tire/tube brands

[Random User]

Hello,

What are good tires/tubes for commuting? I have a mountain bike
and a hybrid that uses road tires. Therefore I need opinions on
both 26" and 700c ones.

My impression is, many big names like Continental, Michelin,
etc. are racer-orientated, "superlight" (flimsy?) and expensive. On
the other hand, I have never heard of Forte, Quality and am not
sure about the quality. I kind of like the Taiwanese brands like
Kenda, decent-quality and not so expensive.

Anyway my knowledge is limited and I would like to hear more
informed opinions. By the way, what are good mail order sources
for tires/tubes?

TIA.

Mike

 

[Brian Huntley]

Random User wrote:
> Hello,
>
> What are good tires/tubes for commuting? I have a mountain bike
> and a hybrid that uses road tires. Therefore I need opinions on
> both 26" and 700c ones.

I've settled on Schwalbe Marathons for my commuting/touring bikes.
They're tough, but still give a good ride. I *do* find them a little
slippery when wet for the first 20-50 km of the tire's life, but
they're fine for the next 10,000 or so. They seem to need to be scuffed
in a bit.

I used to use Panaracer Paselas and Tourguards, but found the sidewalls
weak, leading to a fairly sharp failure mode (as in fine one day,
useless the next.)

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Random User" <[email protected]> writes:
> Hello,
>
> What are good tires/tubes for commuting? I have a mountain bike
> and a hybrid that uses road tires. Therefore I need opinions on
> both 26" and 700c ones.
>
> My impression is, many big names like Continental, Michelin,
> etc. are racer-orientated, "superlight" (flimsy?) and expensive. On
> the other hand, I have never heard of Forte, Quality and am not
> sure about the quality. I kind of like the Taiwanese brands like
> Kenda, decent-quality and not so expensive.

I've been quite satisfied with the cheaper, well-known, gumwalled
brands on my MTB -- particularly Kenda, IRC and Cheng Shin.
Tioga City Slickers are a little more upscale, but I think they're
good in the rain. Ritchey Tom Slicks are too, and they seem a little
"faster" to me, but IMO the Tiogas corner better in the wet.

Cheng Shins are an acquired taste. Another erstwhile regular poster
here once said: "they wear like iron, they ride like iron."
Their durability has earned my respect. Actually, after the first
8000 kilometres, they seem to break in and lose some of that
hard feel.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

 

[Ken]

"Random User" <[email protected]> wrote in news:1146337267.396057.237020
@e56g2000cwe.googlegroups.com:
> My impression is, many big names like Continental, Michelin,
> etc. are racer-orientated, "superlight" (flimsy?) and expensive.

The big name brands make a wide variety of tires. Their heavy-duty touring
or hybrid models will work well for commuting.

 

[landotter]

Tom Keats wrote:

> Cheng Shins are an acquired taste. Another erstwhile regular poster
> here once said: "they wear like iron, they ride like iron."
> Their durability has earned my respect. Actually, after the first
> 8000 kilometres, they seem to break in and lose some of that
> hard feel.

I had a set of stock Cheng Shins that must have done 15K miles with no
flats before it started to get creepy and I switched them to a pair of
Michelin Idilis.

If you're in the US, I find that the house brand tires from Nashbar and
Performance are really good. My two faves are the Performance 1.25"
slicks for mtbs, they feel marvelous; I also am incredibly impressed
with the Nashbar Prima 2 plus, a 700c training tire that's amazingly,
light, supple, and puncture proof. For a tenner either tire can't be
beat. For what it's worth, I believe both are made by Cheng Shin--the
Nashbar tire certainly is and it's indeed durable, but not
fantastically so like the first set I mentioned.

Panaracer Paselas are the group favorite for an all round tire. They
come in all sorts of sizes and are relatively cheap.

I commented on the cheap Hutchinson Flash tires a while back and I've
changed my mind on them. They were pretty good for winter slop due to
the gumwall's durability. The tread seemed really cut prone after a
couple sets, and their strength, the durable sidewall, was the
undoing--it made for a very dead feeling ride.

 

[Tom Keats]

In article <[email protected]>,
"landotter" <[email protected]> writes:

> I commented on the cheap Hutchinson Flash tires a while back and I've
> changed my mind on them. They were pretty good for winter slop due to
> the gumwall's durability. The tread seemed really cut prone after a
> couple sets, and their strength, the durable sidewall, was the
> undoing--it made for a very dead feeling ride.

