Touring tyres

[tomasz frymorgen]

Hi, I'm cycling to Barcelona from London in a few weeks on a Mercian road bike with 700 x 20 wheels. I currently have some slim urban type tyres and I'm a bit overwhelmed by the selection of touring tyres available. I need something reasonably sturdy as I plan to stick to country/ b-roads as much as possible. Any help on choosing some would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[sabian92]

Schwalbe Marathon +

No better touring tyre available although I wouldn't be touring on 20s as they're a bit skinny, unless you were doing it full supported.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus are the reference without any shadow of a doubt. Some say there's too much rolling resitstance, but I say that doesn't matter when you're perhaps carrying 15 or 20 kgs. They are really hard to put on, though. Having said that, with 20s you'll probably not be able to fit them. In that case, try to find something that has a kevlar layer to protect against punctures.

 

[sidevalve]

Even in my limited experiance I'd go up a size or maybe even two to 25 to allow a wider choice and maybe protect the rim a bit more.

 

[tomasz frymorgen]

Thanks for the advice. Could anyone recommend a reasonable set of 25mm wheels? I'm on a fairly tight budget...

 

[smutchin]

Are you sure your current wheels won't take a larger tyre? What are the rims?

d.

 

[tomasz frymorgen]

The bike is second hand and the information I was given by the past owner is that the wheels are 700c mavic ma2 rims.​

 

[smutchin]

You could easily go up to a 28C tyre on MA2 rims, assuming the frame has the clearance. Personally, I'd go for a 32C tyre for that kind of ride, and it should be fine on those rims - again, assuming the frame has the clearance. (Which model of Mercian is it?)

My choice would be Marathon Supreme in 28 or 32C. Regular Marathons or Marathon Plus would give better puncture protection but would be noticeably slower. I think the Supremes give pretty decent protection anyway. </Schwalbe fanboy>

d.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Continental Top Contact are a good tyre too, run 32's on one of my bikes.

 

[tomasz frymorgen]

It's a King of Mercia 531c audax touring/road bike from 1992. How can I check if the frame has the clearance, do I just measure with a tape?

 

[MrJamie]

Marathon Plus Tour seem worth a look too but only seen them in big widths.

 

[albion]

Obviously being used to 20mm, 25 or 26 mm might be your thing.
I've always used Marathon Plus for commuting but they are fat and very very heavy.

Maybe use Soma Everwears to keep the road feel and a more sensible weight.

 

[Jimmy Doug]

I don't think weight of tyres is really an issue when you're touring -although it might be when you're commuting and it definitely is when you're racing. When you're carrying paniers with your clothes, food, tent, sleeping bag, kitchen stuff ... those few extra grams are irrelevant. I think the extra weight is worth it, knowing that you'll probably never have a puncture when it's pouring with rain, getting dark when you're in the middle of nowhere and you really want to find that campground.

 

[smutchin]

It's a King of Mercia 531c audax touring/road bike from 1992. How can I check if the frame has the clearance, do I just measure with a tape?

Ooh, lovely bike!

It's a model that's specifically designed for touring, so I imagine you'll be fine with 32C tyres, maybe even 35C. Plus mudguards too (always a good idea for touring). And you will notice a huge improvement in comfort with larger tyres, especially over the kind of distance you're doing.

I had a look at the Mercian website. They mention that the bike is supplied with Panaracer Tourguard tyres (presume they mean Paselas). They don't specify what size though, and they come in quite a wide range of sizes... Paselas are also a very good choice of tyre, by the way, and probably cheaper than Marathons.

http://www.merciancycles.co.uk/complete-bikes/47/king-of-mercia-complete-bikes

You can get an idea of what size tyres the frame will take just by measuring with a ruler, but you might want to err on the cautious side if doing this.

d.

 

[tomasz frymorgen]

Ok cheers, so to clarify, my 700 x 20 rims should be able to take widths of 25 or even 32 mm tyres?