't do multiple jobs.

Certainly time trial bars could be used if the stem had a long projection. This would slow down the action of the steering to compensate for the speedier (dodgy) action of the time trial bars. They will still damage your body unless your shoulders are about the same width as the handlebars.

534mm (21") is about the minimum for safety, unless you get a stem with more forwards reach.

Some road bikes push this down to 483mm, but those use a longer projection from the stem that causes you to reach out farther. This is popular on the marketing-hype-inspired compact frames. This won't work on a normal size frame because you'll go over the handlebars at the first bump.


Flat bars of all types will damage wrists.
Flat bars combined with small frames (most MTB) causes OTH, over the handlebar crash. Handlebars with a rise or a very long stem can prevent these crashes.

Handlebars that are narrower than your shoulders or lower than your waist will cause back and neck pain.


So, if you're planning on spending more than 20 minutes on the bicycle, consider some 21" (if your shirt size is small or medium) to 23" (if your shirt size is large) handlebars that reach back toward you.

They don't have to be classic style touring/North Road style to do the job. That's comfortable and tree-proof, but not required.

You can use VERY sporty adult BMX sport bars. These look great on a mountain bike. Various rises are available to prevent OTH (over the handlebars) and some even have a very cool-looking crossbar. It is also very important is that the reach (curve) match the angle of your wrists. Because these have all of the curve within the center section, it is easy to cut these off at the right width, and your brakes, shifters, etc. . . will all still fit.


Reaching out farther and narrower will help you hide from the wind at a fast pace. However, it is useless to go significantly narrower than your shoulders. Reaching DOWN is a fairly horrible idea, but reaching out will not damage the body. There are stems with longer reaches and there are some funny looking adapters for use with an overly-small bike frame. With the small frames on most MTB, it works even better as a first step to start with getting the seat as far back as possible--even if you have to use a duplicate set of clamps or a specially bent seat post. As a second step, you'll need handlebars at least as high as your waist (prevents body damage) that reach back towards you with enough angle to provide a natural angle to your wrists. The last step to stop wind resistance is to continue to stretch the bike with a stem that reaches out forwards.

How do you know if you have a small bike frame that could benefit from stretching the dimensions? If your "goodies" don't hit the top bar, the bike has a small frame. Stretching the stem up and out (forwards), handlebars up, and seat out (backwards) will make up the size difference.

danielhaden

Now I'm on a quest to find middleweight tires that work.

Middleweight= 1.5 - 1.8 wide

Why? 26x1, 26x1.25, 26x1.3 can blow off mountain rims because they're smaller than the wheels.



Middleweights:

WTB slickasauras 26x1.5 Speed AND tread!! KUDOS!!

Tom Ritchey 26x1.4 Speed, but no traction.
-blows off of mountain rims above 70 PSI.

GEAX StreetRunner 26x1.6 = VERY slow
-big tires shouldn't try to use sticky, gummy, rubber for extra traction. This works great for tiny tires, but it isn't necessary at this size, and it is like cycling on sand instead of pavement.
-performs exactly like the majority of slow 1.5" city tires, but the GEAX has less tread.



Current middleweight record-holder:

WTB Slickasauras!! No blow-off's, fastest 1.5" wide tire, fast cornering, lots of traction, works in the rain, and it is fast!

scotty72

Just stuck Conti Sport Contacts 1.6 on my MTB

very good

Scotty

artemidorus

danielhaden, I would be interested in seeing your sources for the safety data concerning tyre size, bar width, bike type and gender. I am also interested in your sources for the rolling resistance information. Can you give a reference or a URL?

gclark8

I'll second that. I would like to see all his sources. A lot of his comments don't confirm some of my recent experiences.

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Cheers,
George.

robalert

wouldn't that depend on your rims? i've had no probs with my 1.3 contact sports on my rims that can fit 26x2.5 hookworms

fast 1.5s... i'd choose the maxxis xeniths

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Rob

www.bikenorth.org.au

'07 Giant OCR Composite 3 - R550s with Michi Prorace2

'06 Giant CRX1

'96 Apollo Himalaya commuter - Rigid Fork, slicks, fully racked

DMR Switchback Reynolds 520- Velocity Cliffhangers, SRAM X-9, Easton bar/stem


DMR Trailstar 2 4130- Mavic117, Dice Whiplash, SCUD DH bars, LX 9spd, DMR Crisis Cranks.

'04 Giant VT3 frame - SOLD

gclark8

Move over Conti, Michie has arrived:

Today I received a new Michelin Catalogue, Hard Cover, In the MTB section two new 26" slick tyres.

"XCR Road" 26x1.4 66TPI All Black
"XC Road" 26x1.4 33TPI All black

"Road training tire for urban use
Very lightweight

Its light weight, supple casing and slick tread transform your mountain bike into a road bike. A soft rubber mix helps provide cornering grip and responsive braking."

A link: http://two-wheels.michelin.com/2w/f...e=2092004115810

These may give Conti Sport Contact a run for the money!

__________________
Cheers,
George.

rek

I used the Continental SportContact 26x1.3" tyres on my MTB-commuter before I parted the bike out. They were an excellent tyre, but I found them really hard to get on and off the rim -- the only tyres I've ever had to break out the metal tyre-levers for! I'm assuming the wider versions would be easier to mount (either that or I just got a weird pair)

My current commuter has 700c wheels and am currently using some Maxxis Overdrive 700x37c tyres designed primarily for hybrids it seems. Can't complain about 'em, got them cheaply on eBay. They do the job of a "go-anywhere" type tyre well, and have a puncture layer belt built-in. Seems to work just dandy over road and gravel/broken trails.

They're a bit wide if anything though, my next commuter tyres will probably be something more in the 28-32 width range. They're probably needlessly heavy too, but hey, commuter bikes tend to have heavy bags and such anyway ...

__________________
Peter
Cannondale Synapse Carbon Scalpel Cyclocross Ultra

gclark8

24" Update:

For anyone else chasing a 24" road tyre, Giant have stocks of Kenda Kwest 24x1 road tyres. These would make a good upgrade for a 24" MTB and are available through any Giant dealer.

Conti have 24x1.75 Tour Ride in the catalogue, but want an order for 10 to import.

The 24x1.75 City Slicks below are a little heavy, but she likes the way the bike rides.

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Cheers,
George.

1id10t

I recently put Geax Streetrunner 1.25s on one of my bikes. These seem to roll quite fast (I have them pumped up to about 95psi; they're rated at 100psi). On my other mountain bike I am running Maxxis Overdrive 1.75s. I've been using these for more than 6 months and they both lasted a long time and have held up to the crappy roads and my crappy riding. These seem to run fast enough as well.

gclark8

Move over Michie, Conti has returned:

Today the new Conti 2006 catalogue arrived in the post. Don't you just love these tyre companys!

New MTB Tyre, 28-559, 26x1 1/8 Conti Ultra Gator Skin: http://www.conti-online.com/generat...torskin_en.html

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Cheers,
George.

gclark8

So many slicks so few bikes!!

Today, while in my LBS, the rep came in with some samples. New Slicks from WTB, 26x1.1 and 16x1.5!! These are light!! Selling in the mid $30-40 range.

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Cheers,
George.