Recreational & Family - Finally In The Market For My First Set Of Tires

I'm in the market for the first time for tires. The size I need is 26X2.0. I'm going to bicycle shops and doing searches on Google to compare. My riding is on paved trails only. While there are so many brands and types I like the Serfas Drifter city bicycle tire. Very affordable also. If interested please visit my website for lots of photos and info on Florida paved trails: http://www.trailviewmount.com Good luck.

If you ride exclusively on paved trails, you might consider a skinnier, higher pressure tire. Something around 1.5-1.7 at 75psi would roll well without many drawbacks. I haven't noticed much difference among brands, but size and pressure matter a lot.

I agree that with Velo Dog about the tire size; I'd go smaller than the 2" width that you mentioned, but that's totally up to you.

I've gotten great results from these michelin tires-
http://www.rei.com/product/774366/michelin-city-trekking-bike-tire-26-x-14-185
They were a bit too "sticky" feeling at first (lots of grip on the pavement) but have broken in to a real nice ride and seem to be holding up fairly well.

My touring bike came with these Contis-
http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/continental-city-contact-tire-26-inch
These things have been AWSOME! They ride great, seem to energetically repel pokie shaped road debris, and are proving to be long lasting (4,000 miles and the tread still look good).

Conti Ultra Gatorskins have been great on my road bike; they are apparently also available in 26" size.

If it's just paved trails I'd consider a slick 26 x 1.5 or so. Should be easy to get each for < $25.

I've used the Serfas drifter in 1.50" and it was a wonderful improvement over the wider tires I was using.
I've since gone to a 1.25" wide tire and it..........

http://www.biketiresdirect.com/product/geax-street-runner-tire

Inexpensive, but you pretty much need to buy a floor pump to keep them topped off. Well worth it though.

I bought the Serfas tires for $28 each idc. Free shipping. No sales tax. A pretty good deal. Thanks for the info Bill. I have a Craftsman 4 Gallon Portable Twin Tank Side Stack Compressor for airing up before my excursions. 100 feet of hose is perfect also. Thanks for all the info here guys. http://www.trailviewmount.com/

Which size?
If you got the Sefas, you really don't need a high end pump, since their max is around 65 PSI. I actually pumped mine to 70.

For real skinny tires that take upwards from 100 psi, it's simply faster to top them off with a GOOD floor pump than waiting forever for your compressor to get almost enough pressure to make the air flow INTO the tire and not the other way.

26X2.0 Bill. So if you have the Serfas also you probably like them OK yes Bill?

I think you need to read my first post again.
The Serfas are sitting in the corner because I wanted something easier to pedal.

Rolling resistance isn't really determined by tire size. Build quality, tread pattern and tire profile play much more important roles in making a tire easy to push. Round profile slick or semi-slick tires will give the best results around the city. Tire width on a round profile tire doesn't add lots of rolling resistance and a larger width does offer better float in crushed stone, sand and gravel. More expensive tires can have a better build quality and actually weigh less in a larger size than narrower lower grade tires. Bicycle tires are becoming like bikes - more sophisticated.

Bigger tires weigh more than smaller tires.
Heavier tires take more effort to accelerate.
Unless you are "road cruising", skinny tires save a lot of effort. They are also more "aero" for road cruising.
It all adds up.

Bigger tires weigh more than smaller tires.
Heavier tires take more effort to accelerate.
Unless you are "road cruising", skinny tires save a lot of effort. They are also more "aero" for road cruising.
It all adds up.

I guess some of that's true some of the time. But last time I checked 'aero' and tires contributed less than a couple percent and only at speeds over 40km/hr.


I'll agree that tire you're using is lighter than some I have, but not much. And the numbers are interesting so I'll post them:

Those Geax Street Runners are available in both 26 x 1.25 and 26 x 1.6 sizes and are listed at 510g and 580g. The Geax Tattoos I'm running are 26 x 2.3in and weigh 530g. Bigger than either Street Runner and lighter than the 1.6in size. I also suspect that the 120TPI casing in the Tattoos will make them faster than the Street Runners which have only 27TPI. Probably incidental in a Recreational and Family Forum anyway.

Compared to the weight of some other stuff added voluntarily (fenders, water bottles, barends) I don't think any tire weight difference is really significant. Personally I moved from a narrower tire to these because they'll let me drive faster over poor road conditions period.

And I guess if weight was a real issue I could look at some Marathon Supremes at 26 x 1.6in and 440g but think I kinda like the Geax Tattoos overall.

When I went from the 26x1.50 Serfas Drifters to the 26x1.25" Street Runners, my "cruise" speed went up about 1.5-2MPH.
THOSE are numbers that MEAN something.
I have to admit, I was extremely surprised, since I was expecting maybe .5MPH?

Awwwww come on Bill .... If you're saying my numbers don't mean anything you'll make them feel slighted and discriminated against!

OK so seriously, I'm glad you found a product you're happy with, just surprised that outside a competitive environment you could record any difference at all. Particularly since the reduced overall wheel diameter will cause you to run out of gearing sooner and reduce your top end.


On the other hand, my own cruising speed has been limited by things like legal speed limits and the people I ride with rather than tire size. On the bicycle paths here the speed limit is 20km/h and if traffic is heavy it's tough to do that do I'll often hit the street instead. But there the speed limit in most of this area is still only 30km/h (scenic touristy area) and I only hit a couple 50km/h streets if I head downtown on a few of the main arteries. Regardless of that, and in spite of stopping at all stop signs, my average speed last year was 23.4 and 23.6 km/h over a 2,500km total distance on two 26in bikes so don't feel those 'fat' tires are holding me back any. I also like a size that'll let me do some gravel and unpacked trails.


But I was at least a little curious so checked out the Schwalbe website, specifically at their fastest competition grade city/touring tires in a 26in size. Apparently none of them are even available in a size as narrow as 26 x 1.25. On the other hand they all cost a lot more than $20.00 each too. I really wish that real-world performance came cheaply but apparently it doesn't and since I started riding on high end tires I'm very reluctant to go back. They give better ride performance and in most cases last so much longer that they're not really all that much more expensive on a cost per year basis.


But your priorities may be different and the main objective should be to have fun anyway.

Being I'm in my mid 60's with emphysema and a bad knee, I don't run out of gearing.
I only ride in relative flat areas, so I use "corncob" cassettes on my 2 bikes.
A 12-23 on one and a 12-21 on the other. That allows me to keep my cadence in a very narrow range that works for "my motor".

Sometimes I have VERY stiff headwinds. Enough so, that anything that helps the aero is beneficial.
It's a lot of small things I do, but they do add up.