26" Slicks?

Thargor

I have a bog standard old Raleigh MTB that I use as a junk bike around town but I'm doing a lot of mileage on it this weather and was wondering what the options are for cheap slicks, how thin can you go in the 26" range? Or are you stuck using the regular 26" MTB tyres?

magicbastarder

i have a pair of 1.25" slicks for my MTB when using it on-road. they're old, not sure if the model is still available, but i think they're specialised fat boys.

smacl

Shchwalbe City Jets have worked well for me in the past in this role.

rubadub

Slicks made a big difference on my MTB, can't remember which I got but I was looking at these ones

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/schwalbe-kojak-slick-tyre-raceguard/rp-prod24794

Alek

I have 25mm 26" tyres to give away. Specialised is the brand, not sure of model, plenty of life left.

rollingscone

Alek wrote: »

I have 25mm 26" tyres to give away. Specialised is the brand, not sure of model, plenty of life left.

Not the ones you already gave me?

Alek

Not the ones you already gave me?

WHhaaaa? Really ? :eek:

I need to have my head checked if that's so.

2 Wheels Good

Haven't purchased in a few years, but have used similar to these Schwalbes found them great for rougher roads.

Thargor

Thanks for all those, so basically any tyre I can find should work as long as its 26"? I thought there would be a minimum width, what about tubes?

rubadub

Thargor wrote: »

Thanks for all those, so basically any tyre I can find should work as long as its 26"? I thought there would be a minimum width, what about tubes?

You can look up your own wheel rim spec and it might have recommended min/max sizes. My current bike had narrow enough looking rims so I was sure it could take narrow tyres. But surprisingly I saw it had a fairly high lower limit. It might have been grand with something a little less but I got the bigger one. I ended up happy with my purchase, the larger size is also effectively a large wheel size, and potholes etc are not a bother to it.

Your tubes will similarly have a range to them, I like to go towards the higher side, knowingly they are not needlessly expanded to fit the large tyre.

Zen0

According to Sheldon Brown, the oracle for all such matters:

A general guideline is that the tire width should be between 1.45/2.0 x the inner rim width.

NBar

magicbastarder wrote: »

i have a pair of 1.25" slicks for my MTB when using it on-road. they're old, not sure if the model is still available, but i think they're specialised fat boys.

can still get them on my third set and find the best out there for puncture protection, i've used them on a Schwinn i got from the usa back in the 90's

NBar

https://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Fatboy-Tyre-26-x-125/LAK

cdaly_

Thargor wrote: »

Thanks for all those, so basically any tyre I can find should work as long as its 26"? I thought there would be a minimum width, what about tubes?

Don't bother with narrow tyres, just use slicks as wide as your current tyres. More comfortable, no slower than narrow.

Alek

Well, 60mm slicks would be rather less than optimal, but anything baldish and light (supple sidewalls) between 38-45mm will be just perfect for the road. Schwalbe Big Ben / Big Apple or the like will give you nice speed and plenty of comfort.

barrymanilow

Had 26 x 1.95 knobbly tyres on the bike , got schwalbe city jets 26 x 1.5 , think it was sjs cycles , Bike is way nicer to cycle on the road now , big difference

Thargor

Saw these on clearance on CRC so grabbed a pair:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/michelin-wild-run-r-slick-mtb-tyre/rp-prod48134

Feck knows what the bikes going to look like with them on but its not exactly an Image of Beauty right now...

Thargor

Thargor wrote: »

Saw these on clearance on CRC so grabbed a pair:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/ie/en/michelin-wild-run-r-slick-mtb-tyre/rp-prod48134

Feck knows what the bikes going to look like with them on but its not exactly an Image of Beauty right now...

Pretty happy with how this turned out, the rolling resistance has dropped away to nothing, whole sections of my daily route barely require pedalling now. I feel like if I had a couple of higher gears Id be doing roadbike speeds around the place on an ancient junk bike, its actually kind of frustrating the way it feels like there should be just one more gear.

Type 17

Thargor wrote: »

...I feel like if I had a couple of higher gears Id be doing roadbike speeds around the place on an ancient junk bike, its actually kind of frustrating the way it feels like there should be just one more gear.

The 1.4 tyres mean that the wheels' circumference is a lot smaller than the original tyres, so your gearing has gone down a bit.
If it bothers you enough, you can change the front MTB chainset (typically 42 or 44 tooth biggest chainring) for a hybrid one (typically 48 tooth biggest chainring) - note that your front derailleur might also need to be changed, but you might be lucky and just have to raise it up the seat tube of the frame.

I also have this problem, as I have 1.0 tyres on my classic MTB, but I'm happy to spin out in top gear, as it's a high-end bike with a Mavic Paris-Dakar chainset, so I won't be changing anything.