gnrboyd

Hello,

I'm looking for some advice on some tires for my 2014 Trek FX 7.4. The tires that came with the bike are 700 x 32 Bontrager AW1 Hard Case. I've had the bike about 2 full years now and have 2,400 miles on these tires. (I am not sure if my tires are Hard Case or Hard Case Lite. The tires don't say Lite on them so I assume mine are the regular Hard Case.?)

I recently had a small chunk of the rear tire come out but didn't cause a flat. (The inner portion of the tire was not damaged.) It was actually partially cut several weeks ago by glass but I didn't bother trying to glue it then. (I should have.) The chunk was about 3-4 mm so I cut a small piece of scrap rubber and glued it in with shoe goo. I won't get a chance to try it out until next weekend (weather permitting).

Anyway, in looking at the tire it is starting to flatten out but there still seems to be about 2mm of rubber left. I hope to ride it the rest of the year and then perhaps rotate the tires over the winter to get some additional life out of them. Regardless, I need to start thinking about replacing them somewhere down the line but not sure what to get.

I don't know much about the different tires/sizes/brands/treads etc. and wondering if I am even using the right tire. I don't have experience riding many other bikes so I don't really how to compare it to anything.

I'm 51 and ride just on the weekends for exercise. I normally ride a 33 mile route with 30 of that on a hard packed pea-gravel type of trail and the other 3 on the streets. The trail has it's share of ruts/bumps but overall not too many hazards. I generally average 14-15 MPH. If the trail is wet, I will then ride the streets on occasion but I don't like it so I keep that to a minimum.

I did have one spill earlier this year where my front tire slid in the loose gravel going around a turn so I also wondered if a little better tread pattern would have helped. (Probably not in loose gravel??)

One of my priorities is to keep from getting flats and perhaps a tad bit more tread than the AW1s have. I am not concerned with gaining any more speed. I also am value minded and want the most bang for my buck but without sacrificing too much quality. (Don't we all?) I actually have been pretty happy with the AW1s but then again, I don't have much to compare it to.

I would appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on when (mileage/condition) and what tire to use when I replace them. Thanks!

DorkDisk

Rotating your tires is not a good idea on a bicycle. The front tire requires more traction than the rear. You should always have your best tire possible in the front

Whatever tires you choose, get foldable ones as they weigh less

mickw

I don't have much experience with bikes , but cars and motorcycles , 40 years of selling installing , alignments ,etc.
I searched the bontrager AW1 hardcase , and they seem a bit smooth for what you're doing.
If you're doing much gravel , semi loose surface stuff , a slight tread pattern might be a good thing.
I'm looking at a few tires myself , mostly for puncture resistance , and a bit of tread for water repelling and better bite on looser surfaces.
My search is for 700x40 tires , but the theory is the same , I like the softer ride and my bike came with this size.
The marathon plus tour is a nice combination of very high puncture resistance and some tread.
Your size would be a 700x35c which is close to what you have now.
Marathon Plus Tour HS 404 | Schwalbe North America
I also like the marathon mondial HS 428 for the same reasoning , the wire bead model is still under $43.00 each.
Marathon Mondial HS 428 | Schwalbe North America
The folding bead rolls faster , but double the price is not my focus.
This example gives you some bullet proof durability and increased traction over stock , while being fairly cheap to purchase , probably similar to the bontrager tires pricewise.
I know there's many other tires to pick from , but the schwalbes are pretty universally loved by the touring crowd , and that's a good endorsement for durability most of the time.
I run over an awefull lot of glass and debris that's very sharp , and i'm pretty impressed with my stock tires so far , but I feel my luck running out as time goes on.
Good luck.
Mick

gnrboyd

DorkDisk... I didn't realize that rotating bike tires wasn't a good idea. Thinking about it, it does make sense. Thanks for the tip.

Mick.. Thanks for the 2 tire suggestions. Those are more along the lines of the treads I thought I might be better for the packed pea gravel trail I ride. I am not sure I would want to change to the 35c since I have a 32c now. I assume the 35c would be slightly slower but a bit more comfortable. I'm guessing the bike would handle the bigger tire but I think I'd like to stick with the size it came with. I poked around on the Schwalbe site it seems the choices are endless. This is a good place to start though. Thanks and good luck on your tire search.