|   What slick tires to buy? | bob
Jul 17, 2003 6:28 AM | | I going to throw some slicks on my hardtail and do some spinning with rodie friends (shhh, don't tell anyone). I was going to purchase the Hutchinson topslicks until I read the reviews. Too bad they looked like good tires. Any other recomendations? |
| Never have been able to feel much difference | Cory
Jul 17, 2003 7:24 AM | | I've used a bunch of them, even did a couple of metric centuries on my MB before I broke down and bought a road bike, and I never could feel an appreciable difference between the $9 house brands (Nashbar, Performance) and $35 big-name tires. They're all so much better on the road than knobbies that the individual differences aren't apparent, at least to me. My personal preference is for something in the 1.25-1.5 range rather than super-skinnies, but I'm pretty much a Clydesdale. |
| Whatever is cheap, like Performance City STs /Tioga CitySlickers | World B. Free
Jul 17, 2003 8:15 AM | | I think Continental makes a 26" Grand Prix, if you really want to blow some cash |
| Don't Bother! | Trevor!
Jul 17, 2003 11:02 AM | | Don't bother buying 1" slicks! They will *literally* kill you when you are out with your roadie friends. Using 1" slicks will mean you will actually end up spinning more than if you were using 2.0 tires. See you loose gearing meaning the system totally sucks. Trust me I have been there and would not bother ever again.
Speaking of options though. I built up a sect of 700c wheels (The same rims as on a road bike) together with disk hubs and put them on my MTB with a Ultegra 11-21 cassette and I tell you it is nearly as good as a road bike. The only reason why it is only nearly as good is because:
* Only have a 46 ring up front meaning I find it a little harder to keep up on all out sprints.
* Positioning on MTB is different to Road bike.
* MTB not as aerodynamic as a roadie.
All up though the 700c setup is super cool. I can go do a 100K ride in the same amount of time that I would do a 40K ride with my MTB tires. Truely the coolest thing really.
Bike looks badass too!
Trevor! |
| re: What slick tires to buy? | zzzzzzzt
Jul 18, 2003 3:57 AM | | Get the Panaracer Pasellas, though they might be a bit hard to find. Best road tire for 26" tires out there. 1.25" but the egg-shape makes the actual contact area even smaller than that. Used this tire on my MTB for about a thousand miles and never had a flat, even though often rode through a lot of broken glass, potholes, etc. It's a good tire, the closest you'll get to a road bike level. Of course you wont be as fast as them, as the gearing isn't optimal, bike weighs a lot more, poor aerodynamics, and such, but the tires do make a huge difference in itself. |
| 2nd the Paselas, and here's a source | Retro
Jul 18, 2003 8:33 AM | | Never used Paselas on my mountain bike, but I've had two sets on a roadie, and they're great all-around pavement tires. You can sometimes find them cheap (about $13 w/wire bead, $20 with kevlar) from Performance/Nashbar. If not, www.rivbike.com has them all the time @ $30. |
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