rumrunn6

I don't know but the question sounds familiar. I seem to remember someone else asking the same question last year but I don't remember what section / sub-forum he question was posed. I'm sure there is some BF member who knows, you might try the MECHANICS sub-forum. BTW; when it comes to bikes there doesn't seem to be any silly questions, cuz bikes in general leave them self open to transformation and re-engineering, making them as unique as their rider!

tatfiend 

Take a tire off and measure your wheel width between the inside beads on the rim. Then compare it with the ISO recommendations on the Schwalbe web site. Some MTB rims are as narrow as 17mm which will take a 23mm to 25mm tire. MTB rims can vary enormously in inside width though.

https://www.schwalbetires.com/tech_in...dimensions#rim

NormanF

Get BIG slicks! The Big Apple or Fat Frank from Schwalbe will do.

I don't recommend road type tires for the MTB. The ride is harsh and unpleasant with a rigid fork and barely tolerable with a suspension fork.

Shimagnolo

Huh?
With 26" x 1.25" tires on my non-suspension mtn bike, it rides like my touring bike with 700 x 32mm tires,
and corners far better than with fat tires.

hairytoes

I wouldn't go smaller than 1.25" (32mm) on an mtb, not because of vibration, but because of handling.

The front geometry (trail, etc) has been worked out for 1.5-2.5" tyres. You drop below 1", and it will not be good.

I had a lovely 26" bike, built for 2" tyres. I fitted 1.2" slicks (continental sport contacts; they claim to be 1.3" but measure skinnier) for speed. Sure, it went fast. However, at speeds over 30mph shimmy kicked in. Switched to 1.8" tyres - no shimmy. I found that anything below 1.5" seriously affected handling at speed.

nelson249

Continental 26" x 1.9" Town and Country Tires on a decent ATB wheelset. Geez the old Mongoose flew on these.

BlazingPedals

Back to my previous post, I'm not aware of any mountain-bike 26" tires in 23mm. So asking if any rims will accept a 23mm tire is kind of pointless. One of my recumbents has a Velocity Aero rim, and it takes a 25x559 tire just fine. If you're asking about 650C tires, then you'll have to change your rims and deal with moving your brake pads out out 6mm. Almost all 650C tires are 23mm, and are considered a 26" size; but are not compatible with MTB rims.

NormanF

In my experience, the Continental 1.0" slicks made in the 559 size were the worst tires ever.

I could feel my teeth rattling and the road chatter was bad. A suspension fork barely eased it.

Balloon slicks for me are faster and more comfortable.

Abe_Froman

I just bought an old Trek 850 I'm planning on using for a winter bike this year, and was thinking of those tires for it actually. I saw a bike outside a brewery by my place with those tires and went "hrmmmmmm." They do look like they roll fast as the tread sort of joins in the center of the tire, but there is SOME tread so it might be slightly helpful in the snow?

Darth Lefty 

There are a ton of options in 1.5-1.75 in, but 23mm is pretty tiny for a MTB rim. I'm pretty sure I remember one popular option though, maybe I can find it after some Googling.

Edited: Continental makes several 28-559 tires. In order from lightest to toughest, Grand Prix, Grand Prix GT, Gatorskin

I also had the experience of spinning out with a MTB drivetrain and slicks on a slight downhill, and hunting between the top two rings at cruise. I fixed it by getting a "bigger" crankset that was basically the same style but for hybrids (48-38-28 instead of 42-32-22), and a wider cassette to get the low end back.

If I were buying today I'd try big Marathons, the reviews and data convince me. I had Specialized armored tires before and they weren't my favorite.

fietsbob

Why give up the comfort of a wide low pressure tire ? get some rather expensive Compass cycles 559 tires
They are reported to ride Super.


You could Hire a custom built wheel and specify a Narrow enough Rim and then fit a 32 wide ..

Need a really quite narrow rim for a 23 wide ..


at LBS they can get Wheels built up at their wholesalers and so use parts at their price , not full retail.
so those wheels are made to order then shipped to the shop..




'/,

ThermionicScott 

The options for 26"-wheeled bikes have gotten a lot better in the 6 years since this thread was started!

Darth Lefty 

i guess I was fooled by the Octoberness of it

ThermionicScott 

Wasn't trying to sass you personally about the thread being bumped, but your post was a good one to piggyback on.

Darth Lefty 

26ers are dead, Scott, hadn't you heard?

ThermionicScott 

Necromancy is no fun otherwise!

bikemig 

This has been my experience as well. MTBs handle better with a 26 x 1.5 than with a narrower tire, say a 26 x 1.25. YMMV.

fietsbob

Yea, Reducing the wheel diameter also reduces the trail , by getting closer to where the 2 lines cross above the ground plane.

Pneumatic trail, size of the contact patch, changes too . handling gets Buggered with.

mrz80

Awww, are they really? I just this week determined that there was still a ridable Trek 6000 under that mountain-bike shaped pile of cobwebs in the garage! Rode to work on it a couple days this week, and other than needing to put a rack on it so I can shuck the backpack, I just need to change out the tires. 2" knobbies on pavement (even bad pavement) is NOT the way to go! Was looking at something like the Serfas Drifter in 26x1.5; the reviews on Amazon look good, and only 30 clams each ain't too much money to spend.

Azreal911

I bought a pair of these and it is a very different and faster acceleration than my truck like feel when i had schwalbe fat franks:

Schwalbe Durano Folding Road Tyre - RaceGuard | Chain Reaction Cycles

it's very nimble. just changing out the tires and tubes i lost 3.6lbs hahahah! friends tried my bike before and thought what the hell it's sooo hard to pedal up to speed.

also if you buy these get at least 4 schwalbe 1" tubes for it cause it's not that common here and it will push it almost over the free shipping limit.

I've put these on my 1997 wheeler, which I replaced my front shock back to a rigid fork and it rides great now. off road i'll just throw the fat franks on. used 26" wheels with 7 speeds are dirt cheap here on kijiji

av1

Over a 1200km with a pair of Schwalbe duranos 1.1 on a 24 years old 26 inch steel ATB, so far not a single flat. The other bike is tange 26 inch 94' Scott with similar slicks - Conti GP 4000 1,1 - over 700km so far, no flats, feels maybe a bit faster than duranos. If I need a more comfort ride, a pair of 1,6 slicks is better.

Doug5150

Yea but I only ride on "double-supple" tires and Compass tires are merely "supple".

It's just advertising and I've never tried any, but he sure likes that term don't he?
Compass tires are thin, somewhat-large and (if you follow his advice) not inflated real high. There's lots of cheaper tires you could do that with.

If one wants "street" tires for a 559 MTB, I'd suggest the 1.5" wide Kenda Kwests.
They're pretty cheap and there is a 100-PSI version, tho you really only need to pump them up to 60-70 PSI or so.
The Kwests are not especially light-weight, but even they are much lighter than a 2.1" knobby. The first time you try them you'll feel like you are ready for the Olympics.