29er shall I put on road tyres?

[Mark trek29er]

Hi guys I have just taken up cycling again on the advice of several people I bought a 29er and I love it!
My question is I have now signed up for a sportive and a few charity rides and would I feel the benefit of putting on a set of road tyres? I have trek xcaliber 7 if I do go with road tyres what would you recommend? Could I get another set of wheels and just swap and change? I know they would need to have brake discs and cogs on. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I live in a very hilly area of west Yorks don't know if this makes a difference!
Thanks
Mark

 

[ufkacbln]

Given that the 29er is exactly the same as the 700c many people have used for touring, racing etc for years, no reason why not

Any 700c tyre should be OK, unless you have specifically bought a wide rim

MOD EDITED

 

[Pale Rider]

A shallow tread tyre would roll better.

You could fit something of a similar width to what you have, so relatively podgy, such as a Schwalbe Big Apple.

Or something narrower, enabling you to run higher pressures for even less rolling resistance, such as a Schwalbe Marathon Plus, about 1.5" or 1.75" wide.

Spare wheels is an option, more money, and the gears may not work quite as well on the swapped wheel.

http://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour.html

 

[Crackle]

I recommend you need n+1. n being your Trek and the plus 1 being a steed for sportives. Keep the 29er for what it's intended. I wouldn't like to do a Sportive on mine.

 

[Mark trek29er]

Thanks for the replies guys

 

[OskarTennisChampion]

Keep the Trek as it is.
No idea why you would buy one to totally change it's discipline.
Not trying to be cheeky if that's how it comes across

 

[NorthernDave]

We did the Vale Vélo sportive a couple of weeks ago and a mate did it on his Saracen MTB with road tyres fitted (Schwalbe - Marathons, I think).
He said they made a big difference on road to the knobblies that were on previously.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Mod note: Can we not have any bickering about tyre sizes in a beginners thread please.

To @Mark trek29er: Yes, you can fit more road oriented tyres. How about something like this for speed: http://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader/kojak.html

I like these for general purpose riding : http://www.schwalbe.com/gb/tour-reader/marathon.html

As already mentioned, 29ers use the same 622mm diameter rims as 700c bikes although the rims are on the wide side (size may be marked on the rim - check info on this page to be sure what widths of tyre are compatible with your rims: http://www.schwalbe.com/gb/reifenmasse.html )

Yes, you can get an extra set of wheels to swap over. I do this with a set that have winter tyres for my knockabout bike. You will find it easiest if you can match the same hubs, cassette and discs that you currently have as there will then be minimal adjustments needed to run smoothly.

 

[ufkacbln]

Claiming that there is a significant difference between two identical wheel sizes (29" and 700c) is wrong and misleading

It gives the beginner an inaccurate and untrue expectation

The beginners thread is somewhere were the information needs to be accurate, or this section of the forum is pointless

 

[screenman]

The Trek is an MTB bike, for sure putting road tyres on it will make it easier to ride on some surfaces, however it will not turn it into a 700c road bike.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Claiming that there is a significant difference between two identical wheel sizes (29" and 700c) is wrong and misleading

It gives the beginner an inaccurate and untrue expectation

The beginners thread is somewhere were the information needs to be accurate, or this section of the forum is pointless

I do not see where Screenman says there is a significant difference between 29er and 700c. He does say there is a significant difference between 29" and 26" which I think is fair comment but is still off topic.

No more after this point or posts will be deleted.

 

[RussellZero]

+1 for the Marathon Schwalbe's - I tend to use those in the summer when the 29er just goes out for family/pub rides, and my road bike does all the real work, then swap the tyres back to deep treaded for the winter when the mtb gets a lot more use mud plugging in the forest. Also for the sportives that are road/trail based but aimed at MTBs, you're better off with the marathons than the deep treaded ones.

 

[Mark trek29er]

Thanks guys seemed like I opened a can of worms! But this cycling bug has caught me now I am now persuading she who must be obeyed that I need a road bike aswell!