Tire size. What size do you use and why?

[icecube57]

I just bought a new bike and i took off the 26x2.10 knobbies and went down to my 26x1.75 Bell urban/city tread semi slicks. I ride my bike on concrete...asphalt so I chose this tread. It absolutely sucks in grass and loose gravel but decent in when conditions. They do throw off alot of water compared to slicks. I have some bell slicks.... I dont run those because although they are good on dry streets....i quickly loose traction in wet conditions... loose gavel. I often spin out under acceleration. I also feel them get loose in high speed sharp cornering. You can hear it slightly loose traction like it wants to go faster but slighly slips. My old bike had the weight shifted towards the back and had alot of acceleration squat so it was probably the tire coming slighly off the gound and not getting solid traction.What do you guys run?

 

[broloch]

So, I run 26" by 1.75". I run them because I like them at that size. To draw minimal attention. I run a flat resistant rear tire because it would be a hassle to change the rear tire with a set of torque arms that are held down by pipe clamps.

 

[broloch]

lulz.

you need to change your username, WildernessKiller57 or something lol.

 

[Reid Welch]

Bontrager Big Hank 26 x 2.5" slicks. Wonderful on wet or dry pavement. Cannot lose traction, but would suck in sand or mud.
I ride on clean pavement or grass most of the time, rarely on sand at all.

Tread is for snow, mud and such. Tread is not needed for these sticky, soft compound street tires.
Sheldon Brown's site explains why. The Bontragers NEVER slip in hard cornering on clean pavement, wet or dry.
Wonderful tires, great ride comfort, low wear rate too.

 

[dogman dan]

I love my urban tread bell 26x 1.75 tires on the street bikes. they seem to wear forever, after 2500 miles one I have still has half the tread left. The tread I'm choosing is best for sand sprinkled roads here in the desert. All corners are sandy, and slicks are death here. They don't wash out in corners like knobby mtb tread. the tread also helps with glass cuts, standing the body of the tire away from the sharp stuff. They'd throw stuff horrible in wet I'm sure, but we don't get much wet, and fenders or bags on handlebars catch the occasional sprinkler caused puddle.

On the trail bike, the fattest thing that will fit, so you can float on deep sand parts of the dirt trails. I would love a large marge rims and tires bike. Snow and sand both need flotation. The bike I have now, can take a 2.5 tire.

 

[fifthmass]

26 x 1.95 Armadillos.

Size (1.95") was the recommended size from the Electric Rider people for their rim. I got the Armadillos because they were the highest pressure tire they had in stock at the bike shop in the 1.95" size. When I get my new bike next week I'll put the tires back on it unless the new bike comes with better tires.

Regards,
Bill

 

[Ypedal]

Norco has 20 x 2.2 SNAFU rear, and 24 x 1.75 Maxxi Holly Roller

Giant 26 x 1.75 michelin rear , 26 x 1.75 Schwallabe marathon plus that comes with the eZee ( great tire ! )

Chopper : 24 x 3.75 kenda flame front, 20 x 2 hookwork rear

BMX : cheap kids kenda that came with the Giant brand BMX, melting those away pretty quick...

I have a collection of tires in my parts room, i like the hard compount, square block pattern that acts like slicks and knobies at the same time.. 1.75 minimum.. 2+ prefered, with the thickest tubes available pumped up to 40 / 50 psi.

 

[Drunkskunk]

2.5 inch Maxxis Hookworms with DH tubes and tire slime. I run them at 50psi, but i'm experimenting with the pressure. Big balloon semi slick but they hook up in dirt, sand, wet grass.

I also run 700c x 38c Specalized Armadillos. Its rolls well, wears slow, and is almost bullitproof.

 

[will_newton]

Bontrager Select Invert K 26x 1.5
HIgh Quality tire that is excellent for road/city commute. Fast on the road, good cornering stability but the tread deals with wet weather, fine gravel, grass, curbs and light offroad use well. It can also take a good bit of pressure 45-85 PSI. I usually ride mine at 55 psi.

I initially, went with the wider, cheapie center tread Kendas, then gave 'em to the wife, but not because they were terrible. I commute onroad and wanted more speed/higher psi for less effort.

http://bontrager.com/model/00448/en
http://bontrager.com/model/02488/en this is the hardcase version, which I'll get next time. I have some hardcase slicks on my Hybrid and they are very tough

 

[EDWIN]

Schwalbe marathon plus 24x1.75.Because it is the only size I can get in 24".
EDWIN

 

[Zoot Katz]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus 26x1.75" because they were gifts.

 

[EVnewbie]

26x1.75 Schwalble Marathon Cross kevlar belted tires with a "V tread" It worked well on my electric bike and never flatted. Fairly quiet on the road and would handle grass and hard packed dirt without problems.

