Question about MTB tires

On Sun, 18 May 2003 16:27:27 -0600, <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hope this is the right place to post this. I've got a department store MTB (I know, I know, I know)
>and I'd like to make it a little more road friendly. I've also got a Trek road bike and it is
>almost effortless to ride on the roads with. Sometimes I like the comfort of the MTB, but man it's
>a pig when compared the to road bike. It's heavy, i'd guess about 3x the road bike. But it's comfy.
>I can't do anything about the weight, but I figure one of the easiest things I can do to make it
>more road friendly is to replace the tires with ones that have less resistance. Right now, what's
>on there are the really knobby stock 40-60psi tires it came with it. I've heard of "slick" tires
>for MTB's but that seems kind of like a contradiction to me. Is there some compromise? A road tire
>for a MTB wheel? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
>

Don't get hung up on what is an MTB and what is a Road bike.

Slicks are just the tire you need if you want to ride on roads. There are a few companies that make
them- WTB, Ritchey, etc. Call any bike store and ask. You can go down to 1.00 inch, I believe, but
1.5 is more typical.

If what you really want is a tire that won't fight you on the road like the knobby ones, and still
give you all the traction you need on trails, well, good luck.

I had 1.5 slicks on my 'mountainy-sort-of-like' bike which I use probably 80% on roads and the rest
on trails and paths. They were just a bit too skinny for comfort in dirt. I got a pair of
Continental 'Travel Contact' tires and have found them to be a nice compromise. A large smooth area
in the center and some knobs to the far sides. 1.75 inches. They are certainly no substitute for
knobby tires on trails, but I am not doing serious trail riding. They let me go off-road with some
confidence. They aren't the lightest- 700 grams?- but they ride very well. http://www.conti-online.-
com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/tires/city/travelcontact/travelcontact_en.html

On Sun, 18 May 2003 16:27:27 -0600, <[email protected]> wrote:

>I've heard of "slick" tires for MTB's but that seems kind of like a contradiction to me.

It's a slick tyre. It fits on a 26" MTB wheel. What's the problem ?

There's a bunch of these things - some slicker, lighter and skinnier than others. Many of them
benefit from a smaller and lighter tube too. Look what bike couriers ride around town.

IMHO, they're excessive. My daily commuter is an MTB frame, and I still like having a big fat tyre
that bounces over kerbs and has knobbles big enough not to be embarassing on a canal towpath ride to
the pub. So an MTB tyre that's still lumpy at the sides, but has a solid centre rib, gives me much
lower rolling resistance without losing all of the MTB nature. Old Conti Top Tourings (not the 2000)
were my favourite, but the Specialized Crossroads looks like today's version.

I have 1.5" slicks (Specialized) on my MTB for road riding (commuting and utility use), and two sets
of dedicated off road knobbies for, well, off roading.

If I still had the choice of riding fire roads on my commuting routes, I would have a set of
combo (road/offroad) tires instead of slicks. They are available about anywhere, even (gasp!)
Department stores.

May you have the wind at your back. And a really low gear for the hills! Chris

Chris'Z Corner "The Website for the Common Bicyclist": http://www.geocities.com/czcorner

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...

> Hope this is the right place to post this. I've got a department store MTB (I know, I
> know, I know)
and I'd like to
> make it a little more road friendly. I've also got a Trek
road bike and it
> is almost effortless to ride on the roads with. Sometimes
I like the comfort
> of the MTB, but man it's a pig when compared the to road
bike.
> It's heavy, i'd guess about 3x the road bike. But it's
comfy. I can't do
> anything about the weight, but I figure one of the easiest
things I can do
> to make it more road friendly is to replace the tires with
ones that have
> less resistance. Right now, what's on there are the really
knobby stock
> 40-60psi tires it came with it. I've heard of "slick" tires for MTB's but that seems kind
of like a
> contradiction to me. Is there some compromise? A road tire
for a MTB wheel?
> Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

You're on the right track. There's no contradiction at all. Some good slicks will make you almost as
fast as if you had a road bike. See what your local bike shop has. Some fast tires to look for are
Continental Avenues, Specialized Fatboys, Ritchey Tom Slicks, Bontrager slicks, etc. Even
Performance and Nashbar have house brand slicks that are pretty good. Sizes vary from 1.0" to 2.0".
The best choices are probably in the middle of that range. Wider is generally more comfortable,
narrower may be faster but not necessarily.

Matt O.

[email protected] wrote:
: Hope this is the right place to post this. I've got a department store MTB (I know, I know, I
: know) and I'd like to make it a little more road friendly. I've also got a Trek road bike and it
: is almost effortless to ride on the roads with. Sometimes I like the comfort of the MTB, but man
: it's a pig when compared the to road bike. It's heavy, i'd guess about 3x the road bike. But it's
: comfy. I can't do anything about the weight, but I figure one of the easiest things I can do to
: make it more road friendly is to replace the tires with ones that have less resistance. Right now,
: what's on there are the really knobby stock 40-60psi tires it came with it. I've heard of "slick"
: tires for MTB's but that seems kind of like a contradiction to me. Is there some compromise? A
: road tire for a MTB wheel? Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

If you want to do both on and off road, check out the Michelin Wildgripper Rock. They're semi-slick
and 80psi for low rolling resistance, but are also fairly wide (1.7" & 1.9" sizes). They're the
widest high pressure tires I've found. They're heavy, but they're cheap.

- mark

Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely be checking out some of those particular tires
mentioned and also call my local bike shops to see what they carry. Also see if they have any
recommendations for any one particular make and model that may work better in my area than another.
Thanks again all.

<[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Thanks for all the feedback! I'll definitely be checking out some of those particular tires
> mentioned and also call my local bike shops to see what they carry. Also see if they have any
> recommendations for any one particular make and model that may work better in my area than
> another. Thanks again all.

sounds like youre on the right track. if you cant find anything locally, i fitted a friend's bike
with nashbar.com 26" slicks, at ten dollars each. they looked quite good, actually. better quality
(at least this pair) than the other ten dollars tires ive gotten my hands on in thelast few years.

anthony