Hi all,
First-time poster so I'll start with a bit of background. At the start of lockdown I figured it would be a great time to buy a set of bikes for the missus and I; the roads are never likely to be quieter so it made good sense.
However, neither of us had ridden a bike for over a decade (closer to two!), and we simply don't know much about bikes.
A friend of ours does a lot of cycling, so we turned to him for advice on what to get. We live in a very hilly area, and plan to ride mostly on tarmac lanes and gravel paths, keeping away from cars as much as possible. He suggested a mountain bike as the best bet for overall comfort, and in the end we settled on getting a pair of Marin bikes:
Bobcat Trail 3 for me: https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/20-bobcat-trail-3
Wildcat Trail 3 for the missus: https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/20-wildcat-trail-3
We really like the bikes and have had a great time getting out exploring, but it is hard work at times, particularly on the steep climbs. Our friend advised that the bikes we picked would suit us due to the low gears (he said something about ratios that didn't mean a lot to us) but he must have been right; that lowest gear is vital and we definitely wouldn't make it up some slopes without it.
I was worried the other half would take some convincing, yet while she is still nervous when stopping and starting, or when cars are about, she is genuinely enjoying going for a ride. More often than not it is her suggesting 'shall we go on the bikes today?' We started off on short trips, staying close to home in case of any problems, but have gradually become more adventurous. A month later and we went on our first 35 mile journey the other day! Thoroughly enjoyed it, however I am starting to wonder if a change in tyres would make things a little easier.
The tyres we have are very knobbly, which I understand aren't ideal for the sort of terrain we're covering. Here are some Google-map examples of the types of paths we frequent:
...most paths are like this.
...but there are a lot of steep climbs. This one's a real bugger to get up!
...less frequent, but we would also like to be able to ride on paths like this, with looser gravel and some grassy sections.
The caveat to new tyres is that I really like the tan walls of the tyres already on the bike, so I'd ideally want a new set with the same retro effect. What do you expect from someone who knows so little about cycling?
Cutting to the chase, that brings me to questions: Are hybrid/road tyres going to make our rides noticeably easier? If so, can anybody recommend which tyres we ought to be looking at? And is a tyre change something we could do ourselves?
Bear in mind I'm partial to a tan wall, and good protection against punctures would also be really important to us. According to the specs, the tyres on my bike are 29x2.25" while the missus has 27.5x2.25".
Thanks in advance for the help and advice.
First-time poster so I'll start with a bit of background. At the start of lockdown I figured it would be a great time to buy a set of bikes for the missus and I; the roads are never likely to be quieter so it made good sense.
However, neither of us had ridden a bike for over a decade (closer to two!), and we simply don't know much about bikes.
A friend of ours does a lot of cycling, so we turned to him for advice on what to get. We live in a very hilly area, and plan to ride mostly on tarmac lanes and gravel paths, keeping away from cars as much as possible. He suggested a mountain bike as the best bet for overall comfort, and in the end we settled on getting a pair of Marin bikes:
Bobcat Trail 3 for me: https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/20-bobcat-trail-3
Wildcat Trail 3 for the missus: https://www.marinbikes.com/gb/bikes/20-wildcat-trail-3
We really like the bikes and have had a great time getting out exploring, but it is hard work at times, particularly on the steep climbs. Our friend advised that the bikes we picked would suit us due to the low gears (he said something about ratios that didn't mean a lot to us) but he must have been right; that lowest gear is vital and we definitely wouldn't make it up some slopes without it.
I was worried the other half would take some convincing, yet while she is still nervous when stopping and starting, or when cars are about, she is genuinely enjoying going for a ride. More often than not it is her suggesting 'shall we go on the bikes today?' We started off on short trips, staying close to home in case of any problems, but have gradually become more adventurous. A month later and we went on our first 35 mile journey the other day! Thoroughly enjoyed it, however I am starting to wonder if a change in tyres would make things a little easier.
The tyres we have are very knobbly, which I understand aren't ideal for the sort of terrain we're covering. Here are some Google-map examples of the types of paths we frequent:
...most paths are like this.
...but there are a lot of steep climbs. This one's a real bugger to get up!
...less frequent, but we would also like to be able to ride on paths like this, with looser gravel and some grassy sections.
The caveat to new tyres is that I really like the tan walls of the tyres already on the bike, so I'd ideally want a new set with the same retro effect. What do you expect from someone who knows so little about cycling?
Cutting to the chase, that brings me to questions: Are hybrid/road tyres going to make our rides noticeably easier? If so, can anybody recommend which tyres we ought to be looking at? And is a tyre change something we could do ourselves?
Bear in mind I'm partial to a tan wall, and good protection against punctures would also be really important to us. According to the specs, the tyres on my bike are 29x2.25" while the missus has 27.5x2.25".
Thanks in advance for the help and advice.