For sand/snow and mud, I agree with the dogman, the biggest you can squeeze in! I run a 24x3.00 inch downhill knobbie on a SAS Combat 36mm wide rim when the trails are a mess. Drop the pressure down to 25 PSI and fly through the slop. That wheel will eventually be on a chopper were I'll run a 24x3.00 wide street tire at 40 PSI Really like those Surly Endomorph 3.7" wide tires on the Large Marge 65mm rims--until I see the price! Surley does make a fork with 135mm dropouts which would be great for electric bikes. Throw an X5 rear hub on the thing complete with disc brake and throw it in the front.

Anyone wired in a motorcycle rim into an X5? Since the big hub can handle 12 gauge spokes, isn't that about the same size as a motorcross rim? Is a X5 motor using 12 gauge spokes going to a motorcycle 19 inch rim in my future? Give me a 100/90x19 tire on the back and I'll be golden. Am I missing something?

 

[TPA]

schwalbe big apple 26 x 2.35 nice big and cushy and somewhat low rolling resistance.

 

[Zoot Katz]

schwalbe big apple 26 x 2.35 nice big and cushy and somewhat low rolling resistance.

Those are next when I wear out or destroy these Marathon Plus tires. The bike will only fit the 26 X 2.125" Big Apples.
The cushion is nice for when I'm hauling loads but the rolling resistance of the cheap fat Kenda Sun tires sucked.
Adding Kevlar liners made made it worse.

 

[docnjoj]

Here's a tire question for Zoot and other experts. My new trike is coming with European 16" (349mm) fronts. Obviously it has tires now but what does one replace them with? I tend to wear out fronts fairly fast due to my size and the way I like to drift the trike!
otherDoc

 

[Zoot Katz]

Here's a tire question for Zoot and other experts. My new trike is coming with European 16" (349mm) fronts. Obviously it has tires now but what does one replace them with? I tend to wear out fronts fairly fast due to my size and the way I like to drift the trike!
otherDoc

There are a few 16" tires out there that will fit. Most won't. You're looking for tires marked in fractional inches - 16" x 1 3/8"
The more common 16" tires are marked in decimal inches - 16" x 1.75" Those have a BSD of 305 mm.

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks Zoot! I have heard that some of the folding bike tires that are a nominal 18" would fit cause 349mm is about 17.8 " Brompton and the Birdy tire maybe, or is this just wishful thinking!
otherDoc

 

[Joey]

Schwalbe Marathon Plus 26" x 1.75" on my wife's bike with eZee front hub kit.
Schwalbe Big Apple 26" x 2.35" on my bike with BMC V2T rear hub.

Joey

 

[Zoot Katz]

Thanks Zoot! I have heard that some of the folding bike tires that are a nominal 18" would fit cause 349mm is about 17.8 " Brompton and the Birdy tire maybe, or is this just wishful thinking!
otherDoc

Birdy 18" tires are 355 BSD. Brompton and older Moultons use the 349 BSD tires. Greenspeed makes a 1½" slick in that size.

 

[docnjoj]

Thanks again! I have to check them out. I think it comes with Primo's and they prolly wont last long!
otherDoc

 

[monster]

what pressure do you people use? low pressure (35psi) would provide more cusioning for a heavy e-bike i would think?

 

[Reid Welch]

what pressure do you people use? low pressure (35psi) would provide more cusioning for a heavy e-bike i would think?

Optimal tire pressure depends upon tire cross section, load, rider's needs, and road conditions.

A fat, supple tire can be run as low as 10 PSI (my front tire runs best at that presssure---it's a shock absorber!)

When we run very narrow tires, such as are seen on kilo-buck roadie bikes, 120 PSI may be called for.
Then the tire rolls with little resistance, but also, with very little shock absorbing quality.
It is proven that a thin tire and a wide tire have about the same rolling resistance; only increasing the air pressure makes
one roll easier than the other...at the expense of rubber-on-the-road (your safety grip!).

In 1910, auto tires were more like bike tires more than anything else.
Typical minimum air pressures for car tires were 60 to 90 PSI;
the pressure to be aimed for depended on the load to be carried.

A correctly inflated tire will slightly, visibly, flatten at its contact patch.
See Sheldon Brown's site for more tire info. Fatter tires generally are run at lower pressures,
and give a softer ride. But if they are thick walled (like many kevlar or other "puncture proof" lined tires, their rolling resistance is high if not pumped hard.

A heavy rider needs higher pressure than a flyweight rider.
To pump a tire to its maximum "safe" inflation pressure does reduce the rolling resistance somewhat.
But you give up comfort and =traction=. An over-inflated tire might as well be of solid rubber: no "give", no shock absorbtion.
Stand on the pedals if a bump approaches.

