Recumbent - Comfort tires?

I new to recumbents, so please excuse if my questions seem silly. I have a Cycle Genius Starling. The tires are Kendra 16 x 1.75 and 20 x 1.75. They seem rather rough when riding. I feel every bump. Is there a tire that would ride more comfortable? Maybe fatter?

Thanks

Do you have them pumped up to maximum pressure? If yes, then let some air out.

Schwalbe big apples are what you want. bk

agreeing with JanMM.....My take on it is any tire inflated till it is hard from pressure is hard, no matter how soft the rubber is...so letting out a little air will 'soften' the tire. However the rolling resistance will be greater.......and of course the more you let out the closer to riding on the rim................

Schwalbe big apples are what you want. bk

Would they fit? How much clearance is there for the 1.75" tires?

1.75 is pretty fat, I too would suggest lowering the air pressure a bit.

+1 to Jay D. At least go down 15%. I larger the tire and the less you weigh the more air you can let out of your tire. On by BF NWT, I replaced the 1.35 tires with 1.5 and it rode rough, went down about 15/20 pounds and it rode much smoooooother. The same on my V-Rex. I have 1.5's and they are much better for me at 80 pounds than 100. Same for my V2.
Just enjoy the ride..............
Cheers, Ken

Schwalbe big apples are what you want. bk
I have a 20/26" LWB and a set of 2"/2.3" Big Apples for it.

On rough roads, the Big Apples are really nice--but they're a bit of a drag on smooth roads.

Also, the 2.3" rear tire blocks using the largest cog, and the rear fender supports will rub if they're not perfectly centered.

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Also I have seen that most bikes have rims that are too narrow to work well with really fat tires. If you air the fat tires pressure down much, they have too much side-to-side flex on the skinny rims, and won't handle well. If your bike has typical rims that are only around 25mm or so wide, then the widest tires you want would be maybe 1.75" or so.
~

Schwalbe big apples are what you want. bk

+1 for Schwalbe BAs I'd go with the 2.00 width.

Ciao,
O^o

I new to recumbents, so please excuse if my questions seem silly. I have a Cycle Genius Starling. The tires are Kendra 16 x 1.75 and 20 x 1.75. They seem rather rough when riding. I feel every bump. Is there a tire that would ride more comfortable? Maybe fatter?

Thanks

Go for Schwalbe Kojaks - lightweight slicks with sticky tread and a soft sidewall. I have a rear one in 26x1.35" and it really helped reduce bumps and road jitter. I would have put one on the front but the LBS didn't have one in stock. The Kojak comes in 16x1.25" and 20x1.35".

Most of the threads I have seen say Schwalbe Big Apples, with a suitable pressure. Try this site http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=3802 for a pressure / size chart.

Another tire that has all round good speed, traction and puncture protection is the Schwalbe Marathon Supreme, and supposedly has excellent comfort as well. 1.6" so not as heavy to pedal.

Of course, if you are in the USA you will need a tire, not tyre, pressue chart: LINK (http://www.vintagebicyclepress.com/images/TireDrop.pdf) ;)

(tshelver - thanks for the link; good to know the minumum pressures & it's useful to know a reasonable range)

Thanks for all the responses. I lowered the tire pressure a bit and it is more comfortable. I guess I will just have to experiment with tire brands. Thanks for your recommendations...I start with those.

Thanks for the link, Giro. But the graph shows tire sizes in mm.
I dunno what that number means. I'm not really sure what a 20mm tire is. If you just convert 20mm to inches, it is 0.79 in. Does that mean a 3/4 inch tire? Or does that mean the inner distance between the two rims is 0.79 in. ? Or is that the maximum distance between the two sides of the tire with no weight on it? Or is that the maximum distance between the two sides of the tire fully loaded with weight?

Calculator or Excel. Inches = mm / 25.4. Or, mm = Inches * 25.4........


Or if you are software challenged, go to google and try something like 'convert 37mm to inches', and you will pick up an answer something like (or exactly in this case): '37 millimeters = 1.45669291 inches'

:D

Or, for a more useful reply than how to use google to find tire sizes: http://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html

everything you should need to know.

Thanks for the link, Giro. But the graph shows tire sizes in mm.
I dunno what that number means. I'm not really sure what a 20mm tire is. I

OOPS, I failed to read the fine print when I first read the graph in Heine's article yesterday. The fine print says "actual tire width". So I took that to mean the maximum tire width with the bike unweighted. Using an outer caliper, I measured the widths of my R 27 x 1.25" tire and my F 20 x 1.75" tire and reading the graph, found corresponding tire pressures of 98 psi R and 30 psi F.

That will be great! I already found that to be comfortable on a long ride I have to reduce my front tire pressure to 45 psi. 30 psi will be even more comfortable. And it will maximize traction.

Thanks you for the link to Sheldon Brown's wisdom.