26" 'fast' tyre recommendations?

[fast but dim]

I'm (hopefully) about to collect a 'new' bike via a wanted ad. here, a Dawes Sardar with 26" wheels and marathon plus tyres.

I'm after a set of lighter, faster tyres for it. I know voyager hyper's are well thought of in 700c, but can't find them in 26". they do, however have Randonneur pro's: http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVTRNDP/v ... lding-tyre

I've ridden 1000's of miles on gatorskins on my audax bike with no problems, but they're pricy in 26", and I'm ater something a little more robust.

So..... I'm after something fast, comfortable and grippy. The marathon's can go on some old mtb wheels for winter.

Point me in the right direction

[Brucey]

Kojaks are worth a look?

I've not used the randonneur pro in 26" but its on my shortlist....

cheers

[Bmblbzzz]

I've got Randonneur Pros on my utilitized/tourified mountain bike. They're ok but not brilliant. Seem to resist the fairy quite well and roll ok, but not brilliantly comfortable and don't feel as grippy as could be in mud or on wet inspection covers.

This site http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com was mentioned in another thread and gives Schwalbe Thunder Burt Snake Skin as the MTB tyre with the lowest rolling resistance, but how that compares with non-knobbly 26"s, I don't know.

[Erudin]

Continental Sport Contact tyres 26x1.6 are £12.99 each from fatbirds at the moment. I've got them on my mtb and find them good both on and off-road.

[mercalia]

I dont find ordinary Marathons slow - dont know about the latest green ones with no kevlar

[Merry_Wanderer]

I've been using Continental Sport Contact 26 x 1.6 for Audax rides. I have found them about 1 mph faster than ordinary Marathons and give much more comfort

[Brucey]

I dont find ordinary Marathons slow - dont know about the latest green ones with no kevlar

The greenguard ones are meant to be better-rolling than the older Kevlar ones. Both are pretty good for a puncture resistant tyre but in absolute terms they are not a fast tyre at all IMHO.

cheers

[reohn2]

Vittoria Randonneur Pros share the same supple 120tpi carcass as Hypers,but with a tread thickness of 4.5mm approx compared with 3.2mm approx for Hypers.
The Rando Pros are quick,comfortable and robust,I don't think you'll be disappointed:-
http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVTRNDP/v ... lding-tyre
At £15 a pop they won't break the bank either

[Freddie]

Is there something in manufacturers minds that make them more likely to make their 26" road tyres quite overbuilt by comparison with comparable 700c tyres. Perhaps something along the lines that more mountain bikers will use them, so they expect their tyres to be more rugged (and the manufacturers expect them more likely to be banged up and down kerbs). Maybe the call for fast 26" slicks is minuscule as compared to that for more rugged ones...

[Brucey]

these tests

http://www.fietsersbond.nl/de-fiets/onderdelen/banden/testresultaten-bandentest#.

show quite well how some of the aspects of tyre performance vary with construction and tyre pressure.

For example the comfort (as measured by an accelerometer whilst riding on cobbles) of a Vittoria Hyper at 5 bar was about the same as an M+ at 4 bar.

In other test reports
eg
https://www.fietsersbond.nl/sites/default/files/test_schwalbe.pdf

the Marathon greenguard tyre required ~125% of the effort of a VH at the same pressure,
the Marathon plus (GG) tyre required ~145% vs the VH
and in addition the effort varies strongly with pressure too, i.e. dropping 1 bar from around 4-5bar will increase resistance by ~20% (whereas increasing it does not result in a comparable decrease)

So if you set a marathon plus tyre at 4 bar you will get similar comfort to a VH at 5bar but the rolling resistance effort required will be ~ 1.45 x 1.2 = 1.74 times more than with the VH tyre.

If you think this sounds like a LOT then that is because it is....

cheers

[fast but dim]

Randonneur pros it is then.

[mercalia]

well I had a look at that chart( for non 26"?) and apart from the hyper, Marathons come out pretty good? Any way can you get the hyper in 26", the googles I looked at so far seem only 700C? if so it dont really matter for the bike in question.

hmm the basic Vittoria Randonneur is 35.5 watts to the marathon 25 watts? not so hot?

[reohn2]

well I had a look at that chart( for non 26"?) and apart from the hyper, Marathons come out pretty good? Any way can you get the hyper in 26", the googles I looked at so far seem only 700C? if so it dont really matter for the bike in question.

hmm the basic Vittoria Randonneur is 35.5 watts to the marathon 25 watts? not so hot?

Yeah,the basic Randonneur is a different animal to the Pro,TPI count is lowww @ 30TPI compared to 120TPi of the Randonneur Pro and Voyager Hyper.The latter makes for a fast rolling and very supple comfortable tyre .
It seems the only reason they've got the same name is due to the same tread pattern

[Brucey]

well I had a look at that chart( for non 26"?) and apart from the hyper, Marathons come out pretty good? Any way can you get the hyper in 26", the googles I looked at so far seem only 700C? if so it dont really matter for the bike in question.

hmm the basic Vittoria Randonneur is 35.5 watts to the marathon 25 watts? not so hot?

Randonneur pros it is then.

I agree the RP looks like a good choice, but.... when it is new that thick tread will squirm around and make the tyre pretty draggy by comparison with the hyper with its thinner tread. The standard Randonneur has a double whammy of a much cheaper carcass and a thick, squirmy tread.

Even though it has a slick tread, the Kojak didn't do that well in the tests, which is a bit weird. The marathon and M+ tyres have a thicker tread, but I guess more of it is made up of the protection rubber, which is both harder and more elastic...

BTW many tyres improve with age, Crr-wise; the tread wears thinner, the carcass 'runs in' and becomes more supple, and the tread rubber tends to go harder over time. Very often tyres that are just about knackered roll really well, and new ones (even of the same type) are noticably more draggy.

cheers

[reohn2]

The word 'squirm' to me says moving around,unable to keep a straight line,sliding out on corners,bad road holding,untrustworthy,that sort of thing.
In that context RP's aren't and I can't say I've noticed anything like it.

They're not as comfy,or as fast as Hypers,IMO that is down to the thicker tread,but they're not miles apart like Marathons are compared to Hypers