simonB2014
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Stoke On Trent
CX tyres....
- Thread starter simonB2014
- Start date
Page may contain affiliate links. Please see terms for details.
adds21
Rider of bikes
- Location
- North Somerset
Ritchey Excavader, which, to be fair are just the standard ones fitted to my CX (Boardman). I should probably give some "better" CX tyres a go before damning them all!
gaz
Cycle Camera TV
- Location
- South Croydon
Yup, tarmac, dirt and loose gravel.
simonB2014
Well-Known Member
- Location
- Stoke On Trent
Now I've researched again, I'm getting far too many options, and rethinking my whole strategy.
At first I was thinking of just getting something with a 'little' more grip, keeping my road speed but 'nudging' up my off-road experience up.
Now I'm looking at a trip to Devon and realising that there'll be plenty of farm track (aka 'mud') crying out for attention.
Yet at the same time, pointless to go with fill on mud tyres in Summer, even if we are in the UK.
So ... how may sets of tyres do I gather and how often will I really be changing them !?
Current thinking...
>Keep the Onza's for day-to day 80% road 20% off use.
>Purchase something middle of the road (no pun) for my trips to Devon (6-9 times a year)
> See how that goes & gain some experience. I'm figuring experience will be the real key here.
> Come winter ... consider some really nasty mud eaters.
My 'Mid-way' tyre research is currently looking at :
Sammy Slicks (35c)
Kenda Happy M's (32/35)
... with HMs looking the better option atm.
I read that the SSs dont have as much volume to them and less recommended for bumps conditons.
Questions I still have ...
> Do I 'need' do both front & rear ?
I am thinking that the two wheel do two different jobs, and therefore different tyres ?
But I am a noob and could be over thinking ...
> Does it damage a tyre to fit/unfit too often ?
Yes I'd love a spare wheel set ... but the budget isn't going to stretch that far.
At first I was thinking of just getting something with a 'little' more grip, keeping my road speed but 'nudging' up my off-road experience up.
Now I'm looking at a trip to Devon and realising that there'll be plenty of farm track (aka 'mud') crying out for attention.
Yet at the same time, pointless to go with fill on mud tyres in Summer, even if we are in the UK.
So ... how may sets of tyres do I gather and how often will I really be changing them !?
Current thinking...
>Keep the Onza's for day-to day 80% road 20% off use.
>Purchase something middle of the road (no pun) for my trips to Devon (6-9 times a year)
> See how that goes & gain some experience. I'm figuring experience will be the real key here.
> Come winter ... consider some really nasty mud eaters.
My 'Mid-way' tyre research is currently looking at :
Sammy Slicks (35c)
Kenda Happy M's (32/35)
... with HMs looking the better option atm.
I read that the SSs dont have as much volume to them and less recommended for bumps conditons.
Questions I still have ...
> Do I 'need' do both front & rear ?
I am thinking that the two wheel do two different jobs, and therefore different tyres ?
But I am a noob and could be over thinking ...
> Does it damage a tyre to fit/unfit too often ?
Yes I'd love a spare wheel set ... but the budget isn't going to stretch that far.
tincaman
Guru
- Location
- Chudleigh, South Devon
Schwalbe Landcruiser is my choice of "go anywhere" tyre, £12.99 from ChainReaction or £12.99 from Halfords
CR Reviews:
Just put a pair of these on my Cannondale Caad x Cyclocross bike which I use primarily as a road bike and on gravel / dirt tracks. They roll really well and are reassuringly grippy and sure-footed. On a more minor point, they look good on the bike too !!
fast when hard, grippy when soft and tougher than mother nature herself.
weighs about the same though.
Bought these to replace the Continental Speed Kings on my Crosser (which lasted hours rather than days) They are quite hefty, but once fitted they roll really well on road ('REALLY WELL' that should have been) I didn't expect that to be honest, cornering on road is like a 1970's car in an American movie... slooooow slides rather than all out grip, which is great fun-compared to a short fast slide-grip-pain which slick tyres seem to provide if someone of my abilities gets carried away.
No punctures yet, despite some fairly hard-core off road use which I suspect they weren't designed for & cornering grip is at least as good as the Speed Kings off road.
All in all, a great value tyre, seems hard-wearing, suprisingly capable off-road, down sides are only that it is a bit wooly cornering on road & is not a light tyre.
Needed a good set of tyres for general daily riding and the occasional trip off-road,so far no punctures and i have always felt secure on these tyres whatever the conditions.Would happily buy these again.
I got these to replace the hopeless Conti Cyclocross Race tyres which came with my Genesis Day-One, which wore down to the canvass after only 500 miles of commuting (60:40 road
ffroad) and punctured over 12 times during that period.
The Schwalbes have proven to be faster on the road (I put this down to the continual centre strip), gripper on hardpack and mud and so far no punctures in 200 miles of commuting and general abuse. The carcass advises a max. 65PSI, but I found them a bit too draggy on tarmac, and have had no problems thus far running them at 75PSI.
At £13 each, you can't be had!
The main thing that I have to add to previous reviews is that these have a very low rolling resistance. Bought these as a general purpose, do everything tyre and they have not disappointed. brilliant on tracks, trails, roads. On road they feel just like my 23c road tyres. Though these are not a thick plus tyre they seen to have a decent puncture resistance. I have unavoidably rode over quite a bit of glass. I have been doing quite a bit trail riding in the dark and I can occasionally hear glass crunching under the tyre. Experience tells me that the fact that I have had no punctures is not down to luck. I can confirm that they are better than expected when hitting mud patches and they are a touch unstable on shale, however they do not have the correct width/grip for tackling such surfaces. I have rated these tyres at a 5 as, for my purposes, they are brilliant.