I sit on the saddle, which is on a Thud Buster, and bob over ANY road pothole or protrusion. But my tires are the most fat, supple, thin tires on the market and have no tread;
dead silent, too. Just not good for snow or mud or sandy roads.

Tread does not help tire adhesion to clean pavement; soft compound and low pressure are what makes them stick.
See Sheldon's site for much more wisdom, hard learned.

hth,
r.

 

[EVnewbie]

What Sheldon writes is 90% true,
However, it is not completely true! When I first started riding my recumbent bike I was shocked at the monster width of the tires. It ran a 20x1.25 115 PSI front (406x32 7.5 bar) and a 700C x 35mm 75 PSI rear (622x32 5 bar) rear tire. Changed out the rear tire for a 25mm wide 100 PSI tire and noted I was indeed faster. The illusion was intact! I also noted that my traction was getting sketchy on the back and maybe it was because of the tread pattern (slick) that I gained some speed. Then I read a report on rolling resistance and recumbent riding in the real world.
The fastest tire at that time (1999) was the Tioga Comp Pool which was a 20x1.75 thin walled slick that ran at 90 PSI. They actually put the tires on recumbents and rolled them down a hill and measured how far they coasted. I figured the Continental 20x1.125 100 PSI tire would win but I was wrong, very, very wrong! They used various pressures from 50 PSI to 130 PSI and the ultra-high pressures on the same tire did not increase speed They even ran 19mm wide tires on racing rims and the Tioga still pulled away. Then they explained why.
The best "patch" or amount of tire on the road should be a circle. If you run a 19mm wide tire at 120 PSI with 120 pounds of weight on it, the tire deforms to oval with heavy sidewall flex. This increases rolling resistance. Also, if the tire is basically so hard that it don't deform well when hitting imperfections on the road, it will "bounce" off them and that increases rolling resistance some more. The reason racing track bikes run a 19mm on the front and a 23 to 25mm on the back is due to aerodynamics coming into play on the front. The rear is wider due to lower rolling resistance and the frame covering it's increased width for aerodynamics. Weight also comes into play.
That 1.75" 44mm wide Tioga actually slowed down the recumbent when pumped to 130 PSI VS 90 to 100 PSI due to the tire being so stiff. It is easy to think that as pressure increases that rolling resistance decreases and that is true. BUT, there is a limit as tire flexibility then decreases to a point were "real world" rolling resistance increases faster. Aerodynamics comes into play but not as much as you would think.
Soooo, I put a Tioga Comp Pool 20x1.75" tire on the front of my recumbent and gained speed. The traction was great unless I hit wet grass or rode around in loose dirt. My recumbent runs full suspension so the dirt thing is common for me. Swapped out the rear 25mm tire for a 37mm and did not notice any decrease in speed but my traction and comfort level increased.
Schwalbe did a study on tire resistance with their Big Apple series, they came up with some interesting conclusions about the same concepts. I've had many beer fueled battles over traction VS rolling resistance VS true rolling resistance ever since. One of my buddies on his Cannondale changed his 21mm tires out for 28mm (he weighs 235 pounds!) and did notice he could ride slightly higher speeds for much longer distances. Those dales have a very harsh ride and his nads appreciated the shock abatement. That leads to the power output VS comfort debate which we don't need to get into.
These days, I am running 20x1.5" 90 PSI on the front and 700C x 32mm 90 PSI on the back. The Schwalbe Marathon Plus will rub the frame with the 35mm size since the tread is so thick. The Marathon Racer 1.5" 40mm has very thin sidewalls, sticks like glue and is a very fast tire. Not the thing I would want on a ebike though! The Marathon Plus would be great for that, changing flats on ebikes truly sucks!

The ebike I'm working on at the moment is a modifed version of a Charger electric bike from back in the day. It runs Schwalbe Marathon Cross 26x1.75" wide tires with a V type tread. Those kevlar belted tires have never flatted, the tread makes a mild sound but it works well on all surfaces. The electric chopper project will run the widest freakin' tires I can stuff on the thing. A 24x3.0 tire on the front and ??? on the back. If I can stuff 12 gauge spokes into a motorcycle rim, I'll do it!
For conventional ebikes, running 1.75 to 2.5" tires is a good idea. Considering the high weight that has to be held up, more traction required when taking a corner, higher speeds that deform the tires more when hitting bumps...and the longer it takes for a wide tire to lose air than a skinny tire. The bigger the better.

 

[morph999]

I use 26" Kenda Kross Plus tires. They are fast as hell. I gained a full 4 mph in speed. Pressure at 60 PSI.

 

[monster]

i use the 2.2" DMR Moto Tyre and i have it at 35 psi. if i go down to 20 psi will the ride feel better?

i don't care about rolling resistance because i have a massive battery . i do care about avoiding side wall punctures tho -and i've had a few of them in the past with this tyre.