Touring tire recommendations

[mornview]

I know this isn't a normal topic for this site, but I just want to ask here anyways because I hold the recommendations I get here in much higher regard than other bike forums out there. Besides, I'll get responses from people who are of a more similar mindest to me - I'm not planning on going out in spandex riding carbon fiber; I just happen to like taking my cruisers out for 100 mile bike rides.

In any case, my wife and I have been using our old lightweights for touring thus far, with the 26 x 1 3/8 wheels (ISO 590). I have recently come across a pair of frames that would be more suitable for touring (lighter, stronger, etc.), which take the standard 26" tires (ISO 559). Of course, now I have a TON of options. Almost too many, to be honest, so I'm seeing if anyone here can give me a recommendation.

These tires will be going on Sun MTX-33's and Sun Rhyno Lites. We're pretty much exclusively taking them on country roads, paved trails, and crushed limestone trails. I honestly don't know how much tire width truly affects speed, but I'm thinking some 26 x 1.5 tires would approximate the feel of the 26 x 1 3/8's we've been using. I'm not sure I'd want to go any narrower than 1.5; I'm not sure the rims would properly hold anything narrower anyways. One last thing - it'd be a huge plus if the tire were particularily easy to mount/dismount. I've had a helluva time getting some Kendas on and off of Sun rims, yet Schwalbes present no trouble whatsoever. Then again, if the tire has proper flat protection, I shouldn't need to worry about taking it off anyways .

Thanks!

 

[mornview]

Oh, I forgot to mention - both of these frames have the clearance for fat (balloon) tires. I'm simply mentioning that because I've heard Schwalbe's Fat Franks roll NICE, even though I'd have to imagine the extra weight and resistance added by such a wide tire wouldn't be ideal for touring.

 

[Bicycle808]

Schwalbe Marathons.... there are the basic, plain jane Marathons which are tough, come in a zillion sizes (including 590), and affordable, plus various other Marathon variants at different price points, with slight variations in terms of missions and attributes. I like the Marathon Plus b/c i've never suffered a puncture on one, but get whatever your favorite is.

 

[Bicycle808]

PS- I find that 26x1.75" is a nice compromise in terms of plush vs fast, and helps keep the geo close to original...

 

[user 135]

Fat is not always bad when the tire in constructed well with supple sidewalls. I have ridden both the Schwable Big Apple(2.35) and Big Ben(2.15) on 100+ mile trips on pavement and gravel. Both ride well and ride skinnier than they look.

 

[mornview]

Schwalbe Marathons.... there are the basic, plain jane Marathons which are tough, come in a zillion sizes (including 590), and affordable, plus various other Marathon variants at different price points, with slight variations in terms of missions and attributes. I like the Marathon Plus b/c i've never suffered a puncture on one, but get whatever your favorite is.

Yup, I was leaning towards the Marathons prior to making this thread. I love my studded Marathons in the winter; even with the studs they still roll faster than most of my stud-less tires.

I just had to at least see if anyone would vouch for any of the competition ... I see Continental, Michelin, etc. all make touring-specific tires, but I don't have any experience with any of those companies. Schwalbe pretty much delivers every time.

I also noticed the Schwalbe Spicer, which comes in a pretty awesome assortment of colors, and in the ISO 559 sizing. Assuming they eventually get it back in stock, I might have to grab a set in brown; those things look gorgeous.

 

[mornview]

Fat is not always bad when the tire in constructed well with supple sidewalls. I have ridden both the Schwable Big Apple(2.35) and Big Ben(2.15) on 100+ mile trips on pavement and gravel. Both ride well and ride skinnier than they look.

Thanks; I'm glad to know someone has done it successfully. Given that we're doing these rides on single speed cruisers (well, probably 3-speed cruisers come next spring, but that's a moot point), we're not going all that fast in the first place, but I'm not trying to lose speed due to poor tire choice either .

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Passellas are nice too. Have fun gravel grinding.

