Getting some road tyres for my MTB

Phal

Phal

Phal

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Joined
19 Jul 2004
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Shoreham by Sea
Was looking to get some road tyres to fit on my bike since most of my riding is on the road... makes sense eh!

Anyway, its a Trek 4300 and according to specs it came with the following:

Tyres (Front & Back) Bontrager Jones ACX, 26x2.1"; 27 tpi
Wheel Size 26"


My question is - whats the deal with the tyre/wheel thickness? a lot of the road tyres seem thin etc, will they all fit ok on my wheels? Or do you need certain thickness wheels for certain tyres etc?

Just thought Id check so I dont end up with tyres I cant use :p
 
specialized crossroads armadilla elite. roll great on the road, virtually puncture proof and good on dry hardpack off road. at least you'll be able to go off road if you fancy it :)
 
For on the road, if your intention is to get to places, go for the narrowest tyre with the least rolling resistance.

I see a lot of people on mountain bikes putting in a lot of effort on the road, huffing and puffing, pedalling like crazy, and I effortlessly soar past them on my racer. If you're just trying to get from a to b quickly with little effort then it's madness running a mountain bike with fat tyres sapping all your energy.
 
Will any 26" tyre fit on my wheels though? Or are there like narrower wheels for narrower tyres etc? :\
 
dunker said:
specialized crossroads armadilla elite. roll great on the road, virtually puncture proof and good on dry hardpack off road. at least you'll be able to go off road if you fancy it :)
Click to expand...

Jonny69 said:
For on the road, if your intention is to get to places, go for the narrowest tyre with the least rolling resistance.
Click to expand...

What Jonny69 said.

Those armadillos have a tread on them which isn't needed for road tyres and additional puncture resistance. Both of these will increase rolling resistance. By all means keep the puncture resistance (although it tends to make tyres heavier), but loose the tread, it reduces your grip and slows you down.

Your tyre size will be decided by your rims; how wide are they?
 
Unless you have DH/Freeride rims, which is highly doubtful on your Trek, any 26" tyre is going to fit. Anything from 1.5" - 1.75" is what you're looking at, with minimal tread ideally.

I got a pair of Bikehut slicks from Halfords and they're great, you really can notice the difference.

You need to check your innertubes while you're swapping tyres over though, some tubes are sized for larger diameter tyres (2.1" and above) and will not be ideal for a 1.5" skinny tyre.
 
This is what is on my bike atm

Tyres - Bontrager Jones ACX, 26x2.1"

Wheels - Shimano M65 disc hubs; 26" Bontrager Ranger rims w/eyelets





From what Big Chris said, I should be able to get pretty much any 26" tyres on but I might need different inner tubes since my current ones are for 2.1" tyres?
 
Check your tubes first Phal, they may be ok. The tube should be marked with the size of tyre it will fill effectively.

That said, the Conti's you've linked above are very skinny so you'd more than likely need new tubes. Conti's are decent tyres, those you've linked really are road only tyres though, you might get away with a hardpack footpath but don't go anywhere near anything remotely mud-like or wet grass.
 
Yeah they are quite thin but most of the road tyres Ive seen are around the 1.5" size with a few slightly bigger 1.75" ones

Decisions decisions!

Theres a few things like these:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Continental_Town_And_Country_Semi_Slick_MTB_Tyre/5300002816/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwalbe_Land_Crusier_MTB_Tyre/5360042609/

They look like they offer a nice smooth surface to the road whilst still mainting some kind of tread to give a little grip off the road.

On the other hand most of my riding is done getting to work and back so the only offroad riding I might do is at the weekends generally or maybe during the summer evenings.

Bit of a pain switching tyres here and there :| And I dont think I really ride enough to justify having a spare set of wheels to keep my other tyres on lol.
 
I have two sets of tyres, once you've done it a few times (and if you have a decent pump) you can swap both tyres and have them back on the bike in well under 10mins.
 
I have Continental Sport Contacts 1.75 and my mate has the same tyres but 1.3's on our mountain bikes. Cant go wrong as you can pick up a pair of tyres + tubes for less than £30
 
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