Fatman has a question....

You may remember, dear reader, how I bought a Ridgeback Velocity hybrid last October. Yes, yes, I
know, having read recent threads it may offend some of you but it suits me perfectly (almost) - so
tough! Thing is, it has great, fat knobbly tyres which don't seem to be too good for cycling on the
black stuff (which is where 80% of my rides have been so far). I will be wobbling 'off piste' at
some stage so seek suggestions for a more suitable tyre; these fat knobbly things seem to suck the
energy out of my legs (not that there's much there at present but I live in hope) and they're rather
noisy and uncomfortable. I read somewhere about a Schwalbe Marathon Comfort being a good all-rounder
- what do you think?
--
DP

 

"David Pipes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> You may remember, dear reader, how I bought a Ridgeback Velocity hybrid last October. Yes, yes, I
> know, having read recent threads it may offend some of you but it suits me perfectly (almost) - so
> tough! Thing is, it has great, fat knobbly tyres which don't seem to be too good for cycling on
> the black stuff (which is where 80% of my rides have been so far). I will be wobbling 'off piste'
> at some stage so seek suggestions for a more suitable tyre; these fat knobbly things seem to suck
> the energy out of my legs (not that there's much there at present but I live in hope) and they're
> rather noisy and uncomfortable. I read somewhere about a Schwalbe Marathon Comfort being a good
> all-rounder - what do you think?

There are all sorts of tyres available. One very hack bike I have a set of cheap, no name tyres
with a central running ridge for the road. If I take it off road the rest of the tyre is
suitably knobbly.

Pumping the tyres harder also reduces drag - but not noise

Marathons have a good name.

 

"Tony W" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
>
> "David Pipes" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
> > You may remember, dear reader, how I bought a Ridgeback Velocity hybrid last October. Yes, yes,
> > I know, having read recent threads it may offend some of you but it suits me perfectly (almost)
> > - so tough! Thing is, it has great, fat knobbly tyres which don't seem to be too good for
> > cycling on the black stuff (which is where 80% of my rides have been so far). I will be wobbling
> > 'off piste' at some stage so seek suggestions for a more suitable tyre; these fat knobbly things
> > seem to suck the energy out of my legs (not that there's much there at present but I live in
> > hope) and they're rather noisy and uncomfortable. I read somewhere about a Schwalbe Marathon
> > Comfort being a good all-rounder - what do you think?
>
>
> There are all sorts of tyres available. One very hack bike I have a set
of
> cheap, no name tyres with a central running ridge for the road. If I take it off road the rest of
> the tyre is suitably knobbly.
>
> Pumping the tyres harder also reduces drag - but not noise
>
> Marathons have a good name.
>
>

I spend my time on roads and tow paths, and have fitted Specialised Hemisphere. Kevlar inside or
something, and hardly get punctures (can't remember my last one).

Very hard wearing, been using them for a year and tons of tread left.

If I want to go mudplugging, I'll change the tyres to my off-road tyres. Not a major problem as I'll
have to give it a full clean after that sort of riding anyway.

Front end can slip out on some mud, but my reactions are quicker. (Went out in the snow yesterday
) Heavy central ridge is another option, but I find it is not as nice cornering (and I like to get
my knee down!)....