 

[Bicycle808]

Yup, I was leaning towards the Marathons prior to making this thread. I love my studded Marathons in the winter; even with the studs they still roll faster than most of my stud-less tires.

I just had to at least see if anyone would vouch for any of the competition ... I see Continental, Michelin, etc. all make touring-specific tires, but I don't have any experience with any of those companies. Schwalbe pretty much delivers every time.

I also noticed the Schwalbe Spicer, which comes in a pretty awesome assortment of colors, and in the ISO 559 sizing. Assuming they eventually get it back in stock, I might have to grab a set in brown; those things look gorgeous.

I've been running some cream 700x30c Spicers on my Super Sport; so far, so good.

My experience with Continentals has always been that the bead fits very tightly on the rim, to the point that they can be real knuckle-busters to install or to change flats. High quality runner, though. I ran some Michelin mtb tires a verrrrrry long time ago, and they were so prone to punctures, I've never tried another set of Michelins in my life. But, i know plenty of folks who swear by them, so maybe i just got a bum set and it was a fluke.

 

[jerrykr]

I would not want to face changing a Continental out on the trail. Great tires, but tight as all get out.
I know this does not address your question, but for the type of riding that you describe, if you ever rode a hybred with some nice gears and 700 38s you would never want to go back to 26s. JMHO.

 

[horsefarmer]

I've been running these on my Schwinn Cruiser Four.

Kenda K838 Slick Wire Bead Bicycle Tire, Blackwall, 26-Inch x 1.95-Inch.

They ride nice and some of the country roads around here are pretty busted up blacktop and I have not had a problem in about 150 mi so far.
I also like the motorcycle style tread...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002DX1DWG/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

 

[mornview]

Schwalbe Marathons.... there are the basic, plain jane Marathons which are tough, come in a zillion sizes (including 590), and affordable, plus various other Marathon variants at different price points, with slight variations in terms of missions and attributes. I like the Marathon Plus b/c i've never suffered a puncture on one, but get whatever your favorite is.

Any thoughts on how easy/difficult it is to get the Marathons on/off a rim? I'm reading reviews online that say they're a beast. I'm sure you're running them mostly on Sun rims (like myself), which have proven to be challenging with quite a few tires from my experience.

My only experience with Marathons so far has been their studded tires. Do you have any experience with these tires? If so, how do the touring tires compare in terms of ease in mounting/dismounting?

 

[mornview]

I would not want to face changing a Continental out on the trail. Great tires, but tight as all get out.
I know this does not address your question, but for the type of riding that you describe, if you ever rode a hybred with some nice gears and 700 38s you would never want to go back to 26s. JMHO.

That's all I need to hear to not bother with the Conti's.

And yeah, to be perfectly honest, I'm not really looking forward to (imo) "downgrading" from 26 x 1 3/8 to 26" for touring bikes. It just so happens that these bikes are also our winter bike frames, and would simply require swapping a few components out to be ideal touring rigs. And ideally we want as few bikes as possible - space is one thing we don't have. Otherwise we'd have a seperate bike for every occassion under the sun .

In any case, we're at least gonna give touring on 26" wheel a chance. Worst case scenario we'll go back to our 26 x 1 3/8 rigs. I haven't enjoyed the few 700c bikes I've ridden, but I have a feeling I just haven't found the right one yet.

 

[jerrykr]

Just a hint that might help mounting tires. The auto tire shops lube the tires with soap. I had a time getting my 4 inch fat tires on the rims. A quick spray of wd-40 and they almost jumped on.

 

[mornview]

I've been running these on my Schwinn Cruiser Four.

Kenda K838 Slick Wire Bead Bicycle Tire, Blackwall, 26-Inch x 1.95-Inch.

They ride nice and some of the country roads around here are pretty busted up blacktop and I have not had a problem in about 150 mi so far.
I also like the motorcycle style tread...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B002DX1DWG/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

I actually like Kedas a lot; they are great tires for the money. But after trying out some Schwalbes ... it's hard to go back, man . Granted, I know Kenda does make some more expensive/higher end tires; I haven't checked any of them out.

