I would like to swap my current mountain bike tires for some nice street tires, but I have no idea where to start. I did google, but I couldn’t find anything this basic (tons of advanced help, but very few maintenance for beginners FAQs).
Just a note… I’m not looking for quality here. My bike is not expensive so I don’t want to spend a ton of money putting nice tires on a crap bike. I would also like to do this myself, preferably with parts from a Walmart/Canadian Tire type place. I just want to be able to ride on paved paths and not feel like I’m pedalling a tank.
I’ll throw out some questions that I think I need the answers to, but if you have more advice please feel free to contribute.
Do I need new rims, or can I keep the ones that came with my stock tire?
Do I need a new tube?
How do I determine what size street tire I need? Will it be the same size as my current tires? How does the width of the rim play into the measurements?
That’s it for now. As you can see, I’m a total bike newb but you gotta start somewhere :). Thanks all.
My “mountain bike” was sold as a comfort model. It has a off-road/on-road hybrid tire on it. The center is basically smooth & the knobbies are off to the side. It feels nice & fast on paved surfaces. The knobbies on the side don’t touch down except in extreme turns or on a soft surface.
I bought similar tires for my wife’s bike from Wal-mart. Look at the tire’s you want to replace, they’ll have the wheel diameter on it (probably 26"). Measure across the rim to get the rim size (usually 1.25" or so). Then just go out and buy a tire with the correct diameter & rim size. For racing/street bikes, they’re usually pretty specific. For the more balloon-like tires, I’ve seen them sold with a range, ie: 26" tire for rims 1.25 to 1.75 inches.
Look for a tire with a high pressure rating - they feel “faster” on smooth surfaces. 60-75 lbs is probably OK.
I usually plan to replace the tube - it’s so easy to puncture one getting a tire on & off that I just put in a new one. They’re cheap. Keep the rims.
Head down to your local bike shop and pick up some Conti Top Touring tires. They come in Mtn Bike sizes and widths to your choice. A pretty simple swap actually. I like the TT as they have a nice reverse tread and I feel they are a bit more durable than the slicks you can get.
The tyre width will be moulded onto the sidewalls.
You may need new tubes if your old tyres are wide, anything above 2inch and I’d say change them.
If you are ok with changing tubes then you can get away with tubes that are too big but you have to be careful not to trap them between the rim and the new tyre.
You can get fairly wide street tyres and this would solve your problems without new tubes.
Street tyres, like cross country tyres, have two measurements to be interested in, the width and the wheel radius.(narrow tyres also tend to have a lower profile too which makes the total outside diameter of the wheel+tyre less and is effectively a lower gear)
The wheel radius will be the same for both, but the width can vary depending upon your requirements.
The narrrower the tyre, the less effort it takes to overcome the natural resistance to rolling.
The narrower the tyre, the harder it is to get it on the rim, on very wide tyres such as 2.5 inch you don’t even need tyre levers to put them on, you can do it with by just pushing them over the rim edge.
I have seen road tyres as wide as 1.75 inch but it really depends upon personal preferance such as if you will only ride on made surfaces or maybe have the occasional run on easy dry tracks.
If you only intend to stick on made surafces than go for as narrow a tyre as you can, but remember the ride will not be quite as comfortable.
I could go on about how tyre width affects handling etc but this would be OTT.
Before I bought a road bike I had a mountain bike that I kept a spare set of road tires for. So BTDT
Here is what you will need.
A pair of 26" tires that are the width and tread that you want. I just did a quick look at Bike Nashbar and found These and others.
You will need new tubes. Your Mountain bike tubes are too fat for skinny road tires. Bike tubes come with one of two stem types Shrader and Presta. Shrader is just like the stem on a car tire, Presta is smaller in diameter, and you have to unscrew the stem before you can put air in the tire. My bike had Presta rims, and I had no problem finding tubes to fit. Later I went to transfer these tires to a friends bike (shrader), and could not find 26X1.10 tubes anywhere. What we wound up doing was we found a set of adaptor sleeves that allowed the use of the correct size Presta tubes on a shrader wheel. A good bike shop should should be able to hook you up.
Oh and before you ask, the skinnier the tire, the less rolling resistance.
I second the Nashbar suggestion, and would add Performance. Both of these mail-order/catalog shops often have tire sales, and their house brands are reasonably priced. I think you should be okay without replacing the inner tubes. I would not recommend Continental (Conti’s) tires unless you can find them on sale. My recollection is that they are pretty pricey.
It’s been a while since I have had time to ride much. When I looked, bike shops sold name-brand slicks for $30-$40 each, while Wal-Mart carried a Chinese brand named Cheng Shin for $7 each: the size is 26"x1.5", pressure is 40-65 PSI, they fit on normal MTB rims & tubes and oh yes, inflate those puppies to 65 PSI. I weighed 230+ lbs and never had any problems with the cheap Chinese tires.
~
I’m registered for Ride the Rockies this year. On their site, they discussed this very topic - what kind of tires do you want on a mountain bike for long rides on paved roads. They recommended the Ritchey Tom Slick, which weighs 42 grams, and can be pumped up to 100 PSI. Colorado Cyclist has them on their web site for $16.99 .
TOM SLICK! Yes! that is the tires I had on my mountain bike when I did road rides. When I posted before I could not for the life of me recall the name.
The Ride the Rockies looks like a great ride, how much vertical is there going to be?
That sounds a bit misleading. The number on the tire represent tire width, not rim width. Rims are sometimes marked by appropriate tire size as well - a 26x1.5 rim is not a 1.5" wide rim, but a rim suitable for a 1.5" wide tire. I would use it for any tire between 1.25" and 1.75" but hesitate to put anything narrower or wider. Sheldon Brown’s tire sizing page has a table near the bottom about rim vs. tire width. I found this to be too conservative, but it’s still a good guideline.
Personally, I think you’re better off taking your bike to a local shop and asking for a tire that fits. It’ll cost you a bit more than mail order but the extra service and convenience (i.e. the ability to yell at them if directly if they sell you a wrong one) is well worth the extra cost.
I ride one of the last XO model Bridgestones sold in the US. I have used the Tom Slick tires on roads over the past 13 years. They hold the road just fine and are very quiet. I woudn’t think of any other road tire to consider.
[Hijack] For the cadilac of all rides with mountain bike stability and posture, you can also push the hybrid idea into the very frame of the bike. I’ve adored both of my Trek7700’s . 2001 and 2002 models respectively. (The only reason I had to get the 2002 was that my 2001 was stolen ) This year’s model looks delicious as well.
[End Hijack]
Hrmm. Great advice all around. My mountain bike tires are 26x1.95 so I went and bought some 26x1.95 tires from a dept store that look a look a lot smoother.
I’m still a little confused about rim size (would a 1.75 tire fit my rim?) but there has been great links here so I can read up on my own.
I’m planning on just tooling around on this bike this year, and if I reallly like it then I’ll hit the bike stores and get myself a decent road bike.
Yes, any 26" MTB dia tire will fit on a regular 26" MTB rim. In fact, as time has gone on, MTB rims have gotten narrower, not wider. The point here is that if you are doing much street riding with an MTB, just about any slick tire is a way better choice than just about any knobby tire.
…
Well I sure as heck didn’t get on it and ride off. I’d be lucky to get 100 yards on 20-spoke wheels without them trashing, and I’m way too lazy to carry something that big…
~
)
