Tyre 26"x1.75" suggestion

[mercalia]

So I now have a spare set of wheels after building my own. The tyres are standard 26"x1.75" Marathon which are fine for general purpose and dirt track use. What I want is a not too expensive set of good quality tyres in the same fitting ( so that my bottle dyno on front wheel will still work with no adjustment ) that are faster, roll better so that I can see for my self if there really is a difference and its not just I am a slug rider suggestions please.

[Brucey]

FWIW I think that your requirement for the bottle dynamo many automatically preclude a really fast tyre. Schwalbe were one of the few makers that have stuck with this feature, but any vaguely sporty new tyre from them has not included this feature for some time. Even if you find a tyre of the same width with a dynamo track there is no guarantee that it will be in the same place.

I'd suggest that to ditch the exact dynamo track requirement and to change widths would greatly increase your choice of decent tyres.

Vittoria used to make various Rubino models in this size but they may have dropped them now. Some reasonable choices include

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/26x15-randonneur-reflect-hybrid-bike-tyre-id_8026694.html

which is a midweight 580g tyre or

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/26-x-135-inch-35559-schwalbe-kojak-hs385-tyre-26-inch-559/

which is pretty light and fast, but even lighter in folding fitment;

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres/26-x-135-inch-35559-schwalbe-kojak-hs385-raceguard-folding-tyre-26-inch-559/

down to 295g in 26x1.35"

None of the tyres I have looked at recently that I would describe as 'fast' have had obvious dynamo tracks, but you can always run such a dynamo on the tread itself if needs must. If you insist on sticking with a bottle dynamo, perhaps you should get a nordlicht one (or similar) that can be made to run on the rim rather than the tyre.

cheers

[LuckyLuke]

Hi, I'm a fan of Panaracer Pasela tyres. Have been pleased with the 700 X 28 / 32 / 35 / 37 flavours over the years. Haven't tried the 26 X 1.75" version, but would do so based on good experiences with the 700 versions.
Compass tyres make a 26 X 1.75" (made in Panaracer's Japanese factory, to Compass's recipe). These are expensive & hard to find though. I've not tried this size myself, but I have been very impressed with the similarly constructed Compass 700 X 38 & 700 X 42 tyres.
Best wishes,
Luke

[mercalia]

thanks so far with the replies

[cycle tramp]

Hi, I'm a fan of Panaracer Pasela tyres. Have been pleased with the 700 X 28 / 32 / 35 / 37 flavours over the years. Haven't tried the 26 X 1.75" version, but would do so based on good experiences with the 700 versions.
Compass tyres make a 26 X 1.75" (made in Panaracer's Japanese factory, to Compass's recipe). These are expensive & hard to find though. I've not tried this size myself, but I have been very impressed with the similarly constructed Compass 700 X 38 & 700 X 42 tyres.
Best wishes,
Luke

+1 changed my front tyre back to Pasela Panaracer 26 x 1.75 a couple of years ago. Speaking for myself, they're almost the perfect balance of weight, puncture resistance, suppleness, wear rate and cost. Apart from puncture resistance I find the bike rides so much better than the smart guard I had on there before. However I've hedged my bets and kept a smart guard on the rear.

[andrew_s]

Whilst the Pasela is a nice tyre to ride, I wouldn't run a sidewall dynamo on one. You would need the dynamo set wide and high, so the roller could run on the edge of the tread, and you may have to take a notch out of the edge of the mudguard to allow it access (should you use one)

Now that most new light-equipped bikes use dynohubs, and older bikes are getting new dynohub wheels, dynamo ribbing is an the old-fashioned feature that will probably be omitted from new tyre designs. The likes of Schwalbe will maintain a small range of models, like they maintain obsolete tyre sizes in a few models.

Current Schwalbe models with dynamo ribbing are
Big Apple (26x2.0, 4.5), Energizer Plus Tour (26x1.75, 4), Energizer Plus (26x1.75, 4), Marathon Plus (26x1.75, 3.5), Marathon Plus Tour (26x1.75, 3.5), Silento (26x1.75, 3), Road Cruiser (26x1.75, ?), Range Cruiser (26x1.77, 3), Delta Cruiser Plus (26x1.75, 2)
The number after the tyre size (closest to 1.75 given) is Schwalbe's rolling resistance number (out of 6, high good). The Tour models claim better off-road grip than the equivalent non-Tour.

Vittoria, Panaracer, Continental don't admit to the existence of dynamos on their websites

[Ash28]

Only in 1.5 and 1.95 but I like Schwalbe City Jets. Can usually be found at reduced prices. Looks like a dyno track on the side of the tyre but I am not sure.

[bikerwaser]

+1 for the Pasala from me too but I also would say it's not good for a bottle dynamo as it's sidewalls aren't up to it, which is part of what makes it lighter and faster. ( You do have to keep the Pasala's up to the right psi or you'll risk sidewall flats )
It really is a fast tyre and I've toured on it for many miles years ago.
The only reason for not using them now is I like running 2" tyres and have swapped to Conti Sport Contact 2 , which so far after about 500 miles are proving to be really quick, more grippy than they look and so far ( touch wood ) no punctures.

