Help with tyres

[Old timer]

After resurrecting my mountain byke after 15 years in the shed I`m now stripping and cleaning etc. I notice my tyres are crumbling at the wall (yellow walled tyres) and showing some sort of fabric below.

Rim size 26 x 1.75 ali and the tyres that came fitted were 26x 200 city.

I`m going to be mainly 99% on the road.

Any suggestions please (don`t want to spend fortunes)

 

[Sam Kennedy]

Take your bike (or alternatively just 1 wheel) down to your local bike shop, and ask them what the thinnest tyre you could fit on the rim would be. Since you will be 99% on road, you should have no problem using slick tyres. (Tyres without knobbly bits on them).
Use the smallest size slick tyres you can and there will be next to no rolling resistance, it will make your ride a lot easier.

 

[Old timer]

Take your bike (or alternatively just 1 wheel) down to your local bike shop, and ask them what the thinnest tyre you could fit on the rim would be. Since you will be 99% on road, you should have no problem using slick tyres. (Tyres without knobbly bits on them).
Use the smallest size slick tyres you can and there will be next to no rolling resistance, it will make your ride a lot easier.

Thanks Sam

 

[jig-sore]

but the smallest slicks you can get won't offer you much in the way of comfort !!!!!

get a decent width and you will get a good air cushion to ride on and any extra "rolling resistance" is too small to even notice. plus a wider tyre has a larger circumference and therefore goes further for one revolution.

all this thin tyre stuff is really just a load of uneducated nonsense

i recommend you read this....

http://www.everydaycycling.com/edc/news/WiseWords/wise_words_tyres.aspx

and these are a good budget slick....

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=26232

but there are others

 

[Tynan]

that link argues a 28mm tyre is better than a 23mm, I doubt OP's wheels are going to take anything narrower than a 28mm

and anyway 'at the same pressure' is quite a qualifier

 

[Old timer]

I nipped to Halfords

I nipped down to Halfords for a couple of nuts and bolts and checked out the tyres with a member of staff ( daily hardened rider) I came away with two new 26x1.95 sort of hybrid tyres that have a striped low pattern in the centre (across the tyres) and nobblies at the side + new tubes. I live in the middle of farmland country where the lanes can get muddy. Although he did say that his tyres are going towards slicks and always hang on well even off road.

Funny thing my old tyres although 26 x 2.0 are slightly narrower than the new 1.95`s

Anyway, I had forgotton how nice it is to be able to change a tyre by hand.

 

[Norm]

Anyway, I had forgotton how nice it is to be able to change a tyre by hand.

+1 to that!

I had to fix 5 punctures last weekend, 2 on the road, three when I had got back home, I find it therapeutic and, certainly in the comfort of my own garage, not a problem at all.

I have 3 sets of tyres for my MTB, and I've been known to swap tyres depending on the sort of ride I'm planning.

 

[Old timer]

Puntures and handlebar bag

+1 to that!

I had to fix 5 punctures last weekend, 2 on the road, three when I had got back home, I find it therapeutic and, certainly in the comfort of my own garage, not a problem at all.

I have 3 sets of tyres for my MTB, and I've been known to swap tyres depending on the sort of ride I'm planning.

Norm

5 puntures in one weekend were you driving over hot coals I had forgotten about the punture saga.

Anyway! I`ve finished preparing my Evans (will take pictures) An absolute must for me when I go out for a ride is to have a DSLR digital camera with me. I have a number of cameras and the smallest is a Canon 500D that I will take with a couple of lenses. I thought about a backpack but I don`t like things on my back when I`m riding so I purchased a Halfords handlebar bag. Well! I must say that I`m impressed at the fixing bracket and the extra plastic coated strap that bolts on under the stem extension to prevent any droppage. The nice thing is that it is QR so I can just click and bring my camera indoors when I get home.
I refitted my plastic mudguards but as the bike had been off the road for 15 years and had been leaning on the rear guard there was a dented area that rubbed on the tyre anyway, I stuck a rubber door wedge under the area and with the aid of my wifes craft heatgun for a couple of minutes the dent has gone

Now the $64,000 question is whether to ride the new £60 crapper or the older Evans that gluides

Dave

 

[Norm]

5 puntures in one weekend were you driving over hot coals

No, just Buckinghamshire roads. Although 2 of them were in other bikes (one was my daughter's) I did pick up three in one journey of just over 20 miles.

Now the $64,000 question is whether to ride the new £60 crapper or the older Evans that gluides

Get out on both.

 

[Campfire]

After eventually having a blow-out on my Panaracer Paselas a while ago, I got some Bontrager ones with knobbly bits at the side and a smoothish bit in the middle with cuts across, which are not bad for tracks and roll quite well on the road. Not so well as the Paselas but, much more practical.

 

[Tollers]

I switched from maxis 26x1.5" to Conti Gatorskins 26 x 1.25". Massive difference in rolling resistance and much better grip but not good for the 1% of time you're off road. The ride is definitely more jarring though.