Road tyres on an MTB

[Norm]

Hey, all

Firstly, sorry in advance, I'm sure that this is one of those topics which comes up all too frequently. I did try the search, and found a whole load of good stuff to read, but nothing which covered my question.

Which is that I have a Giant Talon 3. Not the latest or greatest but, heck, it's bought and paid for, it's mine and I love it.

I've added some bits to it, as I like doing long-ish distances (40-60 miles) and I prefer the bike to carry the weight, so I've a decent (read heavy) lock, saddlebag, pump, bottle cages etc. all bolted to the frame. Most of my riding is fairly low-level stuff along tow paths and roads, although I've a pass for Swinley Forest and have been over there half a dozen times in the past few months.

Blimey, don't I go on.

As this lovely weather is bound to break, I'm looking at getting a road bike but had a bit of an epiphany in Halfrauds this afternoon, whilst looking over the Boardman range.

Is it possible to just stick road tyres, something like 26x1.5, onto the existing rims and expecting it to be any good? Is a bike which is bought as a "hybrid" anything more than that or do they tend to be road bikes with flat bars?

 

[Baggy]

Somthing like this:

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti sport contact.shtml

would be fine and help you roll a bit quicker. Our Giant Coldrock mtb had them on for ages and was used mainly on the road, with a few towpaths etc.

Hybrids generally have 700c wheels (bigger than mtb). Some of them are road bikes with flat bars, some will be heavier than your Giant.

Most hybrids don't have suspension either, that will make a diference to weight and speed.

 

[cyberknight]

i have scwable city jets 26X1.5s on my hybrid commuter and for the price i love them !!
Not had a puncture yet and they were a lot better than the "road " tyres that came with the bike, if your still on knobblies then you will realy notice the difference.
linky to wiggle below .......

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/cycle/7/Schwalbe_City_Jet_Tyre_and_Tube_Set/5300003751/

 

[ACS]

+1 for the city jets 26X1.5s got them on my BSO, the bike I take into town leave in the rain unlocked etc hoping someone will nick it for me.

 

[Norm]

Hmm... food for thought, thanks.

How about getting a spare set of wheels? It would be quicker and easier to swap them out, I could get 700c wheels set up, maybe with different road-biased gearing. Then again, looking at prices of wheels, cassettes and tyres, my local Halfords has the Carrera Vanquish at £260, it would be cheaper to get one of those.

Decisions, decisions. It's my tomorrow. Not sure if that is a good or a bad thing.

Thanks again for the input.

 

[yenrod]

I done every kind of weather on Specalized FATBOYS: they're gem slicks !

 

[threefingerjoe]

I like the Continental Sport Contacts or the Schwalbe Kojak. Both of them work great on a hybrid. Both are available in either 26" (559) or 700c (622). I second what someone else said that you will really notice a difference swapping from knobblies to a slick. On hard tarmac, I wouldn't use anything but a slick. HOWEVER...I have a pair of studded tyres for ice mounted on a second set of wheels, so I can swap them quickly if I come out of my house in the morning and discover that it's icy in the morning. IF you're going to have a second set of wheels with different gearing, though, mind your chain length. You may also want to set up a different length chain for each gearset.

 

[cyberknight]

if they have a vanquish at that price bite their hands off over £500 on the website , push comes to shove take it to your lbs to get it set up right.

Would be hard to bung 700 cc wheels into your frame i think as the brakes would not match up to the rims, i have seen conversion kits but they are not cheap.

 

[Norm]

Hmmm... good thinking about the chain lengths, 3F Joe. Swapping the chain over at the same time would mean switching the wheels would take longer than just switching the tyres.

if they have a vanquish at that price bite their hands off over £500 on the website , push comes to shove take it to your lbs to get it set up right.

I like the way you are thinking... they open in 10 minutes.

Would be hard to bung 700 cc wheels into your frame i think as the brakes would not match up to the rims, i have seen conversion kits but they are not cheap.

The MTB has discs, I was wondering about getting 700cc wheels with discs (the spoke design usually means rim-mounted brakes are required.

All will depend on a more detailed viewing of the Vanquish. Catch you later.

 

[Norm]

I like Conti tyres, they work well on the bike-with-motor. The Sport Contacts look a choice tyre.

More on the Vanquish is that it's the 2007 model. Which isn't that big a problem for me, if I was that vain, I'd be addressing the looks of the rider rather than the bike.

However, despite the signs saying that all sizes were in stock, speaking to the chaps revealed that they only had small frames at that price, and that wasn't going to work.

Then, however, I went to my LBS, DNA Cycles in Maidenhead...