Good Street Tires for a Mountain Bike

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Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Contis were always the toughest tires!

I remember WAAAAYYY back (mid 70s) when i first started using them, I had a set of properly aged Sprinter tubular (sew-up) tires I just could not kill!!!!
crazy2.gif


This was despite them being only 220 grams in weight, and having a thin tread with a fine file tread pattern.
I even rode them in some dry condition/hard pack cyclocrosses and they survived!
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I used sprinter 250's in the early '90s, great tire most of the time. the only time I got flats was on the WORST day for it to happen, the 1st and ONLY century I ever rode! 2 flats in one day. I still continued to ride tubulars until I sold off that bike piece by piece a few years ago.
 
Originally Posted By: mpvue
Originally Posted By: dailydriver
Contis were always the toughest tires!

I remember WAAAAYYY back (mid 70s) when i first started using them, I had a set of properly aged Sprinter tubular (sew-up) tires I just could not kill!!!!
crazy2.gif


This was despite them being only 220 grams in weight, and having a thin tread with a fine file tread pattern.
I even rode them in some dry condition/hard pack cyclocrosses and they survived!
shocked2.gif



I used sprinter 250's in the early '90s, great tire most of the time. the only time I got flats was on the WORST day for it to happen, the 1st and ONLY century I ever rode! 2 flats in one day. I still continued to ride tubulars until I sold off that bike piece by piece a few years ago.


I flatted a Vittoria Evo CX/Michelin 'green' latex tube clincher combo about half way through my last century.
We (Team In Training, Leukemia/Lymphoma Society) were trying to complete this rolling century in < 4.5 hours WITH STOPS!!
Hence why I was chancing such lightweight/low rolling resistence rubber and super aero Mavic Cosmic Carbone rolling stock for this ride!
YES, we basically rode it as a team time trial.
wink.gif
 
Originally Posted By: MarkC
Mori runs some type of Specialized slick or semi-slick MTB tire. I think Kenda makes the tires for Specialized anyway, so....


26" x 2.00" Specialized ATB Compound Pro (~$40 per tire). Totally amazing! Low rolling resistance, mad grip on dry and wet blacktop and on dry hardpack (not good on loose ground and sand!). A little heavy, but lighter than a Schwalbe Marathon, although not as puncture resistant.

That's how it looks:

specialized_atb_2s0107.jpg


Somebody please scrub the rims!

Since Pablo's bike is motorized, I'd suggest the rather heavy Schwalbe Marathon (~$42 per tire) with street tread. Those tires have a puncture-resistant liner, and we wouldn't want Pablo to fall on his face during a blowout.
 
The Specialized ATB also seem to last very long. I got over 3k miles on them and I see barely any wear, and I'm not super easy on the equipment. Q won't get the bike back in one piece!
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Originally Posted By: mpvue
Originally Posted By: Bill Kapaun
Tread doesn't really make any difference. You don't hydroplane until something like 100 MPH+. (unless you run off a dock)

I beg to differ. tread is EVERYTHING on a bicycle tire. a fat knobby tire bicycle will be transformed w/ a narrow smooth tread. it's not hydroplaning that's a problem, it's rolling resistance.
someone else mentioned conti T&C, I concur. very nice durable heavy tire.


You can differ all you want, but you missed the entire point!
Pablo expressed concern about WET! Didn't words like "hydroplane" and "run off a dock" sink in?
 
Pablo, let us know how you like the T&C's- they seem to have a big fan club, with almost no detractors.

For those still looking: What about Forte Versa-Tracs? It's Performance Bike's house brand; this model seems to be a very similar idea to the Cont Town & Country, made in 26x2.0 size, in a Kevlar-belted or non-Kevlar version. Right now they're both on sale, the Kevlars for $12 each, the others for $10- & the Kevlars are listed as being 40 grams lighter. I've toyed with the idea of getting a set, but suspect that the 2-inch width may be too much for my 18mm wide rims. The few charts I've seen(including Performance Bike's)indicate that they're either a hair too wide or full-max width.

Link to the Kevlar VersaTracs: http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?sku=14789
 
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Originally Posted By: mpvue
I beg to differ. tread is EVERYTHING on a bicycle tire. a fat knobby tire bicycle will be transformed w/ a narrow smooth tread. it's not hydroplaning that's a problem, it's rolling resistance.


I beg to differ. Tread on a road tire does nothing as long as you are riding on clean (no sand, gravel, leaves etc), dry or wet asphalt or concrete. The road provides all the grip your tire could possibly need. On loose ground, treads make a huge difference, because the treads will "pinch-grab" the ground. What's a real problem with knobby off-road tires on the road is tread squirm, which leads to a loss to stability especially in curves. Noise is also an issue. Knobby tires with a smooth centerline are an okay compromise for non-aggressive riders and those who can live with a compromise. Another, possibly better compromise is using a knobby off-road tire in the front and a street tire in the rear. That way you have extra grip in the front where you need it when you hit loose ground, but you can get lower rolling resistance, less noise, and better grip in the rear. The front tire will however curb your curve speed limit on city streets.
 
