Tyre advice

[Nebulous]

Looking to replace the stock Kenda K481 (27.5 x 1.95") tyres on a Carerra Subway 2.
Mostly road but also use on gravel so would like wider, say 2.25".
Sensibly priced suggestions please, i.e. less than £15 each.
Anyone have experience of the Schwalbe Impac range?

[peetee]

Although Impac tyres appear to be identical tread pattern to some current or discontinued Schwalbe tyres some (maybe all) of them have soft compound rubber so won’t cover the sort of mileage you would get from a Schwalbe. I did sell quite a few over the last couple of years but never saw nor had one returned through failure of the carcass or cracking of the rubber - which is more than I can say for Schwalbe.

[Nebulous]

I've had numerous problems with Mondial and Marathon XR tyres. To my mind, both these models are not really fit for advertised purpose. The treads are durable* but the sidewalls are far too flimsy.
*Hardwearing but inflexible, so unless you want to be rattled to death on rough roads, it's necessary to run lower pressures, not stupidly low but even at the bottom end of manufacturer's specs. That causes diagonal wear patterns and cracking on the thin sidewalls, followed quickly by failure.
Furthermore the squarish (not rounded) profile wears in the centre, leaving the edge tread relatively untouched. That's great 'fun' in transitioning from an upright to a banked stance.

I discarded six Marathon or Mondial tyres because of sidewall issues whilst they all had good, useable tread life remaining.

The Impac range is their budget tyre, so I expect compromises. At less than £10 each I'd be quite happy with 4000 miles.

[niggle]

Slightly over budget but bomb proof, grippy enough for gravel and roll well on tarmac:

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/sch ... prod143783

[The utility cyclist]

You can get 2.1 CST 'jack Rabbit's' for £13 posted for a pair and get a free multi tool
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mountain-bik ... SwltVeHDvO
No idea what they're like but jeez they're cheap. Kenda's in 2.1 can also be had for £15/pair posted.

IMO less than a tenner a tyre doesn't usually get you much cop quality wise.

Why If you're mostly on road and only riding gravel do you need a wider tyre?

[Nebulous]

Jan 2020, 1:29am

2.1 CST 'jack Rabbit's' for £13 posted

Thx for this info. Purchased a set

Why If you're mostly on road and only riding gravel do you need a wider tyre?

I like wider tyres.

[niggle]

Well I wouldn't like those Jack Rabbits to use on 'Mostly road but also use on gravel', that tread pattern will be quite annoyingly noisy and slow on tarmac IMO

Also I had some CST knobblies on an MTB a quite few years ago and they had zero puncture resistance, constantly picking up thorns, swapped them for Schwalbe Land Cruisers and never had another puncture, as well as them being much quieter and quicker on tarmac.

£15.04 each here: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/27-5-Bike-Ty ... SwE3peD~n0

[peetee]

Re the land cruisers and original post, Impac do a tyre with an identical tread pattern.

[RickH]

Re the land cruisers and original post, Impac do a tyre with an identical tread pattern.

I think Impac is Schwalbe's budget brand so not surprising if the same treads crop up.

[Nebulous]

At £13 a pair they're definitely worth a try. And so I've bought a pair. Fingers crossed.

I'm not concerned with potential road noise nor speed.

IMO The latter is not really relevant to other than racer types. In fact the possible 'extra drag' is a bonus for me - more energy expenditure for a given time or distance. I also purposefully choose to not focus on weight - or lack thereof.

[peetee]

At £13 a pair they're definitely worth a try

.

Yes indeed. I refer you to my original answer to your question.

[niggle]

Re the land cruisers and original post, Impac do a tyre with an identical tread pattern.

Yes but I cannot find them in 27.5"

[Cowsham]

Re the land cruisers and original post, Impac do a tyre with an identical tread pattern.

I've just bought a pair for the lads 26" mtb cos I thought the same but they're not exactly the same tread pattern -- that centre pattern is a lot thinner so it probably won't roll as well as the Schwalbes cos it's not got as much area to roll on so will compress more onto the nobbley side bits. I'm going to find out if I can send them back since I haven't fitted them yet.

[peetee]

Re the land cruisers and original post, Impac do a tyre with an identical tread pattern.

I've just bought a pair for the lads 26" mtb cos I thought the same but they're not exactly the same tread pattern -- that centre pattern is a lot thinner so it probably won't roll as well as the Schwalbes cos it's not got as much area to roll on so will compress more onto the nobbley side bits. I'm going to find out if I can send them back since I haven't fitted them yet.

Interesting. Perhaps they have been updated in the intervening time. It’s highly likely to be a Schwalbe mould, possibly a previous incarnation of the Land Cruiser, as Schwalbe own Impac.

[Chris56]

Sorry to hijack the thread but im in a similar situation. I have a Diamond Back M05 with Kenda Tyres that are terrible on the road (chunky tread blocks, slow and noisy). It most gets used for family rides that typically invve 50% road and 50% off road. The off-road use is not that demanding: bridal ways, forest paths, gravel and uneven farm tracks.

I have considered selling it and buying a hybrid, but am wondering whether a simple change of rubber would do the trick. Would these tyres be suiable for my needs?