[cycle tramp]

Whilst the Pasela is a nice tyre to ride, I wouldn't run a sidewall dynamo on one. You would need the dynamo set wide and high, so the roller could run on the edge of the tread, and you may have to take a notch out of the edge of the mudguard to allow it access (should you use one)

That's not been my experience and I've swapped from Pasela to marathon and back again with the minimum of adjustments to the alignment of my dynamo. I've certainly not had to make any notches in my front mudguard.

[cycle tramp]

+1 for the Pasala from me too but I also would say it's not good for a bottle dynamo as it's sidewalls aren't up to it.

Again, not been my experience, but then I take a bit of time and ensure that the face of the dynamo roller rather than any edge is in contact with the tyre wall.

[LollyKat]

I had several sidewall failures with Paselas even though I was careful with pressures, and that was without a bottle dynamo. They are really nice to ride but I've given up on them.

[mercalia]

so the Pasala have thinnish sidewalls? not for me then as I am rather heavy. The original tyres on the 1-Down were some kind of semi slick that had thinnish side walls and my weight meant that they squirmed on corners

[Brucey]

tyres squirm when they are underinflated (for the load) and/or are fitted to rims that are too narrow. The amount of rubber in the sidewall will affect the feel of a tyre for sure but if you are reliant on the amount of rubber in the sidewall of a bicycle tyre for a good 'feel' then there is something else that is wrong IMHO. You are probably having to work very hard as you pedal, too; if you don't check your pressures often enough you can be riding around on tyres that are too soft. The difference with heavy-built tyres (typically with lots of puncture protection and dynamo tracks etc) is that you might not notice that your tyres are too soft, until you start to wonder why it is such hard work, anyway...

I have not got to the bottom of why Pasela sidewalls sometimes blow out and fail but I have a few ideas. Candidates include

- UV degradation
- fitment to rims that have an edge radius that is too small
- fitment to rims with slight damage to the rim edge
- fitment with the chafer ply displaced or damaged
- running with tyre pressures too low
- accidental damage (this is not so likely for splits that occur immediately adjacent to the rim unless there are rim brakes that are badly adjusted so that the brake block goes into the tyre)
- other chemical damage (eg from solvents or road salt or something...?)

Panaracer also make Compass tyres, using a similar casing material and similar methods of construction. Folk don't seem to moan about those blowing out which may just mean that the customers use them differently or something.

Car, truck, motorcycle etc tyres are sold with a load rating. So are many bicycle tyres. Not Panaracers. I enquired directly to Panasonic's customer support in the USA regarding this and I was told that their Pasela models were strong enough for tandem use, i.e. as far as they were concerned a load that was twice as great as on a solo bike would be OK.

I have seen sidewall damage from brakes many times (the brake blocks that "look to be set OK" on the workstand will soon go into the sidewall with wear or arm flex). I have seen old tyres with sidewalls that just fell apart presumably from UV damage or something, or suffered mechanical damage of some kind (there is no way I'd run a sidewall dynamo on a Pasela or other skinwall type sidewall BTW; they don't put dynamo tracks onto other tyres for nothing).

I have seen a few instances of other tyres (not Paselas) just splitting just above the rim too. In nearly all cases the chafer ply was loose and had folded under the rim edge when the tyre was refitted (so couldn't do it job) or had just fallen apart. In a few instances I have found very slight damage to the rim edge too; the kind of damage that arises when a rim touches the road directly, little more than very slight roughness. This may have been enough to chafe and break one or two cords in the carcass and that spells doom for the tyre, but perhaps not immediately.

cheers

[pwa]

so the Pasala have thinnish sidewalls? not for me then as I am rather heavy. The original tyres on the 1-Down were some kind of semi slick that had thinnish side walls and my weight meant that they squirmed on corners

Thorn put 1.75inch Pasleas on their tandems, so rider weight is not an issue. On the tandem I put about 65psi in them and they don't squirm. But the thinish sidewalls will be damaged eventually by a bottle dynamo.

Over a good few years (15?) of using Paselas I've had only one sidewall failure and that was when I rode over a broken bottle that would have taken out any tyre.

[amediasatex]

I like Paselas too and they're my default 'just riding about' tyre. The 26x1.75in versions have been doing sterling work on my commuter/utility bike, even if the rear is starting to degrade a bit, but that's entirely my fault for unusual loading cycles without pressure changes.

The casings are nice and supple but they have a decent amount of tread rubber so you get a good blend of comfort and longevity and they are reasonably puncture resistant, at least on the tread area. I don't think the sidewalls are any more prone to damage than other tyres of similar construction but they do seem to often end up on bikes where the owner treats them like a tougher tyre, if that makes sense?

The Compass tyres are exceedingly good in terms of speed* and comfort, but the casings are even thinner than the Pasela and need to be treated as such, it's not that you have to baby them or anything but just be more mindful about inflation and accidental damge etc.

I'd not use either a Pasela or Compass tyre with a bottle dynamo though.

*I doubt you'll find a faster 26 inch tyre for mixed surface use.