First Post and first question!

[Mrs.Badcrumble]

Hi Everyone,

I love this forum, so much advice and stuff to learn. I am 44 and the last time I did a lot of cycling was a looong time ago. Then .. last year I was part of a group of totally inexperienced riders who rode from Stoke to Hoddesdon (165 miles)for comic relief. It was superb. I am looking forward to getting fitter and enjoying my journey to work and back. Did a trial run last week on my old MTB, and it took me 37 mins to do the 7 miles, it was great!

I have just got a Boardman Hybrid from Ebay and my 7 mile commute is to be along a beautiful stretch of canal Tow path the whole way, apart form a tiny bit at the end to get to the car.

The tyres at the moment are smooth 700x28c and there's no way they will survive the varied surface without getting punctured to hell so I am looking at the Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elite Tyres.

My question is will the 700x32 be OK do you think? i.e will they fit? Does this mean they will be 4mm wider each side? Also has anyone any better tyre advice. The Armadillos seem to have quite good reviews. Along the 7 miles its really varied. Smooth, dirt, paved. The worst is a 1/4 mile section of stony loose crap.

Stay safe and thanks for any advice,

Badcrumble.

 

[Bayerd]

They'll certainly fit, I've just got a pair of Armadillos, only done about 100ish miles on them so it's a bit early to rate how they are, but so far , so good....

 

[Norm]

Greetings, Mrs BC, welcome.

On the tyres, the issue is usually that there are a lot of CX tyres around and most people think that the tyres they use are the best. I'm long past such concerns, so all I'll say is that I've got the Borough CX's on my bike and they have handled everything that I've thrown it at so far, from thick mud to tarmac and most things in between. I like them and I think that they'd chew up your route without a problem.

700x32 are 2mm wider each side, or 4mm wider in total. According to this thread, a chap has put 700x32 without a problem and, if you look at the "Customer Q&A" on the Halfords page on that bike, the "Staff Answer" to the question about maximum size of tyres with mudguards is "We would not recommend going larger than a 35mm tyre, with or without mudguards".

Hope that helped.

 

[HJ]

Hi Everyone,

I love this forum, so much advice and stuff to learn. I am 44 and the last time I did a lot of cycling was a looong time ago. Then .. last year I was part of a group of totally inexperienced riders who rode from Stoke to Hoddesdon (165 miles)for comic relief. It was superb. I am looking forward to getting fitter and enjoying my journey to work and back. Did a trial run last week on my old MTB, and it took me 37 mins to do the 7 miles, it was great!

I have just got a Boardman Hybrid from Ebay and my 7 mile commute is to be along a beautiful stretch of canal Tow path the whole way, apart form a tiny bit at the end to get to the car.

The tyres at the moment are smooth 700x28c and there's no way they will survive the varied surface without getting punctured to hell so I am looking at the Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elite Tyres.

My question is will the 700x32 be OK do you think? i.e will they fit? Does this mean they will be 4mm wider each side? Also has anyone any better tyre advice. The Armadillos seem to have quite good reviews. Along the 7 miles its really varied. Smooth, dirt, paved. The worst is a 1/4 mile section of stony loose crap.

Stay safe and thanks for any advice,

Badcrumble.

There is no reason why slick tyres should be more susceptible to p*nct*res than other tyres. Personally I ride on 700 x 28C Continental GatorSkins and I ridden along forest roads without problems. The main thing is to keep your tyres well pumped up. Oh and I have done over 2000 miles on the current set of tyres.

 

[mickle]

Welcome to the forum Mrs.Badcrumble.

 

[johnr]

I would go for something with a bit of tread like the Borough though. That surface sounds like you might need it, especially after/during bad weather.

 

[ianrauk]

Welcome to Cycle Chat Mrs Badcrumble... what a brilliant forum handle if I may say so.. is your crumble really that bad?

 

[TheBoyBilly]

Methinks Mrs BC is an Eddie Izzard fan........cake or death?

 

[Norm]

Eeerrrrrr... cake please.

 

[gouldina]

Hi Mrs. Badcrumble. I also cycle on canal towpaths a lot. I have no experience of the Armadillos in question but I use one Schwalbe Marathon+ and a Panaracer Ribmo (couldn't manage to get two the same when I had a problem), both 32s which are probably pretty similar. They're absolutely fine on the canal and provide a modicum of comfort over the bumpy bits. I used to use Armadillos on my previous bike on the same terrain and found them to be great, long lasting tyres.

 

[jonny jeez]

Methinks Mrs BC is an Eddie Izzard fan........cake or death?

ahh you beat me to it, I going to reference Mrs BC living in the alps with low skiing elephants...?!?

Mrs BC, I use the armadillos for a daily commute and swear by them. I also take the kids on a ride around my local environs and take in a lot of that unmade road surface (so popular in really, really posh roads) and still dont get issues despite the high pressure and low profile.

I'd recomend them anyday for canal path use

 

[swee'pea99]

I would go for something with a bit of tread like the Borough though. That surface sounds like you might need it, especially after/during bad weather.

+1. And welcome Mrs BC - enjoy your riding.

 

[cyberknight]

There is no reason why slick tyres should be more susceptible to p*nct*res than other tyres. Personally I ride on 700 x 28C Continental GatorSkins and I ridden along forest roads without problems. The main thing is to keep your tyres well pumped up. Oh and I have done over 2000 miles on the current set of tyres.

+1 on gator skins.

I had 4 pu****s in 1 week along a 1 mile stretch of glass strewn cycle path i have to use , i went and bought some gator skins and so far none in over a month.