Rugged tyres for road bike

[Slappybag]

Hi, first time poster here.

I have a fairly new road bike (Marin Fairfax) and I don't really understand what I need to look for when buying new tyres.
The ones which came with the bike are too slick for when the roads are full of standing water.

What do these numbers mean and what do I need to be searching for?

28 x 1 5/8 x 1 1/8

28 - 622

700 x 28c

Thanks.

 

[Dayvo]

To be honest I don't really know!

But this fella does/did!

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

Oh, and a warm welcome to you, Slappybag!

 

[RedBike]

The ones which came with the bike are too slick for when the roads are full of standing water.

The tread on a bike tyre doesn't actually help with standing water. In fact the tread pattern actually reduces the amount of rubber in contact with the road and decreases the amount of grip available.

 

[RedBike]

Back to the original question
The first number is the diameter of the tyre the second number is the width.

If you look at your current tyres they will probably say something like 700x28 or 622x25.

700 and 622 are the same thing (different ways of measuring) you can only use this diameter tyre. However, you can more or less use whatever width you like. (Very narrow tyres might be too narrow to mount correctly on your wheels and very wide might foul the bikes frame.)

 

[marinyork]

The fairfaxes are 700s unless I'm very mistaken. I'd keep the 28s on it (unless you want to swap them with other 28s?). You don't need something larger like 700x35c

 

[Slappybag]

Thanks all.

The numbers I posted originally are what I got from the tyres I have.

So you're saying I definitely need to look for 700 x something, preferably still 28? Also, what does the 'c' mean? i.e. 28c.

 

[marinyork]

The rims are 700x so you must have something that fits them. As Sheldon says I think the letter just means the redundant "width" classification but I don't really know.

I found the KWest Tyres all right, if a little less resistant to punctures than the horrific monster Marathon Plus tyre I have on the front that replaced one of them.

Depends what sort of riding you're doing as to the tyres, really...

 

[RedBike]

The c means clincher. (Don't worry about it.)
Some manufactures will put it others wont.

Which tyres were you thinking of? (What have you currently got?)

Generally as tyres get narrower they get quicker but the ride gets harsher.

 

[marinyork]

Ah well cheers for the clincher bit.

Marins come with Kenda tyres, the kwick sport rather than the kwest ones I have which I think are all right.

 

[kyuss]

The c means clincher. (Don't worry about it.)
Some manufactures will put it others wont.

No it doesn't. Tubular tires come in 28c as well. It's to do with an old outdated French measurement where the A-D suffix related to the rim width, A being narrow D being wide, a system now no longer used. To be honest it's pretty safe to ignore the C measurement as it seems to have become the standard (apart from 650B) with some manufacturers using it after the circumference of the tyre like 700c, others after the width measurment as in 28c.

 

[RedBike]

Ah well cheers for the clincher bit.

You were right. I thought the C stood for Crotchet-type -"hook"

I've just noticed you can get loads of tubular tyres with a "C" prefix so it must refer to the width.

 

[Slappybag]

The c means clincher. (Don't worry about it.)
Some manufactures will put it others wont.

Which tyres were you thinking of? (What have you currently got?)

Generally as tyres get narrower they get quicker but the ride gets harsher.

I have a few bookmarked.

http://www.cyclexpress.co.uk/products/Cross_Town_Reflect__(1_Pair)__Free_Inner_Tubes.aspx

http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/src/froogle/product-Schwalbe-Tyres-Schwalbe-Marathon-Kevlar-HS308-kevlar-belt-tyre-black-with-reflex-700-x-28-(28-622)-14304.htm

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-700-x-28c...hash=item190236064515&_trksid=p3286.m14.l1318

I'm thinking of ordering those first ones.

The tyres I currently have are Kenda Kwick Roller Sport.

 

[RedBike]

Just looked on Wiki....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_5775#Rims

ISO 5775-2 defines designations for bicycle rims. It distinguishes between

• Straight-side (SS) rims
• Crotchet-type (C) rims
• Hooked-bead (HB) rims

Rims are designated by their nominal rim diameter and their nominal width, separated by a cross (×). Both are measured in millimeters. The rim type codes SS or HB precede the rim designation, whereas code C is appended to the nominal width. Examples:
SS 400×20, HB 422×25, 620×13C

So it would seem the C, when we're talking about rims does mean Crotchet-type; but when we're talking about tyres it refers to an outdated French widtth measurement. - Now thats confusing!

 

[RedBike]

Finally got the link I wanted

From:
http://sheldonbrown.com/tyres.html#tread

Bicycle tyres for on-road use have no need of any sort of tread features; in fact, the best road tyres are perfectly smooth, with no tread at all!

Unfortunately, most people assume that a smooth tyre will be slippery, so this type of tyre is difficult to sell to unsophisticated cyclists. Most tyre makers cater to this by putting a very fine pattern on their tyres, mainly for cosmetic and marketing reasons. If you examine a section of asphalt or concrete, you'll see that the texture of the road itself is much "knobbier" than the tread features of a good quality road tyre. Since the tyre is flexible, even a slick tyre deforms as it comes into contact with the pavement, acquiring the shape of the pavement texture, only while incontact with the road. People ask, "But don't slick tyres get slippery on wet roads, or worse yet, wet metal features such as expansion joints, paint stripes, or railroad tracks?" The answer is, yes, they do. So do tyres with tread. All tyres are slippery in these conditions. Tread features make no improvement in this.

Stay clear of knobbly tyres. They will make things worse not better.
(A tread pattern does help when there's debris gravel on the road; but thats another topic)

 

[marinyork]

Slappybag are you using the bike almost exclusively for roads?

A different schwalbe marathon tyre I'd be interested to see what people think. My 35 schwalbe marathon pluses are horrid. Clunky, impossible to put on and a heavy ride.