Roll well on tarmac, not far short of good road 26" such as Michelin Cities and not too bad off road. Good on grass and gravel, predictable in deep mud (although not brill) but hate wet flints!!!!!! they slid everywhere
A pretty good compromise tyre for park/towpath and light road use. Heavy to accelerate but once there they keep going. Cushioning on jumps not to bad either and didnt spin them out on dirt climbs
As for needing metal tyre levers, nonsense!, Learn how to roll the tyre into the rim centre, I can easily fit and remove these by hand on Mavic XC717 and 317 rims. All schwalbes seem on the tight side, you just have to have the correct technique to fot them, if you need metal levels you dont have the technique
These land cruisers are a load better than the Continental speed kings that came with my Felt hybrid. A 30 mile a day commute killed the contintentals in 4 months with flat after flat. These tyres immediately felt more stable on the loose stuff, and offered a decent turn of speed on tarmac. Puncture protection seems canny enough too - only one in 7 months. Next time I'll buy four of em at this price!!
I have the 26inch MTB version of these tyres. They roll smooth enough on a flat surface, give decent grip when cornering on trails / loose surfaces, but if you get a puncture, prepare to bust every plastic tyre lever that you own. They're murder to get on and off your rims. So much so that if you do fix a puncture, you can almost expect to get a pinch flat putting the tyre back on. Once on, its a grand all round tyre, you can't complain about the price, but don't buy these without getting a set of metal tyre levers
CR Reviews:
Just put a pair of these on my Cannondale Caad x Cyclocross bike which I use primarily as a road bike and on gravel / dirt tracks. They roll really well and are reassuringly grippy and sure-footed. On a more minor point, they look good on the bike too !!
fast when hard, grippy when soft and tougher than mother nature herself.
weighs about the same though.
Bought these to replace the Continental Speed Kings on my Crosser (which lasted hours rather than days) They are quite hefty, but once fitted they roll really well on road ('REALLY WELL' that should have been) I didn't expect that to be honest, cornering on road is like a 1970's car in an American movie... slooooow slides rather than all out grip, which is great fun-compared to a short fast slide-grip-pain which slick tyres seem to provide if someone of my abilities gets carried away.
No punctures yet, despite some fairly hard-core off road use which I suspect they weren't designed for & cornering grip is at least as good as the Speed Kings off road.
All in all, a great value tyre, seems hard-wearing, suprisingly capable off-road, down sides are only that it is a bit wooly cornering on road & is not a light tyre.
Needed a good set of tyres for general daily riding and the occasional trip off-road,so far no punctures and i have always felt secure on these tyres whatever the conditions.Would happily buy these again.
I got these to replace the hopeless Conti Cyclocross Race tyres which came with my Genesis Day-One, which wore down to the canvass after only 500 miles of commuting (60:40 road
ffroad) and punctured over 12 times during that period. The Schwalbes have proven to be faster on the road (I put this down to the continual centre strip), gripper on hardpack and mud and so far no punctures in 200 miles of commuting and general abuse. The carcass advises a max. 65PSI, but I found them a bit too draggy on tarmac, and have had no problems thus far running them at 75PSI.
At £13 each, you can't be had!
The main thing that I have to add to previous reviews is that these have a very low rolling resistance. Bought these as a general purpose, do everything tyre and they have not disappointed. brilliant on tracks, trails, roads. On road they feel just like my 23c road tyres. Though these are not a thick plus tyre they seen to have a decent puncture resistance. I have unavoidably rode over quite a bit of glass. I have been doing quite a bit trail riding in the dark and I can occasionally hear glass crunching under the tyre. Experience tells me that the fact that I have had no punctures is not down to luck. I can confirm that they are better than expected when hitting mud patches and they are a touch unstable on shale, however they do not have the correct width/grip for tackling such surfaces. I have rated these tyres at a 5 as, for my purposes, they are brilliant.
Roll well on tarmac, not far short of good road 26" such as Michelin Cities and not too bad off road. Good on grass and gravel, predictable in deep mud (although not brill) but hate wet flints!!!!!! they slid everywhere
A pretty good compromise tyre for park/towpath and light road use. Heavy to accelerate but once there they keep going. Cushioning on jumps not to bad either and didnt spin them out on dirt climbs
As for needing metal tyre levers, nonsense!, Learn how to roll the tyre into the rim centre, I can easily fit and remove these by hand on Mavic XC717 and 317 rims. All schwalbes seem on the tight side, you just have to have the correct technique to fot them, if you need metal levels you dont have the technique
These land cruisers are a load better than the Continental speed kings that came with my Felt hybrid. A 30 mile a day commute killed the contintentals in 4 months with flat after flat. These tyres immediately felt more stable on the loose stuff, and offered a decent turn of speed on tarmac. Puncture protection seems canny enough too - only one in 7 months. Next time I'll buy four of em at this price!!
I have the 26inch MTB version of these tyres. They roll smooth enough on a flat surface, give decent grip when cornering on trails / loose surfaces, but if you get a puncture, prepare to bust every plastic tyre lever that you own. They're murder to get on and off your rims. So much so that if you do fix a puncture, you can almost expect to get a pinch flat putting the tyre back on. Once on, its a grand all round tyre, you can't complain about the price, but don't buy these without getting a set of metal tyre levers
rovers1875
Guru
- Location
- Accrington
I've got Land Cruisers on my Hybrid and have found them to be excellent on the road and and have coped with everything I have done off road. I was looking to get a pair for my new Eastway road / tourer when the current set have worn a bit.
