Road bike - cyclo-cross tires



Status
Not open for further replies.
J

John McDowall

Guest
So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
handle slightly rougher terrain.

I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?

Pictures (60Kb in total) here:

http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/

Thanks in advance,

John
 
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

In article <[email protected]>, John McDowall <jmcd@nothanks> wrote:
>So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
>handle slightly rougher terrain.
>
>I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
>frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?
>
>Pictures (60Kb in total) here:
>
>http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/
>

_ What size are your current tires? If you could find a cyclocross tire that size it might fit, but
don't go in the mud. Cyclocross tires kind of suck on the road. You might be better off with just a
beefier and bigger road tire. Knobs help in the mud, air in the tubes helps with rough surfaces.

_ Booker C. Bense

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6.2

iQCVAwUBQDGAw2TWTAjn5N/lAQHZcAP5AZj6CbpzoQpDjfJnRbXuHvOT6pfGXgl1
vHd9WFZv5uWpsZNsTnQa+gLo7EykoyxTDpVbq+mJTgAHmnQ+CEkv2GKhiM2xL4Br
jLjSldJfkmJqpuwz920Fakhlhq9/RBJGN9isSU+xtII2DlNA49eTTpb3joqwb36H S0kbQiOgGYs= =DlgY -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
 
John McDowall <jmcd@nothanks> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
> handle slightly rougher terrain.
>
> I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
> frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?
>
> Pictures (60Kb in total) here:
>
> http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> John

You'd probably be better off fitting *fatter* tires, as opposed to *knobby* tires. A larger air
chamber is what you want to cushion the bumps and blows of rough terrain.

At a guess, you've got 700 x 25C tires mounted now. You *might* be able to fit 700 x 32C tires-
which is plenty for most hard surfaces. Whether or not you can use 700 x 32C tires can't be answered
from your pictures- there's also the matter of clearance at the chainstays. You may be stuck with
700 x 28C tires.

Someone who actually has a CAAD3 frame will probably have better answers than me. :)

Jeff
 
John McDowall wrote:

> So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
> handle slightly rougher terrain.
>
> I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
> frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?
>
> Pictures (60Kb in total) here:
>
> http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/
>
Ideally you might ride over to an LBS or visit a friend with said tires and slip a cross-tired wheel
in your bike for a moment.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
In article <[email protected]>, [email protected] says...
> John McDowall <jmcd@nothanks> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
> > handle slightly rougher terrain.
> >
> > I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
> > frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?
> >
> > Pictures (60Kb in total) here:
> >
> > http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/
> >
> > Thanks in advance,
> >
> > John
>
> You'd probably be better off fitting *fatter* tires, as opposed to *knobby* tires. A larger air
> chamber is what you want to cushion the bumps and blows of rough terrain.
>
> At a guess, you've got 700 x 25C tires mounted now. You *might* be able to fit 700 x 32C tires-
> which is plenty for most hard surfaces. Whether or not you can use 700 x 32C tires can't be
> answered from your pictures- there's also the matter of clearance at the chainstays. You may be
> stuck with 700 x 28C tires.
>
> Someone who actually has a CAAD3 frame will probably have better answers than me. :)
>
> Jeff
>
My tough old Conti Top Touring 28's are 24mm max width and rise 22mm from the rim, mounted on Mavic
MA2 rims which are about 20mm rim width (brake surface to brake surface). They were probably 23mm
high when new
- they have a beefy tread. You can get them in 32's if you have a bit more room than that and they
will roll over coarse gravel well. The 28's are OK too.

Bruce
 
Clearance that everyone forgets to also check is derailleur to tire.

I MTB 2004
 
John McDowall wrote:
> So, I'm thinking of sticking some heavy(ier) duty tires on my creaky winter road bike so it can
> handle slightly rougher terrain.
>
> I had thought about cyclo-cross tires, but am not sure about clearances. It's a Cannondale CAAD3
> frame. Do you think I could fit a set of knobblier tires in there?
>
> Pictures (60Kb in total) here:
>
> http://www.jmcd.nu/bike/
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> John
>

Along the same lines, are there any 700x23 cross tires out there?

-Zilla
 
Zilla <[email protected]> wrote:

> Along the same lines, are there any 700x23 cross tires out there?

What would be the point? If you're riding over rough terrain, small tires are not the way to go.
Bigger tires are better than extra knobs anyway unless you're riding on loose surfaces.

There are some old school Euro cross tires in 700x27 like the Vittoria Master and Tigre, and the
Ritchey semi-slick 700x30 measured about 26mm wide for me. That's about the smallest useful
cross tire.
 
> There are some old school Euro cross tires in 700x27 like the Vittoria Master and Tigre, and the
> Ritchey semi-slick 700x30 measured about 26mm wide for me. That's about the smallest useful
> cross tire.
>
I recommend the Tufo Elite Diamond LPS 28 mm. http://www.tufo.com/index.php?lg=en&mn=4&id=5 They
will fit in most road frames and have excellent handling on moderate winter conditions and rough
roads. It does not have big knobs that increase rolling resistance on paved roads, but a diamond
pattern and a special rubber mixture that gives the good grip. It is specially puncture resistant. I
even used them in two mountain races in Norway (mostly fire roads, gravel roads and tracks, I do not
have a mountain bike so I use a hybrid with Tufo tires instead). Like all the Tufo Elite models they
are very expensive, though, typically between 70 to 79 $. Tufo deliver them in both tubular and
clincher versions. I use clincher, but by mistake I also ordered four tubular tires. I sell them for
60$ each plus shipping.

Erik (to reply replace "com" with "no")
 
Erik Lindeberg wrote:
>>There are some old school Euro cross tires in 700x27 like the Vittoria Master and Tigre, and the
>>Ritchey semi-slick 700x30 measured about 26mm wide for me. That's about the smallest useful
>>cross tire.
>>
>
> I recommend the Tufo Elite Diamond LPS 28 mm. http://www.tufo.com/index.php?lg=en&mn=4&id=5 They
> will fit in most road frames and have excellent handling on moderate winter conditions and rough
> roads. It does not have big knobs that increase rolling resistance on paved roads, but a diamond
> pattern and a special rubber mixture that gives the good grip. It is specially puncture resistant.
> I even used them in two mountain races in Norway (mostly fire roads, gravel roads and tracks, I do
> not have a mountain bike so I use a hybrid with Tufo tires instead). Like all the Tufo Elite
> models they are very expensive, though, typically between 70 to 79 $. Tufo deliver them in both
> tubular and clincher versions. I use clincher, but by mistake I also ordered four tubular tires. I
> sell them for 60$ each plus shipping.
>
> Erik (to reply replace "com" with "no")
>
>

Thanks! Terrain will be mostly fire roads with almost sand-like pebbles so it's not too rough. I
will consider "your" tires as well...

-Zilla
 
> [email protected] wrote:
Clearance that everyone forgets to also check is
>>derailleur to tire.

dvt wrote:
> Front derailer? I've never seen that one before.
>
It's a mountain bike thing. Especially on XMart bikes.

--
Andrew Muzi www.yellowjersey.org Open every day since 1 April, 1971
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads