Slick/Skinny Tires On MTB

DaveyDave

My hardtail MTB is currently used for commuting to college every day and evening spins on roads and although the fitted 26x2.00 Hutchinson Pyhtons are low rolling resistance, I'm wondering would a pair of slicker/skinnier tires help?

If anything, it will save my tires for the mountains and stop them getting worn.

I was looking at something like the Continental City Contact or Schwalbe City Jet? They're 26x1.75 and 26x1.5 respectively. Would it be worth getting something like them?

CianRyan

I threw on a set of skinny slicker tyres on my hardtail recently and I've notIced a really good difference.

Can't remember the name of the tyres, I'll let you know tomorrow.

kona

Strongly reccomend the city jets, brilliant tyre, from wear to puncture resistance.

DaveyDave

kona wrote: »

Strongly reccomend the city jets, brilliant tyre, from wear to puncture resistance.

That's good to hear as I've gotten 2 flats in the past 2 weeks with the Pythons due to little bits of glass.

langdang

The City Jets also come in a version with a reflective strip round the side wall, handy for commuting duties. You might need smaller tubes to fit in 1.5 tyres tho?

el Bastardo

City jets are great value, but can be slippery in the wet (Maybe all slicks are?). I replaced mine (after 2000+ KM) with Kojaks 1.3 (which are very fast, but dangerous even on dry corners). Still plenty of wear left in them, but one is full off broken glass (never, not even once, had a puncture).

All said, I didn't notice a world of difference in speed between the city jets and the MTB lightweights they replaced.

smacl

I found the city jets great for speed, but lousy for punctures. Have had three over the last couple of months with only light usage. If you go for them, be sure to bring a spare tube and pump! Next time I'll be going for marathons or similar.

Undercover Elephant

I put Michelin City tyres on mine last winter (1.85). They made an enormous difference, once pumped up to near the max pressure.

They squeal like a stuck pig for the first 20-30km, but after that they corner pretty nicely. You can get them with reflective rims too.

Not too sure about the quality control, though. Only one puncture in 2000km, but when I took the tyre off the rim, I found a weak patch in the side wall. Now that may have been where elephant and toddler hit the road right after the puncture, or it may have been ineptitude in getting the levers underneath it, but still, I'd expect a piece of kit like this to be reasonably idiot proof.

tassajara

Throwing a spanner in the works here, the Hutchinson Pythons probably aren't up to much as a tyre for using off-road. They're a summer xc tyre which will never grip on muddy trails.

A narrower, slick tyre should work quite well for commuting. I'm running some Kenda Kevlar-reinforced tyre in 26 x 1.5 on my commuter and haven't gotten a single puncture in 1000km or so.

Rew

I stuck on Gatorskins, mad looking on an MTB but make a big difference

kona

If your getting punctures with city jets regularly then you are either havin really crap luck, your tyres are worn or your not running enough pressure, mine are at 80 PSI and drop about 10PSI a month so top up every few weeks.

I got 2 years of Everyday use out of this set, around 10 mile per day, admittedly im nursing them along the last few months but Id give em 10/10 , in two years I can count the punctures on one hand, Their grip is sufficient, obviously wet metal is abit ropey.

The tyres are so good you can actually see the holes where glass has gone in and not got through the Protective strip.

If you have 26x2.125 tyres your tubes will fit no bother. Another Big plus is the price, compared to contis and the like they are a bargain.

smacl

kona wrote: »

If your getting punctures with city jets regularly then you are either havin really crap luck, your tyres are worn or your not running enough pressure, mine are at 80 PSI and drop about 10PSI a month so top up every few weeks.

Also running at 80psi and checking regularly, possibly the amount of crap on the roads where I'm commuting.

BostonB

I switched to Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 26x1.6 and there was certainly less drag for commuting. So a definate improvement over the original knobblies. I've had very few punctures with them. People complain they are slippy, but tbh I've not had any other tyre to compare them with. Not really had any slips either, but i'm not going v fast.

kona

smacl wrote: »

Also running at 80psi and checking regularly, possibly the amount of crap on the roads where I'm commuting.

I find that inspecting the glass after, it tends to be a consistant shape that will only penetrate them, square glass not a bother, its the ones that tend to break ass ways, leaving a kind of trianglular spike at a corner that does the puncture.

Having said that I tend to ride quite abit away from the kerb, I notice alot more crap in the first 2 foot of the Cycle lane as opposed to the edge nearest the road.

If your getting puctures on city jets Id imagine your gunna get them with any tyre.

BostonB

The only punctures I've got were from glass shards. They seem to get caught in the tyre then they get punched through if you hit a bump of something.

smacl

kona wrote: »

Having said that I tend to ride quite abit away from the kerb, I notice alot more crap in the first 2 foot of the Cycle lane as opposed to the edge nearest the road.

Yup, its those effing cycle lanes again which are the cause of my troubles. Must make a point of abandoning them and cycle on the roads like every other cyclist. A shame really, but talked to death here already, so I'll leave it at that.

If your getting puctures on city jets Id imagine your gunna get them with any tyre.

I have Schwalbe Marathon Supremes on my other bike that seem far better, but then at three times the price you'd hope they would be.

BostonB

For me its not cycle paths, but just some streets are more prone to glass than others.