General Cycling Discussion - Want to switch to hybride tires if possible?

Hello,

i have gotten back into bicycling and i bought a jamis explorer 3.0 bike. great bike but after riding my girlfriend's trek and her thinner tires i really liked the smoother ride and lesser effort it seemed to be to pedal. i have 26" rims, the width is 1.95. Would i be able to switch to a smoother tire but skinnier like say the kenda kwest here:

http://www.amazon.com/Tire-Kenda-26X1-50-Kwest-100Lbk193/dp/B000BMT562/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2ACCG58PIHZ8G&colid=2KOC7EPE8XN06

Also, would i need to switch out my existing tubes at all?? according to the shop i bought the bike from they recommend not going any skinnier than 1.75. any help is appreciated. pretty much all my riding is on the street or on paved paths.

thanks

On my mtb that I used as a commuter I switched from wide ol' knobby tires to 1.25 inch slicks without any problems. Even used the same tubes.

Hello,

i have gotten back into bicycling and i bought a jamis explorer 3.0 bike. great bike but after riding my girlfriend's trek and her thinner tires i really liked the smoother ride and lesser effort it seemed to be to pedal. i have 26" rims, the width is 1.95. Would i be able to switch to a smoother tire but skinnier like say the kenda kwest here:

http://www.amazon.com/Tire-Kenda-26X1-50-Kwest-100Lbk193/dp/B000BMT562/ref=wl_it_dp?ie=UTF8&coliid=I2ACCG58PIHZ8G&colid=2KOC7EPE8XN06

Also, would i need to switch out my existing tubes at all?? according to the shop i bought the bike from they recommend not going any skinnier than 1.75. any help is appreciated. pretty much all my riding is on the street or on paved paths.

thanks
Those tires would probably be fine. I would be sure to use tubes that are specified for 1.5" tires. Usually a range is printed on the tube.

Check the interior width of your rim. It should be noted on the label somewhere on the outside. It should say something like 559X20, 20 being the interior width.

Then, go to Sheldon Brown's website and look up tire sizing for your width rims. It will tell you what size tires will best fit those rims.

Schwalbe Tires has similar info on their website, under Tech Info.

I'm betting you will have lots of options......probably everything from 1 1/4" (32 cm) up to whatever your fork will allow.

No more guessing.

Check the interior width of your rim. It should be noted on the label somewhere on the outside. It should say something like 559X20, 20 being the interior width.

Then, go to Sheldon Brown's website and look up tire sizing for your width rims. It will tell you what size tires will best fit those rims.

Schwalbe Tires has similar info on their website, under Tech Info.

I'm betting you will have lots of options......probably everything from 1 1/4" (32 cm) up to whatever your fork will allow.

No more guessing.

thanks for the info. on my kenda tires it says "to fit HB-575 rim" and "50-559 26x1.95"
nothing actually on my rim itself, just the tires. went to sheldon browns site to try to decipher it. am i correct that my rim size is 559?

i then went to http://www.bicycletires.com/bicycle_tires.asp# and on the left selected "iso 559-26" mountain bike,hybrid". there are MANY tires to choose from. keep the help coming please! thanks

going to check out the schwalbe site now.

Then, remove a tire, and measure the interior rim width. If there is thingys sticking out toward the center of the void, that's where you take the measurement. Those thingys are the ridges that help hold the tire on the rim by biting into it.

Yes, 559cm is the metric equivalent of 26", and 50cm is the equivalent of 1.95" (which happens to be the width of your current tire.)

Look both rims over real close, you might find that tell-tale 559X20(or so).

POI - my 559X20(interior) actually measure 24cm exterior width.

Sooooooo - you should be able to measure the exterior width with like a large crescent wrench, or calipers, or plier handles that don't move very smoothly, and subtract 4cm, which should give you your interior measurement - or damn close, anyhow.

POI - my 559X20(interior) actually measure 24cm exterior width.

Sooooooo - you should be able to measure the exterior width with like a large crescent wrench, or calipers, or plier handles that don't move very smoothly, and subtract 4cm, which should give you your interior measurement - or damn close, anyhow.

you are talking to a math tard here FYI. :lol: using a pretty stingy adjustable wrench i secured it gently to the outside of the rim and used my tape measure when i took it off. 15/16ths of an inch is what i come up with as the actual measurement. according to an online converter 15 in = 38.1 cm.

so are you saying the rim is basically 34.1 cm?

There is more to efficiency than just thin-ness of tyres. A cruising-along speeds, my Schwalbe Big Apple 2" slicks are really great. They have very flexy sidewalls compared to most ballon tyres and roll really well.
Thinner tyres are good for going faster or steep hills where air resistance /weight becomes important.