Thick Tyre or Thin Tyre?

[Caher]

Hi all,
Last Saturday I did a test bike ride in preparation for the commute to work? A lot of it is over big hills (well the Chilterns!) and along river towing paths. 22 miles in all.
I am now thinking that maybe I might be better off on a racer rather than my big tyred mountain bike. Are racers suitable for a commute? Last time I owned one was when I was a boy and remembed that they were quick but felt every bump and the wheels bucked if you went off a pavement!
Cheers
Caher

 

[Simon Mason]

"Caher" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Hi all, Last Saturday I did a test bike ride in preparation for the commute to work? A lot of it
> is over big hills (well the Chilterns!) and along river towing paths. 22 miles in all. I am now
> thinking that maybe I might be better off on a racer rather than my big tyred mountain bike. Are
> racers suitable for a commute? Last time I owned one was when I was a boy and remembed that they
> were quick but felt every bump and the wheels bucked if you went off a pavement! Cheers Caher

I use off road tracks on my commute and find 700C x 35/37C smooth tyres the best compromise between
comfort and speed. I'm currently using these---

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/v2_product_detail.asp?ProdID=5360007846

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/v2_product_detail.asp?ProdID=5300003707

No punctures yet in 4 months.

--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

 

[Caher]

Hi Simon and all,
Is that 1 at the front and 1 at the back - I noticed they were different tyre types! Also I've just filled my present ones with Slime would I have to throw away the current inner tubes as I would be turning my bike back into a knobbly for the weekend?
Thanks again
Caher.

 

[Pete Biggs]

Caher wrote:
> Hi all, Last Saturday I did a test bike ride in preparation for the commute to work? A lot of it
> is over big hills (well the Chilterns!) and along river towing paths. 22 miles in all. I am now
> thinking that maybe I might be better off on a racer rather than my big tyred mountain bike. Are
> racers suitable for a commute?

If you like them. Need to think about comfort of the riding position, mudguards and carrying luggage
(all these things might be irrelevant or sortable). In the meantime, you could always get
better/different tyres for the MTB.

> Last time I owned one was when I was a boy and remembed that they were quick but felt every bump
> and the wheels bucked if you went off a pavement!

You'll soon get used to the bumps - and they can be minimised with good tyres and good riding.
Wheels will be fine if you're sensible - can even go up & down kerbs if use a gentle technique,
getting the weight distribution right.

Having said that, I busted a spoke yesterday after a bit of unplanned off-roading on my road bike
(but might have been a coincidence?). ...Went down a long road-to-nowhere and didn't feel like doing
a u-turn at the end so just carried on along a horrible mega-bumpy track for a while.

~PB

 

[Andy Dingley]

On 24 Jun 2003 22:30:37 +0950, Caher <[email protected]> wrote:

>Are racers suitable for a commute?

Depends what you commute through. Big long empty roads, or nasty traffic ? I like a sit-up-and-beg
position for dealing with cities. If I start doing 11 each way to Bath, then I'll be looking at a
Dawes Galaxy instead of my current MTB.

>Last time I owned one was when I was a boy and remembed that they were quick but felt every bump
>and the wheels bucked if you went off a pavement!

Wheel quality certainly becomes more of an issue. With fat tyres and chunky rims you can get away
with a crummy build. Go skinny and good handbuilds last longer (or learn to do your own).

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <[email protected]>, Simon Mason wrote:
> Yes, I have different tyres on either wheel. It's a sort of rolling experiment to see which tyre
> types are the most puncture resistant. By operating different types, I can test two at a time.

Don't you have to swap front and back for it to be a fair test? Back when my commuting route gave me
so many punctures I gave up and got "solid" tyres, it was always the back that punctured. (I'm back
with normal tyres and tubes now, working in a different place. I don't know what it was about that
route, but I had punctures around twice a month, compared with less than one a year in the previous
job with a longer ride.)

 

[Peter Barker]

in article [email protected], Alan Braggins at [email protected]
wrote on 25/6/2003 6:54 pm:

>> Yes, I have different tyres on either wheel. It's a sort of rolling experiment to see which tyre
>> types are the most puncture resistant. By operating different types, I can test two at a time.

If you use a narrow tyre on the front and a wide one on the back it makes it easier to pedal as
you're permanently cycling downhill.

No, honest.

Pete

--

To reply change the colour mode from CMYK to RGB but without the R or the G.

 

[Pete Biggs]

Alan Braggins wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>, Simon Mason wrote:
>> Yes, I have different tyres on either wheel. It's a sort of rolling experiment to see which tyre
>> types are the most puncture resistant. By operating different types, I can test two at a time.
>
> Don't you have to swap front and back for it to be a fair test? Back when my commuting route gave
> me so many punctures I gave up and got "solid" tyres, it was always the back that punctured. (I'm
> back with normal tyres and tubes now, working in a different place. I don't know what it was about
> that route, but I had punctures around twice a month, compared with less than one a year in the
> previous job with a longer ride.)

That's right. Rear punctures are far more common because the front flips up glass and objects onto
their ends/sides ready to puncture the rear, plus there's more weight at the rear.

~PB

 

[Richard Goodman]

"Pete Biggs" <pLime{remove_fruit}@biggs.tc> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> That's right. Rear punctures are far more common because the front flips up glass and objects onto
> their ends/sides ready to puncture the rear, plus there's more weight at the rear.
>

That's an interesting theory, but IME I used to get more punctures at the front, before I put slime
liners in and stopped getting them at all. My theory is that if there is something that is going to
puncture the tyre, the front will pick it up first! Even now, the front still gets far more gashed
than the rear even if stuff isn't going through.

Rich

 

[Simon Mason]

"Alan Braggins" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> Don't you have to swap front and back for it to be a fair test? Back when my commuting route gave
> me so many punctures I gave up and got "solid" tyres, it was always the back that punctured. (I'm
> back with normal tyres and tubes now, working in a different place. I don't know what it was about
> that route, but I had punctures around twice a month, compared with less than one a year in the
> previous job with a longer ride.)

I ride through so much glass every day that they are already getting a severe enough test
as it is

--
Simon Mason Anlaby East Yorkshire. 53°44'N 0°26'W http://www.simonmason.karoo.net

 

[Alan Braggins]

In article <BB1FDD46.488C1%[email protected]>, Peter Barker wrote:
>
>>> Yes, I have different tyres on either wheel. It's a sort of rolling experiment to see which tyre
>>> types are the most puncture resistant. By operating different types, I can test two at a time.
>
>If you use a narrow tyre on the front and a wide one on the back it makes it easier to pedal as
>you're permanently cycling downhill.
>
>No, honest.

The air's less disturbed at the front, so a skinny aerodynamic tyre helps more there, but most of
the weight is on the back so a wider tyre is more useful there.