Economy non-knobblies

[karlt]

I inherited a nasty old no-sus mountain bike from my father. Brand is Universal IIRC, so it's little more than a BSO, but surprisingly resilient. All no-name parts. No matter, I'm not a mountain biker anyway, apart from odd occasions. I use it as my utility bike for jobs where I can't be bothered with changing or where cleated shoes would be a pain - I've moved the plastic cage pedals that came on my Decathlon road bike onto it and ride in trainers.

Anyway, point is the tyres are pretty knobbly - can certainly hear them pattering on the road. Since it only gets occasional off-road, and we're talking Sustrans sort of trails here in the main - use, they're far too aggressive and unnecessarily hard work on tarmac, so I'm looking to replace them. Bear in mind this is a worth-naff-all bike.

26" wheels. Current tyres are - not entirely sure, but they're narrow enough to get into most of the "wheel grip" type of bike stands, but wide enough to need a good pull to get back out again, IYSWIM.

[hamster]

Something like Specialized Hemisphere or Nimbus are cheap and roll well. Otherwise trawl trough all the usual internet retailers and see what's cheap!

[meic]

I would guess that your tyres are 2.1" and your inner tubes probably have a minimum size of 1.5" though it may even be 1.75".

So to save on having to buy inner tubes aswell I would be looking for 1.5 or 1.75" tyres.

If buying on line you probably want the "free postage" sites like Evans or CRC.

Evans are too expensive right now even with their second tyre half price offer.

I would suggest the Schwalbe City Jets or better still wait for a good bargain somewhere to appear.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=24629

If it was MY bike and the rims allowed I would go for
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... 0s122p1682

[Brucey]

the most cost effective solution is to cut the knobbles down on the tyres you have. This will probably be OK bearing in mind the limited use of the bike.

Suggested methods;

side cutters (big knobbles come off easily but the shape left is bad...)
sharp knife (seen the film 'the fastest indian''? -like that.....)
angle grinder (fast, with the wheel turning as you go, but very messy and the smell will be absolutely terrible)

cheers

[rualexander]

Schwalbe City Jet from Spa for ￡8 are hard to beat, quality tyres and fairly puncture resistant.
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/products.php ... b0s122p757

[rjb]

I'm with brucey on this one - i sliced off the knobbly bits with a sharp craft knife when i changed the 20" wheels on my shopper from 550A to 406 rims. The tyres came with the wheels meant for a small kids mtb. Just be careful you don't take too deep a cut.

[Vorpal]

+1 on the City Jets. They've done well on Mr. V's pub bike.

[McVouty]

My local Halfrods only had one City Jet when I went to roadise my MTB because it very rarely went offroad. They did have, for even less money (I don't remember how much) a Thai VeeRubber CJ lookalike. It works fine, but for some reason the max inflation figure on the sidewall is 40 psi rather than the 95 on the CJ (I compromised on 60 front and back).

[reohn2]

Check out Schwalbe's Activeline of budget tyres,choose the tread pattern to suit,they're cheap but not nasty .

[mattsccm]

Try Wilkinsons or Asda. I have seen something like the tyres you want in both of them recently.

[karlt]

Thanks for the suggestions. I do sometimes take it somewhere slightly more challenging, so what I was looking for are the sort with a fairly slick profile down the centre and knobbles on the outside (yes, title a bit misleading there) that only come into play if you sink into the surface.

[Brucey]

a 'semi-slick' then. Can be bought, can be made.... this is how worn-out knobblies end up all by themselves, can be speeded up greatly by suitable application of angle grinder....



cheers

[karlt]

That's the designation! Schwalbe Land Cruiser seems to fit the bill and doesn't cost the earth. Seen recommendations that you can fit semi-slick on rear and keep knobbly on front as it's the rear that gives you the rolling resistance - is this true?

[Brucey]

pretty much, yes, but it depends how much weight you put over the front end I guess.... Only downside to semislicks is the 'iffy' cornering behaviour when you get leant over...

cheers

[squeaker]

That's the designation! Schwalbe Land Cruiser seems to fit the bill and doesn't cost the earth.

+1: as used on wifey's MTB in road guise:)