Hybrid Tyre Advice / End to End Question

Ed_Zep wrote:

> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>
> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
> here would recommend.

Try Schwalbe Marathons, a very good general purpose and touring tyre. I
use them on my folder and my tourer and have no complaints. They'll
take up to 100 psi so they go at a fair pace, have a bit of tread for
when there's clag or simple off-road, and have Kevlar belts for good
puncture resistance.

> Could I have thinner tyres, too?

The Marathons I use are 38mm IIRC. They should fit on the same rims,
I'd think. The fact that they do high pressure will cut the rolling
resistance very substantially, you don't need to get very skinny to go
at a fair speed.

> Also on the sunject of the LE-->JOG trip, what type of bike would
> people recommend?

One you're comfortable on. If the Schwinn qualifies, use that. If
you're looking to buy a bike for the job, comfort over the distance is
very important: you'll be on it for at least a couple of weeks. Choice
of anything, I'd use a recumbent designed for touring, though you'd want
some time to get used to it. For conventional bikes, drop bars also
take some getting used to so I'd avoid those if you don't already use
them or you have quite a bit of acclimatisation time to get your body
used to the forward position.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email protected] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

[email protected] (Ed_Zep) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi.
>
> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>
> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
> here would recommend.
>
> Could I have thinner tyres, too?

I use Continental Top Touring 2000 tyres on my tourer 700x37 on the
back and 700x32 on the front. Either size should suit your bike. They
are fairly fast and puncture resistant.

> Also on the sunject of the LE-->JOG trip, what type of bike would
> people recommend?

The LE-JOG could be done on any bike. Assuming you are doing it
unsupported then you need to be able to carry luggage. Other than that
the main thing is that it is comfortable to ride for 8 hours or so a
day. The LE-JOG is a long tour so a touring bike is the obvious choice
but I,ve tourer on my hybrid when my tourer was off the road and was
fine other than my wrists aching a bit due I think to the fewer hand
positions available with flat bars compared to drop bars. Have aq look
at Ian Clares site for accounts of LE-JOGs and bikes used.
..http://www.users.waitrose.com/~ianclare/links.htm
Iain

in message <[email protected]>, Ed_Zep
('[email protected]') wrote:

> Also on the sunject of the LE-->JOG trip, what type of bike would
> people recommend?

If you're going on the hybrid (and there's no reason why not), be sure
you have really comfortable bar ends. When cycling distances it's
important to be able to rest your wrists by changing their position now
and then. In a head wind the fact that with straight bars you can't get
down on the drops will be a disadvantage, but it isn't a critical one
and if you're more comfortable with straight bars that's what
fundamentally matters.

Of course, a recumbent trike would be nice

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

Tony Blair's epitaph, #1: Here lies Tony Blair.
Tony Blair's epitaph, #2: Trust me.

Ed_Zep wrote:

> Hi.
>
> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>
> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
> here would recommend.
>
> Could I have thinner tyres, too?

1.5 times the width of the rim is optimum.

On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 09:00:10 +0100, Peter Clinch
<[email protected]> wrote (more or less):

>Ed_Zep wrote:
>
>> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>>
>> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
>> here would recommend.
>
>Try Schwalbe Marathons, a very good general purpose and touring tyre. I
>use them on my folder and my tourer and have no complaints. They'll
>take up to 100 psi so they go at a fair pace, have a bit of tread for
>when there's clag or simple off-road, and have Kevlar belts for good
>puncture resistance.
>
>> Could I have thinner tyres, too?
>
>The Marathons I use are 38mm IIRC. They should fit on the same rims,
>I'd think. The fact that they do high pressure will cut the rolling
>resistance very substantially, you don't need to get very skinny to go
>at a fair speed.

For end-to-ending, if you want to avoid punctures, there's also now
the Marathon Plus.

It has a big thick ridge of blue foam underneath the crown of the
tyre, which at its thickest is thick enough even to stop drawing pins
getting to the inner tube.

It has the same rolling resistance as the Marathons!