I don't think gumwalls will ever have the verve & vitality
of skinwalls. But for cheap-o commuting/transportational
purposes, I guess I can live with 'em.

I just make myself weigh less, and pump the tires up a
little harder than the specified maximum.

Tell ya what, tho' -- those Cheng Shins sure teach ya to
truly ride lightly on the saddle. It's like the "walking
on rice paper test" in the first Kung Fu tv show.

Once one has mastered surviving Cheng Shin tires, one can
scoff at suspension seatposts.


cheers,
Tom

--
-- Nothing is safe from me.
Above address is just a spam midden.
I'm really at: tkeats [curlicue] vcn [point] bc [point] ca

 

[landotter]

Tom Keats wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> "landotter" <[email protected]> writes:
>
> > I commented on the cheap Hutchinson Flash tires a while back and I've
> > changed my mind on them. They were pretty good for winter slop due to
> > the gumwall's durability. The tread seemed really cut prone after a
> > couple sets, and their strength, the durable sidewall, was the
> > undoing--it made for a very dead feeling ride.
>
> I don't think gumwalls will ever have the verve & vitality
> of skinwalls. But for cheap-o commuting/transportational
> purposes, I guess I can live with 'em.
>
> I just make myself weigh less, and pump the tires up a
> little harder than the specified maximum.
>
> Tell ya what, tho' -- those Cheng Shins sure teach ya to
> truly ride lightly on the saddle. It's like the "walking
> on rice paper test" in the first Kung Fu tv show.
>
> Once one has mastered surviving Cheng Shin tires, one can
> scoff at suspension seatposts.
>

Well, as I mentioned, Cheng Shin does make some really nice supple
tires under contract, but you probably experienced the same cheaper
version as I had the fortune to aquire on a Marin San Anselmo a few
years ago.

Sweet holy [insert deity here] ****. Two years of Chicago potholed
commuting and they looked new. Probably some sort of rubber colored
steel alloy. You'd think that 700x35 tires at 70 psi would be
comfortable, but those babies had the ride of hell. I think I just kept
them mounted as I was astounded at the invincibility of the forkers.

I have a very similar Brodie city bike now, and am very pleased with
the stock 37mm WTB Slickasaurus tires. They ride majestically.

 

[RonSonic]

On 29 Apr 2006 12:01:07 -0700, "Random User" <[email protected]> wrote:

>Hello,
>
>What are good tires/tubes for commuting? I have a mountain bike
>and a hybrid that uses road tires. Therefore I need opinions on
>both 26" and 700c ones.
>
>My impression is, many big names like Continental, Michelin,
>etc. are racer-orientated, "superlight" (flimsy?) and expensive. On
>the other hand, I have never heard of Forte, Quality and am not
>sure about the quality. I kind of like the Taiwanese brands like
>Kenda, decent-quality and not so expensive.
>
>Anyway my knowledge is limited and I would like to hear more
>informed opinions. By the way, what are good mail order sources
>for tires/tubes?

Kenda K-Rad is a very good tire for mountain bikes on mostly pavement. They roll
smooth and get good traction on anything short of sand or mud. Nashbar has'em.

Ron

 

[RonSonic]

On Sat, 29 Apr 2006 14:44:33 -0700, [email protected] (Tom Keats) wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
> "Random User" <[email protected]> writes:
>> Hello,
>>
>> What are good tires/tubes for commuting? I have a mountain bike
>> and a hybrid that uses road tires. Therefore I need opinions on
>> both 26" and 700c ones.
>>
>> My impression is, many big names like Continental, Michelin,
>> etc. are racer-orientated, "superlight" (flimsy?) and expensive. On
>> the other hand, I have never heard of Forte, Quality and am not
>> sure about the quality. I kind of like the Taiwanese brands like
>> Kenda, decent-quality and not so expensive.
>
>I've been quite satisfied with the cheaper, well-known, gumwalled
>brands on my MTB -- particularly Kenda, IRC and Cheng Shin.
>Tioga City Slickers are a little more upscale, but I think they're
>good in the rain. Ritchey Tom Slicks are too, and they seem a little
>"faster" to me, but IMO the Tiogas corner better in the wet.
>
>Cheng Shins are an acquired taste. Another erstwhile regular poster
>here once said: "they wear like iron, they ride like iron."
>Their durability has earned my respect. Actually, after the first
>8000 kilometres, they seem to break in and lose some of that
>hard feel.

Cheng Shin markets their enthusiast and aftermarket products as Maxxis. I've got
a set of their 700 - 25 slicks with 1200 miles and no flats and lots of tread
left.

Ron