Road tyres on giant hybrid

[slow coach34]

Help!

I have just bought a giant escape 2w to replace my old worn out bike. The new bike is lovely, however it feels like I am riding through glue, possibly as I am used to a harder ride.

My old bike had 28mm continental gators on which I ran at about 90psi. The tyres on the new bike are 32mm and have been told to run at 70psi. The tread is also a lot heavier.

I have some questions

1) am I ok to use 28mm tyres on my new rims?
2) is swapping a sensible thing to do? I only ride on tarmac and do a 25 mile round journey commute.
3) my old tyres have done about 1000 miles, what is the life expectancy? Do I need to buy new ones or should the old ones have life left in them?

Many thanks

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Have a look at this chart to see if your rims will take 28mm tyres. The size should be marked somewhere on the rim, either on a label or stamped into the metal and will probably be in the format 622x??.

Is swapping sensible? If you'd feel more comfortable on tyres you're familiar with then why not?

Tyre life expectancy varies. A touring tyre will generally last longer than a racing tyre for example. How do the old ones seem to you in terms of wear/cuts/bulges/cracking?

 

[vickster]

Depending on how knobbly the current tyres are, and you can't fit anything thinner, you could try a more slick 32mm, something like this?

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/specialized/all-condition-sport-tyre-ec028254

What sort of surfaces do you ride on - e.g. crappy London roads? May want something with good P'fairy protection

 

[Roadrider48]

I went down from 26x2.1 to 26x1.5inches on my MTB for a faster and lighter ride on London streets. They went on no problem and I believe I could have gone slightly narrower, but the 1.5's are fine. I used Schwalbe city jet tyres. Around £17 each.

 

[vickster]

A Giant escape hybrid will have 700c not 26cm wheels. I don't think the Schwalbe ones come in a 700c

Looking at the pictures, you should be able to get a much slicker 32mm tyre like the Specialized one

 

[Cyclist33]

I'd be a bit wary as I ran 23s on my hybrids rims for 6 months and I believe this affected the wheels which are now dead.

Plus, continental tyres are generally narrower than giants own. I know because I have 32s conti slicks and my sister has the same bike as you, and my tyres are a bit narrower.

 

[Cyclist33]

www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20sport%20contact.shtml

These look slick and come in 32 mm and will take 90 psi.

 

[Kies]

Put some 25c road tyres on. It will be fine, but check the table BEFORE buying!

 

[HLaB]

I'd be a bit wary as I ran 23s on my hybrids rims for 6 months and I believe this affected the wheels which are now dead.

Plus, continental tyres are generally narrower than giants own. I know because I have 32s conti slicks and my sister has the same bike as you, and my tyres are a bit narrower.

The OP is only suggesting 28s ? I would think they can do that quite comfortably. It the narrowest I could safely go on my old Ridgeback rims which had 37mm tyres (I went for the middle ground 32mm) but the chart Rickshaw Phil has posted will confirm (fwiw I have used the similiar Sheldon Chart in the past, scroll down the page)

 

[compo]

I went from the supplied 700cx32's down to 700cx28's on my Trek hybrid and to be honest I am not aware of any difference to the ride.

 

[Cyclist33]

The OP is only suggesting 28s ? I would think they can do that quite comfortably. It the narrowest I could safely go on my old Ridgeback rims which had 37mm tyres (I went for the middle ground 32mm) but the chart Rickshaw Phil has posted will confirm (fwiw I have used the similiar Sheldon Chart in the past, scroll down the page)

yeah its tricky to call it without knowing the bike in question, but i was drawing a parallel rather than a spec for spec comparison. my hybrids stock wheels had a thinner rim width than on her Giant, assuming its wheels are the same as on my sisters. i went down from conti 32 to schwalbe 23. the conti 32 were actually 28mm in width. so im guessing that conti 28s are around the 25mm mark in reality. so if the OPs rim is thicker than my hybrids wheel rim, and reduction from 28 to 23mm compromised the rim on mine, then on her thicker rims a switch from 32 to 25 in effective tyre width *could* be a risk...

its just something to think on really.

stu

 

[vickster]

If the bike is new, why not go back to the lbs for advice?

 

[Boon 51]

I have two hybrids one fitted which 28cc Kojak's ( Specialized Crosstrail) and the other 25cc Gatorskin's ( Cannondale Bad Boy 2) and both work well.

 

[inkd]

I went from my stock 32 to conti gator 28 with no problems, I wouldn't go any thinner for my wheels. Spesh Sirrus.

 

[slow coach34]

Many thanks for all the help, have found the 622x19 in very small print on the rims, so should be ok. We live in rural nowhere so have puncture monsters, not just the fairies!

Next challenge is to change the tyres, but that's what husbands were invented for 8)