# Upgrade advice needed for carrera subway 2



## david davies (28 Oct 2012)

I have a Carrera subway 2 bike and its all original spec. I have read that the tyres are the best cheap part to upgrade to get more grip or less drag etc. The problem is the tires on the bike now are size 26 x 1.6. I cannot find tires with this sizing hardly anywhere in the UK. I cannot even find the original Innova 26 x 1.6 that are on there now. Two I found with that size are ( Schwalbe Marathon Supreme 26 X 1.60 Folding Tyre ) and ( Continental Sport Contact 26 x 1.6" )
Would either of these be a decent upgrade or are there others out there ?


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## Manonabike (28 Oct 2012)

I have a Carrera Subway 2 too and I have made lots of upgrades. I still got the tyres but I use them only in the summer months. In the winder I use some 26 x 2.0 with plenty of grip.

Upgrades are:
Saddle for a Brooks Flyer.
Stem - probably the best upgrade I made so far.
Wheels - got two good hand made Mavic wheels.
Crankset - upgraded the crankset as the old one broke.
Pedals - for SPD Shimano pedals - old pedals were poor.

Very happy with the bike now. Fine for what I need.


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## Rickshaw Phil (28 Oct 2012)

There are plenty of tyres that would do the job. Try searching for 26x1.5 or 26x1.75 which are more common sizes. You have a reasonable amount of flexibility with bike tyres and the new ones you pick do not have to be _exactly_ the same width as long as they are for the correct wheel diameter.

Personally I'm running 26x1.75 Conti TourRides on my converted rigid mountain bike, which I like a lot but there is plenty of choice out there.

Schwalbe and Continental both do very good tyres so I'd be happy to recommend either of those.


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## david davies (28 Oct 2012)

Thank guys, I had no idea that the width could be 1.5, 1.75 or 2 also.
What stem did you put on it Manonabike ? I was thinking of that upgrade at some point also.


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## Manonabike (28 Oct 2012)

david davies said:


> Thank guys, I had no idea that the width could be 1.5, 1.75 or 2 also.
> What stem did you put on it Manonabike ? I was thinking of that upgrade at some point also.


 

I put one of these. The clamp size is 25.4mm. The old stem is the worst I've seen.

This is how mine looks now.....


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## david davies (28 Oct 2012)

Manonabike said:


> I put one of these. The clamp size is 25.4mm. The old stem is the worst I've seen.
> 
> This is how mine looks now.....


 Thanks for the pic, looks good with the bull bars too. I will have to get me a set of them as well because I am in Wales countryside and there are proper killer hill climbs here. Do you know what model they are please ?


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## Manonabike (28 Oct 2012)

david davies said:


> Thanks for the pic, looks good with the bull bars too. I will have to get me a set of them as well because I am in Wales countryside and there are proper killer hill climbs here. Do you know what model they are please ?


 
They are only bar ends  but they do the job very well.


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