Mountain bike road tyres

[Stantheman]

Right, I have got the bike I wanted a Giant revel 0. It has knobbly tyres and because I am going to use it for a 10 mile commute to work is it worth the expense changing tyres to smooth ones. If so what make Shoud I go for and Should I also get two sets of wheels?

Thanks.

 

[Cubist]

If you aren't going to use it off road, fit some Schwalbe City Jets. If you buy spare wheels you'll need another cassette and another rotor, otherwise it's quicker to change the tyres.

 

[TeeQue]

I use Continental Travel Contacts on my MTB, they're semi slick and personally I can't fault them.

 

[Stantheman]

I do plan to use it off road at the weekends but Monday to Friday it will be on road. If I keep up cycling to work then in time I may get a road bike, that could ve a long way off though due to funds. Is there an I between tyre.

 

[roadrash]

another vote for Schwalbe City Jets for the road from me

 

[Mo1959]

A cheap and cheerful tyre if you do want to do a bit of light offroading and still roll ok on the roads is the Schwalbe Land Cruiser. Quite heavy but they roll along not too badly and still have enough nobbles for the odd jaunt on the trails.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

I've mentioned these a lot, so apologies to everyone who has already heard, but I like Continental TourRide. They won't be as fast rolling as the City Jets already mentioned, but they do roll pretty well, have enough tread to cope with a bit of off road use, have decent puncture resistance and wear well.

 

[Stantheman]

Thank kindly for the recommendations, I shall have a look at those options. How easy are tyre changes these days. Last time I did one I used my mothers best spoons as levers. Not a happy mummy to see bent spoons in the top draw.

 

[Custom24]

A cheap and cheerful tyre if you do want to do a bit of light offroading and still roll ok on the roads is the Schwalbe Land Cruiser. Quite heavy but they roll along not too badly and still have enough nobbles for the odd jaunt on the trails.

Or the Marathon Plus ATB which is basically the same thing but more puncture resistant.

But to the OP, what tyres are on your bike at the moment?

 

[smokeysmoo]

I used to use Halo TWIN RAIL Courier tyres when I had my MTB and used it on road. TBH they're still good for chucking it around the loose stuff as well IME.

Or for even better puncture protection they do the BERLIN version.

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

Thank kindly for the recommendations, I shall have a look at those options. How easy are tyre changes these days. Last time I did one I used my mothers best spoons as levers. Not a happy mummy to see bent spoons in the top draw.

MTB tyres are really easy to change. Some of them you can do without even needing levers. (Someone more expert than me will now come and say that they can do most tyres without using levers ).

 

[Stantheman]

Next question, size. The tyres on the bike have (54-559) 26x2.10 do I need to match the numbers up. I am assuming 26 is the actual size of the wheel or tyre, but what are the other numbers for?

 

[Rickshaw Phil]

54-559 means it's a 54mm width tyre to fit a 559mm diameter (standard MTB size) rim. The diameter has to match but you have more flexibility with the width.

This document from Schwalbe gives a whole load of information on tyre sizes which you may find useful.

Edit; something else to consider is that if you fit a narrower tyre you may need new tubes as well. (tubes usually fit a range of tyre widths - check if the tyres you choose are within the range printed on the tube)
Fitting a tube that is too big for the tyre is something I have done in the past and won't be doing again any time soon.

 

[Stantheman]

Excellent info, thanks for that. It seems buying the basic bike is only the begging of the journey. Think I will need some overtime soon.

 

[Stantheman]

54-559 means it's a 54mm width tyre to fit a 559mm diameter (standard MTB size) rim. The diameter has to match but you have more flexibility with the width.

This document from Schwalbe gives a whole load of information on tyre sizes which you may find useful.

Edit; something else to consider is that if you fit a narrower tyre you may need new tubes as well. (tubes usually fit a range of tyre widths - check if the tyres you choose are within the range printed on the tube)
Fitting a tube that is too big for the tyre is something I have done in the past and won't be doing again any time soon.

That document is ace, all you need to know about tyres and more.