The main downside is the increase in cost, from £17.99 or so to
£23.99. (And just-plain Marathons are more often available at
discount, I think.)

Mind you they are also heavier than just-plain Marathons, and the
weight is right at the outside of the circumference of the wheel/tyre
combo, making the maximum possible increase in the moment of inertia
of the wheel/tyre But I'm not sure how much worse it would actually
be in practice. Not much, I suspect (but I haven't bothered to do
sums).

>
>> Also on the sunject of the LE-->JOG trip, what type of bike would
>> people recommend?
>
>One you're comfortable on. If the Schwinn qualifies, use that. If
>you're looking to buy a bike for the job, comfort over the distance is
>very important: you'll be on it for at least a couple of weeks. Choice
>of anything, I'd use a recumbent designed for touring, though you'd want
>some time to get used to it. For conventional bikes, drop bars also
>take some getting used to so I'd avoid those if you don't already use
>them or you have quite a bit of acclimatisation time to get your body
>used to the forward position.
>
>Pete.

--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone.

Ed.


[email protected] (Ed_Zep) wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Hi.
>
> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>
> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
> here would recommend.
>
> Could I have thinner tyres, too?
>
> Also on the sunject of the LE-->JOG trip, what type of bike would
> people recommend?
>
> Thanks a lot.
>
> Ed.

On 31/8/04 1:37 pm, in article
[email protected], "Ed_Zep"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone.

> [email protected] (Ed_Zep) wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
>> Hi.
>>
>> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>>
>> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres people
>> here would recommend.

The nokian AWS (see http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/ because the tread
pattern is so cool (yes I know, tread pattern on a slick tyre, but look at
it before you winge.)

...d

in message <BD5A339E.1F11B%[email protected]>, David Martin
('[email protected]') wrote:

> On 31/8/04 1:37 pm, in article
> [email protected], "Ed_Zep"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone.
>
>> [email protected] (Ed_Zep) wrote in message
>> news:<[email protected]>...
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>>>
>>> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres
>>> people here would recommend.
>
> The nokian AWS (see http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/ because the tread
> pattern is so cool (yes I know, tread pattern on a slick tyre, but
> look at it before you winge.)

I know. I really want a pair, even though I haven't got a bike which
would be at all suitable for them...

For the tread pattern, check here:
<URL:http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/images/aws.jpg>

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
"The result is a language that... not even its mother could
love. Like the camel, Common Lisp is a horse designed by
committee. Camels do have their uses."
;; Scott Fahlman, 7 March 1995

in message <BD5A339E.1F11B%[email protected]>, David Martin
('[email protected]') wrote:

> On 31/8/04 1:37 pm, in article
> [email protected], "Ed_Zep"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Thanks a lot for the advice, everyone.
>
>> [email protected] (Ed_Zep) wrote in message
>> news:<[email protected]>...
>>> Hi.
>>>
>>> I've got a Schwinn hybrid bike with 700x42c semi-slick tyres.
>>>
>>> I'd like a little more speed and was wondering what slick tyres
>>> people here would recommend.
>
> The nokian AWS (see http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/ because the tread
> pattern is so cool (yes I know, tread pattern on a slick tyre, but
> look at it before you winge.)

I know. I really want a pair, even though I haven't got a bike which
would be at all suitable for them...

For the tread pattern, check here:
<URL:http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/images/aws.jpg>

--
[email protected] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/
"The result is a language that... not even its mother could
love. Like the camel, Common Lisp is a horse designed by
committee. Camels do have their uses."
;; Scott Fahlman, 7 March 1995

On 31/8/04 3:05 pm, in article
[email protected], "Simon Brooke"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> I know. I really want a pair, even though I haven't got a bike which
> would be at all suitable for them...
>
> For the tread pattern, check here:
> <URL:http://www.nokiantyres.com/bike/images/aws.jpg>

***** Bain in Glasgow does them:
http://www.bicyclerepair.co.uk/shop/3/7/

So at the FGIHPV festival, a trip to *****'s and Kinetics is in order.

...d