These Tires really make your Mountain bike quicker?

[tomtom123]

Anyone has experience with these tires? they really make your speed go up like the reviews say? i got interested in thiese tires from these video. If it can really make my bike quicker in NYC, i'd get it.

1.4 inch Ritchey Slicks
http://www.amazon.com/Ritchey-Tom-Slick-MTB-Tire/product-reviews/B0010VXPVO/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

dude on mountain bike commute
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pReOiWMnJnE

 

[Dauntless]

I guess it's all a question of how big a motor is in those tires. And the batteries of course, I should think a set of TIRES would need lithiums to go faster.

Couldn't resist. Seriously now, tires can make the bike more stable, handle better, even corner a bit harder, but you don't see an important "Go Faster" difference. If you compete every little bit counts, but then you need to ask at a racing forum rather than a commuter forum like ES. If you want to overinflate your tires they'll roll a bit better in a straight line at the risk of being a bit "Chirpish" when you turn, maybe the bike will slide out from under you, etc. And they'll wear out faster. What's good for racing isn't automatically good for you in a hurry commuting.

If you mean to ride in New York CITY, you don't really want a dual sport half mountain/half street tire, do you? If you're looking for some perfect as though you're racing tire, look strictly street.

Let's check some of those reviews:

I wouldnt say I go much faster in these

They have both decided to deform now with close to 1000km use, I am quite disappointed because there still appears to be enough rubber left on them.

Some reviews I read said these were prone to easy punctures. . . .

Oh, hey, Chalo, you'll love this one.

I have a cheap walmart mountain bike that's about 8 years old, and I'm attempting my first triathlon in a few weeks.

Sounds almost like a sequel to 'Dumb and Dumber.'

 

[friendly1uk]

It could be said that an mtb with these on is not an mtb, it's a hybrid. An mtb is characterised by it's use of big knobbly tyre's that are generally considered slow.

This is just a grip for speed trade off. It should work

 

[Chalo]

An mtb is characterised by it's use of big knobbly tyre's that are generally considered slow.

This is just a grip for speed trade off. It should work

Moreover, the extra grip that knobby tires provide only occurs on surfaces that are softer than the tire, like mud, sand, loose gravel, etc. On pavement, you get inferior speed and inferior traction.

Any MTB that is ridden predominantly on paved surfaces should be fitted with street tires, which is to say tires that are as smooth as possible. The more tread a street tire has, the more it is pandering to ignorant people's misconceptions rather than giving them what they need.

 

[lbz5mc12]

You know what that seems to be the opposite with my e-bike. I switched to Kenda Aggressive knobby off road tires 2 days ago from a couple of wide Veerubber road tires and my bike has better range and is faster. It's even easier to pedal around like a regular bike. I think what's happening is that with a more slick style tire there is more constant contact between the tire and the street. With knobby tires there is less contact between the tire and the street because the knobbies are tall and spaced leaving gaps where the rubber is not in constant contact with the ground. With a slick tire there are no gaps so the whole of the tire where it contacts the street would actually create more friction and in essence slow your roll. I think the knobby tire is higher profile which creates more travel which translates into higher speed. When I roll the bike around while walking next to it, i can feel the knobbies vibrating up through the frame, however when I'm on the bike that vibration goes away and it's a pretty smooth ride. One thing I'm getting used to again is how square the bike wants to turn now because of how the knobbies are spaced on the outer edges of the tires. I hope that all made sense, I was having trouble trying to translate what I was thinking into words. Maybe it's because I'm a year older today and so is my brain lol.

 

[dogman dan]

Usually the other way around. Big knobby tires seem like they suction to the road slowing you down, till you get into dirt.

Streets where I live are always full of sand, so some tread is better than full slicks here in the desert. The best compromise for me has been a hybrid tire. Typically they have some tread that helps grip in corners, but has a central rib that makes it roll nice when going in a straight line. Pump them hard to roll best.

In NYC though, it might be good to slick up. I don't know myself though, since slick skinny tires get sketchy in corners here.

 

[muffinman]

ive noticed the same as what lbz mentioned. my cannondale came with mythos xc 2.1s, and it rides way faster than i expected it to. tall knobblies seem to counteract the wide tire. i just put schwalbe citizen 1.75s on my norco, which are faster than the specialized crossroads i had on before. the ride is rougher though, i think due to the citizens bein narrower than the crossroads.

 

[lbz5mc12]

Thanks muffinman, I'm just glad to know I'm not going crazy lol.

 

[muffinman]

dont worry, im still sure youre crazy, just not about that lol

 

[Chalo]

Vee Rubber makes some incredibly crap tires, so those are not necessarily a good point of comparison. They also make some fairly decent tires like the Origin8 Captiv-8er, which is a fast slick-ish tire.

Any knobs slow you down compared to the same tire without knobs. Compare to a high quality slick like Panaracer RiBMo, Schwalbe Big Apple, or Continental Sport Contact and you'll recognize the speed difference. You may also recognize the puncture protection these slicks have that sporting knobbies lack!

 

[dogman dan]

Tread composition and pattern matters, so if a tire has hard knobs, closely spaced, they may feel fast compared to another tire with a sticky composition and knobs with lots of gap between them. A center rib tends to make a knobby tire feel fast on the street, but corners may feel like crap. The holy roller is a compromise tread, much like enduro tires on motorcycles.

Tire profile matters as well. The "fast" slicks I took to the track had a very pronounced v shape. So on the straight, they had a very narrow contact patch and rolled very quick, but leaned over 40 degrees, they had a larger contact patch that felt good in the corners.

And then the same tire may feel very different depending on just 5 psi of difference in inflation, or how the profile changes depending on the width of the rim you have.

So it's quite possible to have lots of variation in how a tire feels depending on factors besides just tread or not. Like I was saying earlier, in all the sand on the road I have here, I need some tread. But I don't choose big soft mud tires for street. Very often knobbies have less knobs on the edge of the tire, and you get very sketchy cornering. No big deal though, if you take all corners at 15 mph. Huge deal if you take them at 30 mph.