Cycling UK Forum

My wife has a suspension-less MTB. Eventually, we'll need to replace this with a half-decent tourer or hybrid, but in the meantime I suspect she's working harder than necessary. Her bike's shod with the original 26x1.95 off-road tyres.

Most of our rides are on tarmac or "towpath-like" trails and she doesn't need mud-plugging capability, so I suspect that a less aggressive tyre would work wonders. Any recommendations?

TIA,

Geoff

My tarmac/towpath commuting hack has Schwalbe Marathon Plus semi slicks in 26" X 1.75". Not lightning fast but a lot better than nobblies, handle well & so far are a lot better in the reliability stakes than their predecessors, which were Specialised Nimbus Armadillos. The Armadillos fell apart after 1500 miles & were far from puncture proof, the Schwalbes have been totally reliable so far, (500 miles) with no apparent signs of wear.

Schwalbe Marathons are lighter than the 'plus' so will be easier yet still up to the job. You could bring the tyre down to 1.75 which would be fine or maybee even to 1.5 depending on your towpaths.
I use mine at 55psi and they roll pretty well.
You could buy 1 inch tyres and go two or three mph faster but it wouldnt be very comfortable and more likely to damage your rims on the bad bits.

Thanks for the recommendations.

So Schwalbe Marathons of some sort. Searching the 'net, it seems that Marathons are available in 1.5 or 1.9 sections but not in 1.75. Marathon Plus are a little more expensive but are available in 1.75. So, my choice seems to be between 1.9 Marathon and 1.75 Marathon Plus, but which - and will I need to fit new tubes as well?

To give some idea, last weekend's ride was the Wheal Martyn Trail (one of the Clay Trails) - only ten miles round trip, but lots of hills and spectacular views. The surface there is a fine gravel that's no problem for my 700 x 35-shod hybrid - but my tyres have tread and I'd be a little worried about slicks on that surface (is this justified?) This is about as off-road as we're go these days!

Thanks again,

Geoff

I've been using Continental Travel Contact 26 x 1.75 on my mtb wheels. They have a slick strip in the middle and some smallish lugs on the shoulders. I used to think it would be a nightmare having the tyre characteristics change as you lean into a bend but in practice theyve been fine - perhaps I dont go at it as hard as when I was 16! On loose surfaces I just take it steady and havent had any problems while my 13yr old is doing skid stops on his knobblies.
Oh yes - they are puncture protected, come with free innertubes, usually presta long stem for some reason and can be obtained at a Halfords near you. (Sorry about that!) They're worth a look.