MTB Commuting tyres

[Debian]

I have had the Marathons on my mtb. They are very good tyres on tarmac roads and have been perfectly well behaved on the grit, mud and potholes surface of the canal towpath, and on the muddy bits at the top of the Tarka Trail and on the Strawberry line path.

That's good enough recommendation for me. This bike won't be doing anything worse than the Strawberry Line any more so if the tyres will handle that all is well.

However, has anyone compared the Marathon's with the Land Cruisers? The latter are half the price and if they're as good, or nearly as good on tarmac then that'll do for me. I'm looking for low rolling resistance on tarmac as a primary requirement, puncture resistance is not such an issue as I run slime inner tubes.

 

[Norm]

LOL, thankfully mine are for road only use.

Your City Jets or your pants?

I should say that I think the City Jets are great on tarmac and ok on dirt or gravel, it's just mud that defeats them.

I did about 15 miles on the roads through Burnham Beeches last year and they performed very well on wet tarmac, even when there were leaves around, the tyres seemed pretty capable. I then did a few miles on gravel paths alongside the Thames and they were fine, they even behaved pretty well on wet wooden bridges.

Then I had to cover about 150m of wet mud. I walked.

 

[GrumpyGregry]

EBC in auld reekie have WTB slickosaurus on offer in the sale

 

[semislickstick]

I've been looking for some new semi slicks too, I had the Schwalbe 'country cruiser' (almost slick down the middle with lugs to dig in to mud if needed, worked well enough)
before but I don't think they do them in 26 " anymore.
Was looking at the big apple and Hurricane(which looks similar to the country cruiser I had before.

Anyone got the big apple tyre?

 

[moolarb]

I use Continental Travel Contact for commuting/touring and a bit of light off road. They're not cheap (about £25) but they've got excellent puncture protection and seem fast and durable. Served me well during the autumn/winter.

 

[jig-sore]

my advise... don't go too skinny on the tyres. wider tyres will give a much more comfortable ride and will not slow you down despite what most people say,

commuting is not a race

 

[mitzikatzi]

Continental Sports Contact I have had a great run on a set of these. About 5000km (3200 miles) but purely for on road rides

Specialized Hemisphere and have used these on Dry "Hard Pack" and the road

 

[flat-pack]

Got a Land Cruser on the rear of my hybrid, copes well with partially muddy bridle path I use when commuting, not so good in some really deep sticky stuff that has appeared as walkers and horse riders are diverted around a fallen tree, but no other problems with overall grip, no punctures either [fingers are crossed]

 

[der alt]

Having tried numerous tyres for commuting. Schwalbe city jets great in summer not so good for winter work, replaced with Specialized Nimbus (garbage ) now using Specialized Crossroads Armadillo Elites good grip on most surfaces except ice and bomb proof .

 

[4F]

Continental Sports Contact I have had a great run on a set of these. About 5000km (3200 miles) but purely for on road rides

Yep I would agree with that, excellent tyres.

 

[elduderino]

Another vote for Schwalbe Marathons. I've currently done about 4300 miles on mine and they look good for another 2000. Rarely puncture and handle all sorts of terrain.

 

[goo_mason]

Marathons or Marathon Plus. Great on my MTB.

Had Continental Travel Contacts on before those, and they punctured with alarming regularity. Some folks get on fine with them, I just didn't have their luck!

 

[Debian]

Continental Sports Contact I have had a great run on a set of these. About 5000km (3200 miles) but purely for on road rides

They do look good but a bit too skinny for me I think. I'd sooner stay with a 2.0, or maybe a 1.75 ish tyre purely for the greater comfort of a higher volume tyre.

Marathons look the business but I'm still tempted by the Land Cruisers purely on price.

 

[Debian]

Got a Land Cruser on the rear of my hybrid, copes well with partially muddy bridle path I use when commuting, not so good in some really deep sticky stuff that has appeared as walkers and horse riders are diverted around a fallen tree, but no other problems with overall grip, no punctures either [fingers are crossed]

How is it for rolling resistance on tarmac?

 

[flat-pack]

Very good, much better than the worn knobbly it replaced, as you have probably seen you get a fairly solid centre band with knobbly bits at the side.

So on the straight you are pretty much on a slick.

I pump mine up to about 45PSI

HTH

Graham