Lower my crappy MTBs rolling resistance on a budget.

[jimbobsimmonds]

Hi all. First time i have darkened the doors of the pedal powered section.

To cut a long story short this time last year I had my half decent mountain bike stolen. So as a quick replacement I bought some cast iron and concrete mountain bike off eBay. Tbh, I use the bike purely for fitness, getting too and from the gym and the occasional ride in the evening. So this bike will do that all just fine.

However. I am getting pissed off at how much slower I am (half me, half the bike) on this bike. So, on my crap 26 inch wheel MTB, what is the easiest way to lower my RR for say £30-40. Already adjusted and lubricated everything, was more thinking tyre/tube combo. Cheers!

Edit: forgot to say i use it mostly on road with the occasional light off-road work.

Edited by jimbobsimmonds on Saturday 28th March 18:41

[Ilovejapcrap]

Pump tyres up ?

Hopefully will help with re

[dudleybloke]

Continental double fighter are a pretty good mix of grip and speed.
The main thing that will help is tyre pressure though.

[richardxjr]

Ride more.

If you are riding for fitness why do you want to make it easier?

[jimbobsimmonds]

Ilovejapcrap said:

Pump tyres up ?

Hopefully will help with re

Already hp at 70psi!

As for the 'ride more' comment. Really should have pre-empted that. I mean, i might just drag some bags of concrete with me

If I'm being honest I cycle post weights so I'm not riding on a full tank so to speak. Before I could complete my route in say 40 mins, it's now taking 65 mins. I attribute 10 mins of that to myself but the rest to the bike. What's more occasionally I go with my twin sister (PE teacher) who owns a decent bike. Before we both rode at the same pace, now she is pissing away from me. Which is embarrassing

Edited by jimbobsimmonds on Saturday 28th March 19:35

[jimbobsimmonds]

dudleybloke said:

Continental double fighter are a pretty good mix of grip and speed.
The main thing that will help is tyre pressure though.

Cheers. Any particular inber tube worth using.

[dudleybloke]

I'm not fussy about tubes, I'm currently using ones from poundland and they work the same as the dearer ones plus for a quid a go there's no excuse to not have a spare.

[jimbobsimmonds]

dudleybloke said:

I'm not fussy about tubes, I'm currently using ones from poundland and they work the same as the dearer ones plus for a quid a go there's no excuse to not have a spare.

Thanks! Think i will buy a set of the Conti's and go MAMIL chasing again

[dudleybloke]

Good luck with the hunt!

[dudleybloke]

These are in budget.
http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-double-fighter...

Edited by dudleybloke on Saturday 28th March 20:11

[jimbobsimmonds]

Bought a pair. Cheers Dudleybloke. Been a great help!

[ecsrobin]

Anyone able to suggest some cheap slicks for a 29" wheel? I've been looking everywhere but can't see anything in that size that's cheap.

[dudleybloke]

ecsrobin said:

Anyone able to suggest some cheap slicks for a 29" wheel? I've been looking everywhere but can't see anything in that size that's cheap.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/schwalbe-hurricane-performance-mtb-tyre/rp-prod36216

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/freedom-...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/freedom-...

Any good?

[ecsrobin]

dudleybloke said:

ecsrobin said:

Anyone able to suggest some cheap slicks for a 29" wheel? I've been looking everywhere but can't see anything in that size that's cheap.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/schwalbe-hurricane-performance-mtb-tyre/rp-prod36216

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/freedom-...

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mobile/freedom-...

Any good?

2 of them are out of stock. I had been looking at the Schawble earlier. Cheers though.

Them thick slick do they have no tread on them at all?

[richardxjr]

29" is 700c

[ecsrobin]

richardxjr said:

29" is 700c

But I doubt a narrow road tyre will work on a wide MTB rim.

[gazza285]

ecsrobin said:

richardxjr said:

29" is 700c

But I doubt a narrow road tyre will work on a wide MTB rim.

The trend now is for wider road rims, and I have Mavic MTB wheels on my Kaffenback with 700 x 25 Continentals on, they fit no bother.

[yellowjack]

ecsrobin said:

Anyone able to suggest some cheap slicks for a 29" wheel? I've been looking everywhere but can't see anything in that size that's cheap.

Schwalbe 'Big Ben' semi-slicks for £22 or £25 do yah? http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/details.aspx/SCHWALBE-BI...

Schwalbe said:

Finally a decent road/occasional offroad tyre for your 29" bike!

From nextdaytyres.co.uk - I've used them a couple of times, their stock management seems good (if they say it's in stock, it's always been in stock for me) and their prices, whilst not always the cheapest, are always competitive.

Scroll down this page... http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/search.aspx/tyres-mtb-29 ...to see a few more Schwalbe options, Big Apple, Marathon Plus, or if you can stretch to £40 an end, Conti Speed King II, although that's more a dry weather XC tyre, but outright speed is it's 'thing'.

Cheapest I can see from them is the Schwalbe Road Plus 29" x 1.75" wire bead tyre at £17.99... http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/details.aspx/SCHWALBE-RO...

[ecsrobin]

yellowjack said:

ecsrobin said:

Anyone able to suggest some cheap slicks for a 29" wheel? I've been looking everywhere but can't see anything in that size that's cheap.

Schwalbe 'Big Ben' semi-slicks for £22 or £25 do yah? http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/details.aspx/SCHWALBE-BI...

Schwalbe said:

Finally a decent road/occasional offroad tyre for your 29" bike!

From nextdaytyres.co.uk - I've used them a couple of times, their stock management seems good (if they say it's in stock, it's always been in stock for me) and their prices, whilst not always the cheapest, are always competitive.

Scroll down this page... http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/search.aspx/tyres-mtb-29 ...to see a few more Schwalbe options, Big Apple, Marathon Plus, or if you can stretch to £40 an end, Conti Speed King II, although that's more a dry weather XC tyre, but outright speed is it's 'thing'.

Cheapest I can see from them is the Schwalbe Road Plus 29" x 1.75" wire bead tyre at £17.99... http://nextdaytyres.co.uk/details.aspx/SCHWALBE-RO...

:thumbs: seen a Schwable silento which looks good so will read some reviews. I'm currently running Schwable racing Ralph's and impressed with them.

[anonymous-user]

I got a set of these for the summer and I've smashed a couple of my PR's and that's with a crocked knee, very impressed so far -

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/continental/sp...

Not cheap unfortunately.

Edit - I missed the 26",

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/continental/sp...