Tyre choice

[greenamex2]

Hi

Any opinions on tyre choice for the following commute -

4 miles of tow path (so compacted gravel with a bit of mud)
4 miles of national cycle route (reclaimed disused train line so more compacted gravel and even more mud)
4 miles of tarmacked road

I will be commuting all year round/all weathers but looking to cover the next 6 months or so.

Priorities are -

No punctures
Speed

Thanks in advance

[Roadster]

Wheel diameter? Tyre width?
My tyre of choice for that sort of mixed terrain is the Vittoria Randonneur Pro (folding).

[greenamex2]

Would help!

700 diameter

Then bike is a Cyclocross so can go pretty wide...comes with 32 as standard.

Thanks

[bikerwaser]

This is by far the best tyre you could go for :

despite it's off road look , it's amazingly good rolling on the road and mega light for what it offers (shame they stopped making them and went to a heavier version of it ) :

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s142p271 ... on-Extreme

this would be the 2nd choice but it's a lot heavier :

http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s142p270 ... dial-Wired

[UpWrong]

Marathon greenguard 35C would be my choice. Not fast but has the tread and puncture resistance to be safe and reliable.

[Mattyfez]

One of these with a slime tube? Really light weight.

http://www.tredz.co.uk/.Schwalbe-Racing-Ralph-Performance-Folding-Off-Road-MTB-Tyre_63843.htm?sku=187914&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=google_shopping&gclid=CjwKEAjwjqO_BRDribyJpc_mzHgSJABdnsFWIw1twOiS4GO8-MJTrtfwFZUWeCg3aaKjyR-evW9lThoCrP7w_wcB

[freeflow]

Schwalbe landcruiser

[Vorpal]

I might go with something like Vittoria Voyager Hyper, Vittoria Randonneur, or Continental Tour. They are all comfortable tyres that will take the surfaces described and not sacrifice much in the way of rolling resistance on the road.

When there's a risk of freezing weather, a winter tyre (non studded) like the Conti Top Contact is a better choice.

[brumster]

Hi

Any opinions on tyre choice for the following commute -

4 miles of tow path (so compacted gravel with a bit of mud)
4 miles of national cycle route (reclaimed disused train line so more compacted gravel and even more mud)
4 miles of tarmacked road

I will be commuting all year round/all weathers but looking to cover the next 6 months or so.

Priorities are -

No punctures
Speed

Thanks in advance

Given that 8 miles of your 12 mile commute are on slightly rough / muddy surfaces ( How muddy?) I'd want a tyre with a bit of tread... Schwalbe Marathon Duremes or Landcruiser for example. If mud is an issue some of the "faster" slicker tyres mentioned above may make your commute time slower !

[531colin]

I am in the habit of going off-road on a touring bike.
My tyre of choice for this is schwalbe marathon, these days you have to buy the "greenguard" version, which is heavier but more puncture resistant.
On mud or even wet grass, the difference between a tyre with proper tread and a tyre with just a hint of tread is staggering....marathon "racer" http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s142p1549/SCHWALBE-Marathon-Racer-folding has a few millimeters less tread than regular marathon, but they will "let go" without warning on either mud or wet grass.
Most of your commute is off-road, 4 miles of road will take you 15 or 20 minutes tops. If you expect mud for more than a few yards at a time, then I would go for a tyre which can handle mud. My choice of marathons is for a bike which does probably half its mileage on road....if I was commuting 8 miles on muddy tracks, I would probably go for a tyre with more tread, like those linked above.......I would also question doing it in the dark?
Conti winters are good on slimy tarmac, but I think the tread is too "fine" for mud, and will get clogged up....i haven't given this a good test. They also come up really small, my 700's measure about 32mm, but i think they are supposed to be 37mm.
I always used 37mm (700) marathons for rough stuff, I recently went up to 47mm because I'm hitting too much big stuff.....at 11 stone i run these at 30psi front and 40 rear. ..any harder and i lose the benefit of bigger volume.
"Puncture resistance" and on-road "speed" are probably opposing requirements.

[UpWrong]

+1 on what colin says. I have used Racers and Supremes quite a lot but would want more tread when most of the ride is not on metalled roads. Std Marathons (now Greenguard) seem about right.

[greenamex2]

Thanks everybody.

I think I will stick some slime tubes in the tyres the bike came with (Bontrager CX3) and do some runs to see just how muddy it gets. That way I can make a more informed decision.

I suspect the answer is going to be "VERY" and I will have to sacrifice road speed!

Got to say I was impressed by the Marathon Pluses I stuck on my MTB for the first trial run. Gained 1.5MPH on the flat. Just a shame they are so heavy! The normal Marathons certainly look like a reasonable compromise.

[531colin]

Slime tubes don't exactly speed you up!
I found I needed to take the valves out and wash them to get them working so I could top up the tyres.....I gave up on slime in the end, just carry a couple of spare tubes.

[Vorpal]

Maybe some semi-slicks, like Continental Travel Contact? They have limited tread in the middle, so the rolling resistance is good, but they have heavier tread on the sides, so you have enough tread for mud (not deep mud, but the mud typical of off-raod facilities is fine), and they have good puncture resistance. Those are the tyres that live on my mountain bike most of the time.

[greenamex2]

Slime tubes don't exactly speed you up!
I found I needed to take the valves out and wash them to get them working so I could top up the tyres.....I gave up on slime in the end, just carry a couple of spare tubes.

They are a temporary solution until I decide what way to go.

Gotta say I was quite shocked how heavy they were when I fitted them. I replaced normal tubes and dual purpose MTB tyres with slime tubes AND Marathon PLUSes, and managed to add about 1.5Kg to the MTB's weight...INCLUDING rotational mass!

With the benefit of hindsight/research that was probably overkill!