I've been recommending the Schwalbe (= Swallow) Marathon on this forum (See post somewhere above). The Marathon is second only to the Specialized ATB Compound Pro, due to higher weight and bit less grip. The Marathon's puncture resistance is however superior. The price of both tires is just about the same.

Let me know how you like the Marathon tires. I'm especially interested in how they wear. The Specialized ATB Compound Pro tires look like new after several thousand miles. I thought the center flash line from the casting process would never wear off. And I've always been one to wear out all tires very quickly!
 
Originally Posted By: Stuart Hughes
Pablo, let us know how you like the T&C's- they seem to have a big fan club, with almost no detractors.


I had my doubts at first. The compound seemed very hard and plastic like. They took me awhile to get them beaded up and balanced properly. But after several weeks of riding I really like the smooth rolling and corner grip. Stable at speed. With some wear the become quite grippy.

The tires mori mentions look nice as well - but I have all these new tires hanging in the garage. I better get some wear on these first!
 
Originally Posted By: moribundman
I've been recommending the Schwalbe (= Swallow) Marathon on this forum (See post somewhere above). The Marathon is second only to the Specialized ATB Compound Pro, due to higher weight and bit less grip. The Marathon's puncture resistance is however superior. The price of both tires is just about the same.

Let me know how you like the Marathon tires. I'm especially interested in how they wear. The Specialized ATB Compound Pro tires look like new after several thousand miles. I thought the center flash line from the casting process would never wear off. And I've always been one to wear out all tires very quickly!


I am seeing on the websites that the Marathon Supreme weighs in at 595 grams for a 26 x 2.0

http://www.schwalbetires.com/node/37

and the specialized at 1030 grams for a 26 x 2.2

http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCEqSuperSection.jsp?ssid=MTBTires

Am I looking at the right tire for the specialized one? Maybe the one I am looking at on the website is not a folding tire?
 
I was comparing the '05 Marathon ATB to the '05 Specialized ATB, which were direct competitors in the same tire category.

The Specialized ATB Compound Pro appears to have been changed to "Compound Control Tire." It's still 70 grams lighter than the comparable Marathon ATB. The Marathon Plus ATB (26 x 2.00) weighs 1100 grams.
 
Ahh I see... those are really close and the specialized tire is lighter. I sure noticed a big difference in how heavy my bike was when I switched from "knobby" ATB tires to the more touring type tires.

The diff between those 2 atb tires vs. the marathon touring tire is over 1 pound per tire. And of course that is "rotating mass" which is more important than overall weight of the bike. My bike feels "skinny" with the touring tires on there which might take some getting used to.

It also seems like there is a ton of weight in the rear cassette. Do you know do they make any of those out of ceramic or something? Would be nice to shed some weight there if possible.
 
I really don't care much about the weight of my bike. I'm not riding competitively and extra weight simply means more exercise. No idea if there are any ultra-light cassettes. I'm using a heavy, internally geared hub (Shimano Nexus 8 Red Band).
 
Extra weight OF the bike is not as important as extra weight ON the bike, as in the rider will feel better losing 10 lbs. off his lardass than he will knocking 1 pound or so off his bike's weight.
(Not that mori's a lardass)
 
High tire "weight" (mass) makes for a lower center of gravity at rest. At high speed it makes for gyro-stabilization!
grin2.gif
 
Stuart,

I just went over to the Ft. Collins REI today and picked up a set of those drifters on sale. All I can say is WOW! Those bad boys made 21st gear feel like child's play on the street, and I like the road feel that my diamondback now has. I'm going to get out on Monday and run them from devil's backbone to horse tooth reservoir to see how they do on trail conditions with loose gravel and variable rock wash...but so far I'm pretty impressed with them. Combined with my tuffy liners, slime thick tubes and these tires I think I'll be good to go for trail riding through goat head thorn areas! Thanks again for the tip!

DP
 
I'm glad somebody found that post useful!
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I waited too long, & they were sold out. Ordered 'em anyway, & now I get to play the backorder game.
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That's OK, no hurry- though it would be nice to get 'em by Halloween. Liners *and* thick Slime tubes *and* Drifter flat-resistant tires? Wow! Those goat-head thorns must be serious stuff- read about 'em lot on Bikeforums, but so far as I know never saw any. Let us know how they do offroad- though the most I'll ever do is some old dirt roads around here. And I may get run off from those, things have gotten way too civilized around here.
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