 

[mornview]

Just a hint that might help mounting tires. The auto tire shops lube the tires with soap. I had a time getting my 4 inch fat tires on the rims. A quick spray of wd-40 and they almost jumped on.

Thanks for the tip; I've heard of using baby powder too. That said, even the worst tire install doesn't bother me that much. It's getting a tough tire off that brings out the cursing/bloody knuckles/etc.

 

[Bicycle808]

Any thoughts on how easy/difficult it is to get the Marathons on/off a rim? I'm reading reviews online that say they're a beast. I'm sure you're running them mostly on Sun rims (like myself), which have proven to be challenging with quite a few tires from my experience.

My only experience with Marathons so far has been their studded tires. Do you have any experience with these tires? If so, how do the touring tires compare in terms of ease in mounting/dismounting?

I have never had any problems removing/installing any Schwalbes, in terms of a tight fit. Maybe about ten years ago, there were some bad runs of many Schwalbe tires, including Marathons, where the wire bead easily became separated from the tire's casing, which SUCKED and really hurt the company's reputation for a minute. These days, those issues seem to be entirely a thing of the past (knock on wood). TBH, i've never had any significant problems with Sun rims, either.... unless i'm messing with a Conti or a Vittoria tire.

I don't have any experience with studded Marathons, so i cannot comment. I imagine that the bead itself isn't going to vary much between tires of the same bead diameter (eg 559) and the same manufacturer (eg, Schwalbe). But, that's just my guess.

I want to agree that soap is great for mounting and removing recalcitrant tires. I also use baby powder between the tube and the casing to keep the tube from sticking to the actual tire; this seems to prevent pinch flats, but it may well be superstition.

Ppl make a lot of fuss about wheel sizes, but if you know what you're doing with gear ratios, the different sizes will mostly impact the bike's geometry and the rider's access to different rubber. I love running 26" wheels on 80s MTBs b/c i like hw thos fit and handle, plus i love that they can clear 2.25" rubber, and that i can find cheap tubes and tires at any/every shop that sells cycling equipment. Plus, aesthetically, i think a bike with a horizontal top tube, drop bars, and fat rubber on 559s just looks dope. I also have some 700c bikes, and those are great too. I love 590s, but getting replacement tubes and tires is a bit of a pain with those....

 

[user 135]

26" is a great size because of the options and the ability to get replacement tubes and rubber anywhere. I still advocate a wide tire on a single speed or multigear bike especially if you will be riding on non-paved surfaces. The rolling resistance is less on wider tires and a more comfortable ride due to the lower psi.

http://www.schwalbe.com/en/balloonbikes.html

Balloonbike tires have a different shape contact area to a narrow tire, so less energy is lost and is thus completely opposite to what is popularly assumed: Balloonbike tires are wide, but nevertheless roll more easily than narrow, standard tires.

A 60mm wide Balloonbike inflated to 2 bar rolls really easily and with a full suspension effect. Normal city or trekking bikes with 37mm standard tires need to be inflated to a hard 4 bar to achieve this rolling efficiency.

At the same pressure the BIG APPLE rolls around 10 Watts lower, while the comfort of the BIG APPLE at 2 bar produces the same rolling resistance as a standard tire at 4 bar.

 

[jerrykr]

bicycle808 - I totally agree about using powder on tubes. It makes everything easier to install them, and line up the valve stem. I'm sure that you have removed many tubes that were stuck inside the tire. That can't be good. If you read the install instructions on the tube box, it usually advises using powder. I have read and enjoyed the book:

Bike Mechanic Tales from the Road and the Workshop

One of the many tips from his years of wrenching for the tour riders is to use powder. I'm convinced.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Talc inside the tire reduces flats too, by allowing the tire and tube to move independently of each other.


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