Tyre choice

[otolith]

We're looking to replace the tyres that came with the Specialized Hardrock Sport bikes for something less fat and knobbly and hopefully less puncture prone. The bikes are used mostly on unpaved trails with some paved cycle paths and some road use. The bikes are used purely for exercise, not for transport. We're thinking Armadillos would fit the bill, but we're not sure of the sizing beyond the 26" diameter. This is the wheel:

[Engineer1]

I'm no expert but cycle tyres come by diameter, so 26" is all you need the other bit is 559x18 which is the metric size and the 6061T15 which is the aluminium alloy used for the wheel.

[otolith]

That's what I thought, but when I looked into it I got the impression that there are width constraints too?

[curlie467]

Maxxis wormdrive?

[shouldbworking]

otolith said:

That's what I thought, but when I looked into it I got the impression that there are width constraints too?

To a degree although most rims can sport a wide range of widths - theres a chart on here.

http://www.bicycletires.com/a_49/tire_width/articl...

I personally wouldnt go smaller than 1.5inch tyres on it. You might find the below site useful (no affiliation)

http://www.nextdaytyres.com/Tyres.aspx?Size=26+inc...

[otolith]

That's a lot of tyres!

So any 1.5 inch 26 inch tyre should fit ok, and will take a 1.5/1.75 inner tube?

Is something like a Specialized Nimbus Armadillo going to be fine on country paths? They get muddy, but nothing I wouldn't expect to get a two wheel drive car over. They seem to go for a bit over twenty quid, is there a better choice for that money? What about these?

[shouldbworking]

otolith said:

That's a lot of tyres!

So any 1.5 inch 26 inch tyre should fit ok, and will take a 1.5/1.75 inner tube?

Is something like a Specialized Nimbus Armadillo going to be fine on country paths? They get muddy, but nothing I wouldn't expect to get a two wheel drive car over. They seem to go for a bit over twenty quid, is there a better choice for that money? What about these?

I can't speak from experience on those, although that weight listed is properly heavy by MTB standards, you wouldnt really expect to go for that level of solidity unless you wanted to never ever ever get a puncture.

The only tyres that meet the kind of goals you're after that I have experience of are the schwalbe land cruisers which are great all rounders, quicker than knobblies on road but still perfectly capable of doing my local mtb trails.

Edit : inner tube wise they normally have a range of widths listed on the box. typical ones start at 1.75 so if you wanted to use 1.5 you'd probably have to pick up a different set

[curlie467]

Something like this is what you want really. I wouldnt get those 975g tyres, by christ is that heavy.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?Mod...

[otolith]

Are all the highly puncture resistant tyres heavy? It's the punctures which are driving the plan to get new tyres, with the idea of getting something with better performance on tarmac a bonus.

[shouldbworking]

otolith said:

Are all the highly puncture resistant tyres heavy? It's the punctures which are driving the plan to get new tyres, with the idea of getting something with better performance on tarmac a bonus.

As a general rule yes. A quick glance at the reviews suggest that the factory tyres for your bike are pretty bad for being puncture prone, as well as not being lightweight either worst of both worlds.

Do also consider if its pinch flats or thorns that you are getting - it may be the pressure you are running them at rather than thorns.

[otolith]

Mostly thorns. After the last-but-one, I filled them with slime. A few days later, SWMBO ran over some glass, and the slime had no effect at all.