More manly tyres on a road bike
Discussion
Hi All,
Noob question
I've been commuting to work on my road bike, a BTwin Triban 500 SE, with 700 x 23c tyres.
Work and home are ideally placed so I can take a slightly longer route to work but using 95% canal paths. It really is fantastically more pleasant.
I actually gave the route a go today and it is much better, however being a road bike with the tyres having the same amount of tread as an egg, I slip and slide all over the place and end up tracking in some ruts etc.
Ideally I could throw a set of cyclocross tyres onto the bike and be on my way, however these are naturally wider so I'll have trouble finding some to fit. Is there an easy way to check what the max width tyre I can use is?
At this rate I might just get myself a cyclocross bike. I'd really like to continue using the canals but with the current tyres I am going to end up taking a rather shallow swim, as quite a few others at work have
Noob question
I've been commuting to work on my road bike, a BTwin Triban 500 SE, with 700 x 23c tyres.
Work and home are ideally placed so I can take a slightly longer route to work but using 95% canal paths. It really is fantastically more pleasant.
I actually gave the route a go today and it is much better, however being a road bike with the tyres having the same amount of tread as an egg, I slip and slide all over the place and end up tracking in some ruts etc.
Ideally I could throw a set of cyclocross tyres onto the bike and be on my way, however these are naturally wider so I'll have trouble finding some to fit. Is there an easy way to check what the max width tyre I can use is?
At this rate I might just get myself a cyclocross bike. I'd really like to continue using the canals but with the current tyres I am going to end up taking a rather shallow swim, as quite a few others at work have
OP - Just don't try to go too big...
This is my 1996 Falcon Pro-Line. It wore a mismatched pair of shabby old 23c tyres when I brought it out of "retirement" to serve as my 'winter bike'.
As part of the re-commissioning process I took a fairly new pair of Continental TourRide tyres in 700 x 37c or 700 x 42c flavour, I can't recall which, from my wife's commute bike which she wrote off.
It was a "just to see if they fit" thing really, not entirely serious, but the old rubber had gone in the bin anyway and I needed to at least fit something to protect the rims. Turns out they just about fit but even with "long drop" brakes there was no way they'd actually turn as they fouled on the brake calipers at the front, and a 'brace' between the chain stays behind the bottom bracket.
Currently that bike is off the road with derailleur hanger damage, but now that it wears full traditional mudguards I reckon I'd struggle to get 28c tyres onto it.
Not sure how any of this helps but I just thought I'd share a few pictures that made me giggle at the time. This, by the way, was all done in the hope of getting the bike into a more 'suitable' form for gravel fire roads, canal paths, and the odd woodland single-track section. In the end I decided that something between 28c and 33c might work, but I chickened out of taking a chance on buying tyres that'd end up too large to spin. Before the derailleur got jammed by a twig and sucked into the rear wheel I'd also hoped to take it down to the Battle On The Beach race (along with my MTB) to test the idea that I could do a race lap faster on this bike than on the MTB (due to there being a 5km straight sprint up a beach of hard-packed sand). Sadly the bike broke before I could try the idea out...
One possible way of testing to see what's the largest size tyre you could fit might be to pop to your local bike shop and explain what you're trying to do. Ask if they have any old tyres in larger sizes (they often fit tyres, and replace tubes, for people who aren't "into" cycling), then see if you could get 'em for free. If I tried with my LBS I'm sure they'd only be too happy to oblige so long as I promised to take the tyres to the tip myself afterwards. Worth asking, especially if you actually have a track record of spending money in there...
This is my 1996 Falcon Pro-Line. It wore a mismatched pair of shabby old 23c tyres when I brought it out of "retirement" to serve as my 'winter bike'.
As part of the re-commissioning process I took a fairly new pair of Continental TourRide tyres in 700 x 37c or 700 x 42c flavour, I can't recall which, from my wife's commute bike which she wrote off.
It was a "just to see if they fit" thing really, not entirely serious, but the old rubber had gone in the bin anyway and I needed to at least fit something to protect the rims. Turns out they just about fit but even with "long drop" brakes there was no way they'd actually turn as they fouled on the brake calipers at the front, and a 'brace' between the chain stays behind the bottom bracket.
Currently that bike is off the road with derailleur hanger damage, but now that it wears full traditional mudguards I reckon I'd struggle to get 28c tyres onto it.
Not sure how any of this helps but I just thought I'd share a few pictures that made me giggle at the time. This, by the way, was all done in the hope of getting the bike into a more 'suitable' form for gravel fire roads, canal paths, and the odd woodland single-track section. In the end I decided that something between 28c and 33c might work, but I chickened out of taking a chance on buying tyres that'd end up too large to spin. Before the derailleur got jammed by a twig and sucked into the rear wheel I'd also hoped to take it down to the Battle On The Beach race (along with my MTB) to test the idea that I could do a race lap faster on this bike than on the MTB (due to there being a 5km straight sprint up a beach of hard-packed sand). Sadly the bike broke before I could try the idea out...
One possible way of testing to see what's the largest size tyre you could fit might be to pop to your local bike shop and explain what you're trying to do. Ask if they have any old tyres in larger sizes (they often fit tyres, and replace tubes, for people who aren't "into" cycling), then see if you could get 'em for free. If I tried with my LBS I'm sure they'd only be too happy to oblige so long as I promised to take the tyres to the tip myself afterwards. Worth asking, especially if you actually have a track record of spending money in there...
Oh, and OP?
