tyres !

[007fair]

probably been covered before ..
I want a 'Hybrid' for mostly road use but able to handle the canal paths and tracks etc easily too Light but tough!
This question about tyres .. I think as the main use is road I would go for 700C * 37

Alot of hybrids like this (ie Carerra Subway ) have 26 * 1.6 tyres

Any thoughts on which tyre size provides the best compomise ?

Cheers!

 

[Gerry Attrick]

If you ride mainly on the road, then 37's are too wide. They will be hard work. Assuming your rims will accept them (check here) I would go for 32's max or even 28's. Marathon do 30's so you could compromise. FWIW I use 32's on my tourer, but being Paselas they are quite slim and could easily be marked as 30's by another manufacturer. They are perfectly ok on towpaths and the like.

 

[jonny jeez]

probably been covered before ..
I want a 'Hybrid' for mostly road use but able to handle the canal paths and tracks etc easily too Light but tough!
This question about tyres .. I think as the main use is road I would go for 700C * 37

Alot of hybrids like this (ie Carerra Subway ) have 26 * 1.6 tyres

Any thoughts on which tyre size provides the best compomise ?

Cheers!

I ride a MTB kinda Hybrid bike (hybrids hadn't been invented when I bought her!) and have fitted the Specialzed armadillo set (£25 each) I've had 1 visit from the puncture fairy in over 1000 miles of commute. A pal rode with me last week and picked up two punctures...he was 6 feet behind me all the way!...a true test of their capability I would say

mine are 26 x 1.50.

I pump them at around 80 PSI and maintain a fairly fast pace over a 20 mile commute of 20mph average on the flat reaching 26 at times and overall 16mph across the whole journey.

I cant recommend these enough, super fast for fat-ish tyres and almost bombproof (fingers crossed)

Jonny

 

[MajorMantra]

When you say "track" how rough are we talking? A road bike will handle everything up to (dry-ish) mud tracks and is better on the road proper than a hybrid in terms of speed and arguable comfort as well since you have the many hand positions of drop bars. My bikes have 700x23 tyres and are fine except on deep gravel. 25s or 28s would offer a little more comfort at the expense of little or no speed. You could also look at cyclocross bikes (more rugged) or a light tourer for a more relaxed geometry.

Now someone will come along to tell me off for recommending a road bike again.

Matthew

 

[cyberknight]

I have schwable city jets 26x1.5 and they are a treat and cheap i got mine for a tenner each.
In fact just started using a raody and i am no quicker atm ,mind you i do live in a hilly area.
Similar to JJ i hit 21 ish on the flats on those tyres

 

[007fair]

If you ride mainly on the road, then 37's are too wide. They will be hard work. Assuming your rims will accept them (check here) I would go for 32's max or even 28's. Marathon do 30's so you could compromise. FWIW I use 32's on my tourer, but being Paselas they are quite slim and could easily be marked as 30's by another manufacturer. They are perfectly ok on towpaths and the like.

Gerry Do you think 32's would handle quite stoney paths like old roman roads (as opposed to quite smooth canal paths) I agree I want to go a light as possible with out feeling either uncomfortable or that the surface would damage them

 

[Norm]

I have schwable city jets 26x1.5 and they are a treat and cheap i got mine for a tenner each.

+1 for the City Jets and for them being about the same speed as a road bike. My road bike was about 20 seconds faster over an 18 minute journey than an old MTB with 26x1.5 City Jets.

I'm confused by your OP, though, as you seem to be choosing between a 700c and a 26". That decision depends on the wheel sizes, doesn't it? Or am I being thick? Again.

 

[007fair]

Jonny / Cyberknight thanks - interesting

Major Mantra I have a road bike with 25's I definately want bigger than that I also want the road bike to feel really quick when I ride that as opposed to just a bit quicker so something between a roadie and a MTB

 

[007fair]

+1 for the City Jets and for them being about the same speed as a road bike. My road bike was about 20 seconds faster over an 18 minute journey than an old MTB with 26x1.5 City Jets.

I'm confused by your OP, though, as you seem to be choosing between a 700c and a 26". That decision depends on the wheel sizes, doesn't it? Or am I being thick? Again.

No your not thick .. I don't have commuter bike yet! The wheels will be part of the decision making process I was thinking that I would go for 700c and these would be quicker ... but maybe I am wrong Is there a noticable difference between 26 and 700?

 

[Norm]

Ah, right, you are choosing between bikes, not just between tyres on an existing bike!

Depends what sort of distance you are contemplating. The two don't seem to be that different if you have road tyres.

By way of comparison, I've done my Test Track on a couple of different machines now.
20 year old MTB (no suspension) with 26x1.5" City Jets - 18'20"
Giant Talon 3 (suspension unlocked) with 26x1.5" City Jets - 18'02"
Giant Talon 3 (suspension unlocked) with 26x2.3" DMR tyres - 20'13"
Spesh Secteur Sport with 700x25c tyres - 17'38"

Bear in mind, though, that I've had the Giant for about 5 months and done a fair distance on it so I know and love the way it feels, whereas I've had the Secteur for 4 days and I'm still getting used to it.

The biggest difference seems to be switching from off-road to road tyres.

But, it's not exactly scientific, although the runs were all started at around 9pm so the traffic wasn't a factor in any of them, I've only done one run on each so far. I've found, in the past, that having a bad day at the office can add 10% to the time on my longer circuit.

 

[007fair]

Great info Norm thanks for that
I willnot be doing great distances maybe 10 miles at the most Did you notice any great difference in comfort between 26 and 700 ?

 

[Norm]

Hmm... tough call.

The bikes with City Jets (26x1.5) were definitely more comfortable on dodgy surfaces but I couldn't say whether that was the tyres or the bikes. But that is something that you could tell pretty quickly from a test ride.

 

[eljay]

About 6 weeks ago I bought a Mongoose Crossay 850 hybrid with 700c wheels. I would thoroughly recommend this bike. Initially it was just for cycling to work and for rides at the weekends on country roads, disused railway tracks etc. Now, I am finding myself doing much more off road – rough tracks, woods, forest trails, muddy trails etc. It performs great all round so look into this bike.

The only problem that I have found is regarding tyres and I was going to post a thread today regarding this so here might be a good starting point for 007fair aswell as myself. I want something to do both on and off road and I have been drawn to Schwalbe tyres, particularly the Marathon Cross. Does anyone have any experience of this on a hybrid for muddy off-road trekking. Sorry if it looks like I have hijacked 007fairs posting but I thought this was releavant to all.

 

[007fair]

... Sorry if it looks like I have hijacked 007fairs posting but I thought this was releavant to all.

Hijack away Eljay Your question is welcome as its right up my street (pun?) I have yet to buy my hybrid and which tyre size (26 vrs 700c) is part of the decision making process

 

[HJ]

probably been covered before ..
I want a 'Hybrid' for mostly road use but able to handle the canal paths and tracks etc easily too Light but tough!
This question about tyres .. I think as the main use is road I would go for 700C * 37

Alot of hybrids like this (ie Carerra Subway ) have 26 * 1.6 tyres

Any thoughts on which tyre size provides the best compomise ?

Cheers!

Personally I uses Conti GatorSkins for the riding you describe...