Skinny Tyres on a Hybrid or MB

[GoldDust]

Hi

What's your experience of using thinner tyres over beefy ones.

I currently have a Hybrid with 700 x 42 Tyres. I feel like it's too big I release the breaks and quick release and have to force tyre out of the bike as pads don't move out enough. Pain changing flats. I ordered some continental puncture proof tyres in 700 x 32 but I'm wondering what difference will it make?? Hopefully I can get tyre out.

I have considered a road bike but not sure if I want 700 x 23 tyres.

Anyone's experience appreciated.

 

[Venod]

I release the breaks and quick release and have to force tyre out of the bike as pads don't move out enough. Pain changing flats.

If the tyres flat just sqeeze it in to get it past the brakes, or am I missing something.

 

[Ihatehills]

Yup 700 x 32 on my hybrid and they are fine, alot narrower than the tyres on my old hybrid and still cope with gravel paths and the like ok

 

[MarkF]

I use 3 hybrids, 1 with 35mm's, 1 with 32m's and 1 with a 28mm front & a 32mm rear, all M+. IMO the 35mm's are overkill even though I do a lot of trail towpath riding. I'd like to change them for narrower but they just won't wear out.

 

[GoldDust]

Is a 700 x 42 A mountain bike tyre. My tyres feel too big for my hybrid like more geared toward riding on mountain rocks and stone boulders than a gravel path. I also have to force my poor pads apart to get clearance for this monster tyre. Still looking for some comfort just not the full hog but since I've never tried another tyre I don't know what to expect.

 

[GoldDust]

@Afnug I didn't think of that usually I repair it. Pump it to full PSI then pop it back on this is where the issue is mainly coming from. Thanks

 

[fossyant]

I ran my MTB on 1.2 slick tyres for commuting. Darn it was as quick as a road bike, but looked weird.

 

[Pat "5mph"]

@Afnug I didn't think of that usually I repair it. Pump it to full PSI then pop it back on this is where the issue is mainly coming from. Thanks

Don't pump it to full PSI: leave it soft, put tyre back in, then pump up

 

[Hacienda71]

I have used 1.2" tyres on a 90's rigid mtb. They're far better than hardcore downhill tyres if you are riding on gravel paths and roads. All that said I think my full suspension Stumpjumper will stay with it's current 2.4" tyres for the foreseeable.

 

[biking_fox]

Mostly depends what surface you're riding on. If you're on road/hard tracks than thinner tires (23 or so) will give you much faster ride and a more secure feel in cornering. My Hybrid I've currently got MarathonPlus's at 26x 1.5 and they're very heavy, balloon roll mushily around the corners and probably 1-2mph slower than when I had 1.0" slicks on. But I live with it for the puncture resistance. But if you can go with thin slicks it's such a better ride.

 

[Neilsmith]

I put skinny tyres on my old mountain bike before I bought a road bike. I was doing 100 miles a week mainly on the road so I thought it made sense, it did. The miles got easier and my speed increased 2mph. I think they were 1.5" commuting tyres don't remember which ones the bikes in the greenhouse I will have to look. They were far better on cornering than knobbly Mtb tyres and were still ok on rough track, a lot more slippy on mud but that's not surprising

 

[liambauckham]

i've been thinking of putting skinny slicks on my MTB as i tend to do more road miles than offroad. Although I do like the versatility of being able to go offroad tho.

 

[Elybazza61]

The 32c Vittoria Randonnuer Pros I have on the Planet X can handle most surfaces,only mud and wet grass totally defeat it(of course it wouldn't take MTB routes before anyone starts).

Will be interesting to find out next year when they get replaced with a tubeless experiment(prob IRC tyres)how much difference I can tell;TBH I'm not that much slower on them than I am on my ally road bike with 25's on,the Helium with open paves are another matter though,,,

Oh and replaced the other halfs mountain bike tyres(big old heavy knobblies) with some Schwalbe City Jets and it made a huge difference.

 

[Neilsmith]

Oh and replaced the other halfs mountain bike tyres(big old heavy knobblies) with some Schwalbe City Jets and it made a huge difference.

City Jets they are the ones I used thanks for the memory prompt

 

[Piemaster]

Rim width may limit how skinny a tyre you can fit. Sheldon has a table for it here.
Or of course a bike shop should be able to help.