Don't get tempted to stray too far from those canal towpaths unless you know the routes well...
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
Predictable result of getting "too ambitious".
Sometimes you get the feeling that you might have been better off just splashing through the puddle instead of trying to be clever and swerving around it...
Don't get tempted to stray too far from those canal towpaths unless you know the routes well...
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
Predictable result of getting "too ambitious".
Sometimes you get the feeling that you might have been better off just splashing through the puddle instead of trying to be clever and swerving around it...
I agree 28c is a sweet spot
I have done similar op, I have a steel road bike that has a bit of clearance and I can avoid busy roads by going down 2 miles of gravel track and bridleway to work.
I went up from 25c to 32c and TBH it was a bit overkill, the tyres worked ok, but felt huge and heavy
I dropped down to 28s and they feel much better , ironically more grip on the rough stuff and better on the road
Lots of roads in this country now are glorified tracks now anyway round my way
One thing I will point out is that a road bike with big tyres is fine to an extent, but as soon as it gets really damp and muddy forget it. My bike is great in the dry and summer, but in the middle of winter it gets a pain. I find all the mud jams in the brake callipers, making the bike unrideable, hence its always best to not max out the tyre clearance. I also found stuff like cable runs under the BB would get clogged up and cables ruined. Therefore I think you will be fine on a bit of ruff stuff but if its a lot through winter get a CX which is designed from that from the start. Also CX frames are a lot tougher and strengthened in weak places , if you really start hammering a road frame on rough stuff you could damage the frame (unlikely but worth being aware of)
If I could do it again I would buy a CX bike with some tough 28c tyres for commuting
I have done similar op, I have a steel road bike that has a bit of clearance and I can avoid busy roads by going down 2 miles of gravel track and bridleway to work.
I went up from 25c to 32c and TBH it was a bit overkill, the tyres worked ok, but felt huge and heavy
I dropped down to 28s and they feel much better , ironically more grip on the rough stuff and better on the road
Lots of roads in this country now are glorified tracks now anyway round my way
One thing I will point out is that a road bike with big tyres is fine to an extent, but as soon as it gets really damp and muddy forget it. My bike is great in the dry and summer, but in the middle of winter it gets a pain. I find all the mud jams in the brake callipers, making the bike unrideable, hence its always best to not max out the tyre clearance. I also found stuff like cable runs under the BB would get clogged up and cables ruined. Therefore I think you will be fine on a bit of ruff stuff but if its a lot through winter get a CX which is designed from that from the start. Also CX frames are a lot tougher and strengthened in weak places , if you really start hammering a road frame on rough stuff you could damage the frame (unlikely but worth being aware of)
If I could do it again I would buy a CX bike with some tough 28c tyres for commuting
yellowjack said:
Oh, and OP?
Don't get tempted to stray too far from those canal towpaths unless you know the routes well...
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
Predictable result of getting "too ambitious".
Sometimes you get the feeling that you might have been better off just splashing through the puddle instead of trying to be clever and swerving around it...
That looks like cyclocross.Don't get tempted to stray too far from those canal towpaths unless you know the routes well...
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
Predictable result of getting "too ambitious".
Sometimes you get the feeling that you might have been better off just splashing through the puddle instead of trying to be clever and swerving around it...
yellowjack said:
Oh, and OP?
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
I was about to post that I knew exactly where that trail was and then I saw the poster...... By the canal near the bomb holes on Porridgepot?Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
Gren said:
yellowjack said:
Oh, and OP?
Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
I was about to post that I knew exactly where that trail was and then I saw the poster...... By the canal near the bomb holes on Porridgepot?Too ambitious? (This was on a signed trail too, advertised as suitable for all weather use. It just wasn't finished at the time...)
I haven't been back since, so I don't know if they ever finished the path through there, or if they gave up due to the permanently wet nature of the ground there, but in the photo (in a straight line up from the left-hand drop) there is a small bridge behind/to the left of a tree. I'm pretty sure it was meant to be part of the new Wellesley Woodland Trails being put in in conjunction with the redevelopment of the former Browning Barracks site. Over that timber footbridge and a short way through the woodland is the small gravel car park off the A323 (at Puckridge Hill Road). I know that most of the trails (aimed more at walkers and using level surfaces to enable wheelchair access more than specifically for cycling) toward the A325/Queens Parade are complete and well used, but the one where this photo was taken isn't so obviously signed now. Perhaps they gave up trying to "fight nature" in the end and left it wet...
at yellowjack's posts, fantastic!As a bit of an afterthought, I remembered this company...
Next Day Bike http://nextday.bike/Home.aspx
...which used to be called Next Day Tyres.
I've bought a few bits from them over several transactions in the past and they've always been pretty darned good at living up to their promises. Not the absolute cheapest for all things, but pretty competitive as it goes.
Here are links to their 700c Continental... http://nextday.bike/Search.aspx ...and Schwalbe... http://nextday.bike/Search.aspx ...offerings.
Could be worth a look for anyone after new tyres soon.
Next Day Bike http://nextday.bike/Home.aspx
...which used to be called Next Day Tyres.
I've bought a few bits from them over several transactions in the past and they've always been pretty darned good at living up to their promises. Not the absolute cheapest for all things, but pretty competitive as it goes.
Here are links to their 700c Continental... http://nextday.bike/Search.aspx ...and Schwalbe... http://nextday.bike/Search.aspx ...offerings.
Could be worth a look for anyone after new tyres soon.
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