Hybrid Bicycles - Hybrid Tires & Wheels

I am currently running my stock Tires & Wheels that came on my FX Bontrager Invert, puncture resistant, 700x35c; 60tpi I was thrilled they were Kevlar and will only run a puncture resistant tire. (to much broken glass on the shoulders) I find these tires run well but I notice they are no a favorite among the masses. These seem fine running paved roads and packed ground. They are less than effective in any loose soil. What are peoples opinions on Hybrid based tires?

I have Cane Creek Strados wheels and 700x28 Conitinental Gatorskins on my Marin Mill Valley.

The stock tires both failed within a week of purchase with sidewall tears along the edge of the rim. I would have returned them because I think they were defective, but the store I bought the bike from was not very close, so I just put new tires on. I'd highly recommend the Contis, unless your rims are too wide for them. I believe 28 is the widest size available. Good flat resistance and smooth riding tires.

The stock wheels lasted much longer than the tires, despite a dearth of spokes. The front had only 16, but it lasted longer than the rear and stayed true with minimum maintenance. I was impressed. When the brake pads eventually wore through the rims, I got the Cane Creek wheels from Sierra Trading Post.

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/3842,75200_Cane-Creek-Strados-Road-Wheels-Set-of-2.html

They are cool wheels, the nipples are at the hub which decreases the rotating weight but makes truing the rear very difficult without removing the freewheel. Despite that one drawback, I'm very happy with them.

I love my panaracer pasela tourguards 700x32.

Mine came with Bontrager SSR wheels, and Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase 700x28 tires. The tires seem good and durable so far. I'm guessing the wheels are a tad heavy compared to a good aftermarket wheel, but I haven't done much research on it yet. I know the value of lightweight wheels from my motorcycle racing background, I'm guessing it's the same on bicycles. Anyone have recommendations on a light wheelset for a Trek 7.6fx?

Raleigh Superbe 700 X 32C Continental Touring tires on Mavic Touring wheels. It replaced a stock steel 590mm steel wheelset and tires. Yes, I hybridized the old three speed and now its a 7 speed bike.

My Trek 7.5 FX came with cheap Bontrager wheels and 700 X 32C Race Lite Hardcase tires. The front wheel had 20-paired spokes built radial. The rear was 24 spokes X2, also paired. Simply put - they had to go. So I found some Mavic A719 rims on sale for $55/each. Got some Shimano Ultegra hubs - also on sale - and DT double-butted 14-15-14 spokes.

I built these as 32-spoke X3 laced. Much better!

I've been running Continental Top Contact tires,,,,, like them a lot and they roll very quick,,, even thou that sounds funny, they are a fast tire,,,,,,

Oh yeah - I've tried a bunch of tires in the 700 X 28C profile. The Panaracer Pasela TourGuard were very nice tires - nimble and quick. But my current favorite is the Rivendell Ruffy Tuffy, which are made in Japan for Rivendell by Panaracer. These are stated as 700 X 27C. But they measure 29.2mm fully inflated to 90psi on my bike. They have a 2mm Kevlar-belt:

http://www.rivbike.com/products/list/tires_tubes_pumps_patches?a=1&page=2#product=10-043

My Trek 7.5 FX came with cheap Bontrager wheels and 700 X 32C Race Lite Hardcase tires. The front wheel had 20-paired spokes built radial. The rear was 24 spokes X2, also paired. Simply put - they had to go. So I found some Mavic A719 rims on sale for $55/each. Got some Shimano Ultegra hubs - also on sale - and DT double-butted 14-15-14 spokes.

I built these as 32-spoke X3 laced. Much better!

Sounds good, but I don't know what any of that means! :lol: I wouldn't know where to begin buying wheel components and building the wheels from scratch, as far as which hubs would fit my bike and that sort of thing. Any recommendations on a set of lighter and stronger wheels I can buy complete or where I can order a set of wheels built to my specs? What is X2 vs. X3? Double-butted spokes? I assume "paired" are the spokes being mounted in pairs rather than spaced evenly around the wheel? Is there a good summary of the wheel terminology/technology somewhere I can read?

Just as RAM is the easiest and most effective upgrade for a computer, so is a wheelset for a bicycle. Many companies keep the stock cost down on new bikes by starting with inexpensive wheels.

This is a link to sheldon brown's site about wheel building.
http://www.sheldonbrown.com/wheelbuild.html

My experience is that its not as difficult as it is complicated and intimidating. There is a fair amount of mathimatical figuring involved and there are a few resources online to help, as long as you are using "compatable" parts.

I've been wanting to build up a new set for a few years now, but I've not been able to find the proper spoke measurements for the rim and hub combination that I've purchased.

To me the cross patterns are very important. I'm still quite timid when it comes to radial lacing, and 4 cross seems excessive (to me anyway). The only wheelset I've comissioned has been a fixie set with 3x that the guy was going to build radial front and 2x rear.

I recently found an old, still in good shape wheels with RSX 7sp hubs and mavic cxp21 rims to put on my 750, but I still need to rebuild my old campy set for my roadie.

As for tires, I'm riding vittoria 23 rubinos and rubino techs (armoured sidewalls) and serfas seca fps 23s on my roadie and fixie. I've run 38s-23s on my hybrid and have some vittoria zaffino 28s on order, but my favorite tires were the avocet cross Ks that I ran on my mtb as well.

I replaced the excellent standard Kenda tires on my Raleigh Route 4 with Vittoria Randonneur tires. They roll a bit smoother. I'll put the Kendas back on when the weather gets wet.

I've been buying the Nashbar 700X38 "comfort road (http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product_10053_10052_174913_-1_201492_10000_201496)" tire for my hybrid when they are on sale for $9.99 (like now).

They have proven to be a good value in my opinion.

I am a huge fan of Schwalbe tires... I have Marathons on my hybrid, fixed touring bike, and longbike and run Schwalbe Hurricanes on my UAV (http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikepics/uav1.jpg).

I also fitted Marathons to my folder prior to selling it as the fellow who bought it wanted a bombproof commuter.

Marathons are little heavier but roll out very smoothly and are bulletproof... they are the most popular tire sold at our shop as despite the price, people like the peace of mind they give.

I recently went down to 700x28c Specialized All Condition Armadillos and I'm happy with them. They are more like road tires, so gravel trails are out for now. I'm going for speed ... :D

The sidewalls say 100 psi but I crank those babies up to 120 psi cuz I read somewhere they could take it. That pressure does require cloth tube liners though!!!!!!

I have a set of Schwalbe Marathon when I need wide tires, but if I am just road riding with no additional weight, I run the Bontrager Race Lite Hardcase 700-28's, but after 2700 miles, I had to replace them, so I moved my hardcase 25's from my road bike and using them now. Great tires.

After my first tire on my Jamis Coda got cord damage from running over some debris, I tried some more commuter specific tires in the same size (28mm)...they were heavy and slow, due to both weight and low pressure capacity (87psi), and didn't handle all that well, so I looked to see what other 28mm tires could hold similar amounts of pressure (120psi) as the stock and came up with few choices (Panaracer Pasela for one) and decided that for the cost ($15), the stock tires, Vittoria Zaffiro, were just fine for my needs. One nice thing is, that if something seems a bit marginal (like a minor cut) you don't mind tossing a cheap tire to avoid any potential risks.