What's the range of tire sizes for my bike?
 

I have a Raleigh SC30 bike; 26-inch wheels; and the wheels say Alex X101 on them. I was under the assumption that 26x1.95 was the only size tire that will fit on my bike, but someone on the forums said that's ridiculous; so, how do I determine the range of tire sizes that will fit my bike?

Thank you.

Anything that will fit will fit...seriously, any tire that will fit between the fork blades or chainstays and under the brakes will work fine. You can certainly go down to 1.4 or 1.25 for road tires, which many people do. If you're riding offroad in rocky or sandy conditions, a 2.2 or 2.3 knobby might fit.
There's a chart floating around that shows theoretical minimum and maximum tire sizes for a given rim width, but I've found it to be very conservative. My old Bridgestone mountain bike is a commuter now, with fenders and 1.25-inch road tires, but when it was my main MB it wore 2.2s on the same rims. My Atlantis road bike has had tires from 25mm to 38mm with no problems.
Don't be afraid to experiment. Tires can make an enormous difference in your bike's feel and performance. You may want to use skinnier tubes with very narrow road tires, but I use 1.5 tubes with pretty much everything. Works fine.

I'm considering these http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_23300.shtml or these http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_23300.shtml. I know the list of possible tires will grow, but that's where I'm at right now.

Both those are the same tires, Panaracer Fire XC PRo.
-but anyway-
You can put pretty much any 26" tire on them, as long as it will fit between your brakes and doesn't rub your frame or fork anywhere.

The page on them at Alex ( http://www.alexrims.com/ ) shows them to be about 25mm wide outside, and 20mm wide inside. Rather on the narrow end of things, as I noted in the other thread. It's something of an expensive upgrade, but if you want to run wider tires at lower pressures, it would be worth it to change the rims out to wider rims (at this level it might be cheaper to change out the entire wheels rather than have them laced with new rims). Tell your bike shop that you want "downhill"-width rims, and see whats the cheaper options you have.

This page (Raleigh USA) shows the Raleigh SC30 as being a comfort bike:
http://www.raleighusa.com/items.asp?deptid=6&itemid=169
If yours is the same bike, then you may want to consider that knobby tires don't work so well for pavement riding. They squirm and lose a lot of energy when you pedal hard.
~

[QUOTE=Doug5150]Both those are the same tires, Panaracer Fire XC PRo.[/QUOYE]

Oops...my mistake: these http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_88798.shtml or these http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_23300.shtml

So, if I wanted to take my bike onto bike trails (off-road), what would you advise?

Thank you.

[QUOTE=Mountain_Owl]If you're riding in the mud, you want real knobbies and you just have to accept the fact that they won't ride well on pavement. Tires with widely-spaced knobbies will have a LOT of drag when riding on the street.

If you're just riding on usually-dirt trails, you can get by with a general-sort of tire. The Continental Town & Country is popular in this category and doesn't cost too much:
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...h+Images&gbv=2

Beyond that would be a combination-type tire that has a smoother center section:
Kenda Krisp ATB - http://images.google.com/images?svnu...=Search+Images
Forte Topo FasTrac - http://images.google.com/images?svnu...=Search+Images

If you ride on pavement a lot but still want knobbies anyway, then try to stick with something that has solid closely-spaced knobbies along the centerlike these do:
Forte VersaTrac - http://images.google.com/images?svnu...=Search+Images
Continental Traffic MTB - http://images.google.com/images?svnu...=Search+Images
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Continental SportContact 26x1.3" and 26x1.6" are great tyres. Both will fit nicely on your bike.

LBS-recommended tires
 

I went to my LBS today & told him A.) what I currently have on my bike (Kenda K-847-010 26x1.95 front, Kenda K-847-011 26x1.95 rear) and that I'd like to take the bike onto trails & such. First, he said the tires I have should do the job. Then, when I added that I might want to ride in Bess-than-perfect weather conditions, he recommended the following: Bontrager Connection Trail B's, size 26x1.95, and Michelin Country Trail's, again, size 26x1.95. They were priced at $22 for either one, but the LBS guy preferred the Michelins. Comments on these tires?

Thank you.

Both are semi-knobby tires for trail and path use, the Bontrager ones are 200g lighter wich shouldn't really make any difference.

I found some reviews of the bontrager tire, people seem to like it.

Looks as if the tires you have would be fine for mild off-road use. Have you tried them on trails?

Not just yet.

Commuter / Hybrid / Trekking http://www.kendausa.com/_DOWNLOADS/i...kross_plus.jpg http://www.kendausa.com/_GRAPHICS/clear.gif http://www.kendausa.com/_GRAPHICS/clear.gifKross Plus - Police Version http://www.kendausa.com/_GRAPHICS/clear.gif

• K847

Part# Feature F/R Size Bead SPECIAL 01265184759P F/R 26x1.95 Wire $10

My tires, it seems.