Tyres for a mountain bike used mainly on road

Zaphan58 · 17 May 2020 at 15:33

Hi all my Schwinn mountain bike has knobbly tyres which are not best for the road which is where I mainly use it now. Any recommendations on a tyre more suited to road use but can also take the odd bit of blasting through woods / canal paths every once in a while.

Thanks

mattyfez · 17 May 2020 at 15:41

You could get a light weight cross country MTB tyre like a shwalbe racing Ralph, continental race King or specialised fast track. They might wear quite quick on tarmac though.

Maybe more of a touring tyre would be better?

UTmaniac · 17 May 2020 at 16:35

Land Cruisers are a decent cheap option.

VaderDSL · 17 May 2020 at 16:43

UTmaniac said:
Land Cruisers are a decent cheap option.

Agreed, have them on both mine and my Dads MTB for road cycling! Plus they are more than capable of handling a forest road, although I wouldn't be doing any serious terrain on them though.

UTmaniac · 17 May 2020 at 16:55

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/700-x-38-40622-schwalbe-marathon-cross-hs470-tyre-700-622/ for ~£10 each are a steal, didn't realise they are still available, my pair are ~4 years old and roll very well with very little wear considering their age.

mattyfez · 17 May 2020 at 17:52

Yeah, agreed, something like a land cruiser would seem to be the type of tyre you want. I was going to suggest a schwalbe marathon, but whilst being very good, have a reputation for being heavy and sometimes difficult to remove and refit for punctures.

That marathon cross looks good as well though, but I'd be wary about buying a £10 tyre, TBH, they generally have harder compounds which don't grip as well.

Mercurial · 21 May 2020 at 15:14

I've recently fitted Continental Double fighters to my lad's MTB, designed for a mix of tarmac and gravel/track and they seem to work very well.

Pyr0m@nI@]{ · 22 May 2020 at 10:37

What size are your wheels as some makes/models are only available in certain sizes.

I fitted 29x2.6 Vittoria Mezcal recently for summer with some road use expected, but the maxis hookworm look pretty good for mainly tarmac use.
https://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-316-137-hookworm