explorer76

Hi All I am a newbie biker and need some advice. For over a year I have owned a 2011? Raleigh Venture that I bought used. I believe it is what they call a comfort bike with 26x1.95 comfort tires like the ones in the link below:

Kenda K841 A Komfort Tire - 26 x 1.95

Until about a couple of months ago I was only using my bike for something like 3-5 miles per day. However recently I have started to enjoy biking quite a bit more and now plan to occasionally do 20-30 miles trips with some friends. While getting a better hybrid is not financially viable right now, I though I could at least switch to tires which might be more appropriate for longer trips. With that thought I went to my LBS and they replaced my tires with Kenda Kwest 26x1.5 tires:

https://www.amazon.com/Kenda-Kwest-Co.../dp/B001DUBSZM

However I have now noticed that there are two version of these tires. The ones is the link above go up to 100 PSI but the one that the LBS folks have fit are the "standard" pressure ones with a maximum suggested pressure of 65PSI which is basically the same as I had with my older 26x1.95 tires. I have read somewhere that switching to narrower tires without an increase in tire pressure is not very useful and can even make it harder in some cases. I am wondering if that's true and if I should go back to the bike shop and ask them to switch these to the 100PSI version? What should I expect from my new 26x1.5 65PSI tires vs my older 26x1.95 65 PSI tires and vs the 26x1.5 100PSI version. Would greatly appreciate some insights here!

headloss 

It's hard to say anything definitive without riding your bike, but 65# is sufficient. My current tires which are 700c x 33mm @70#. Before that I was running 700c x 28mm at 100#... honestly, there isn't much difference in my speed. There are a lot of factors besides just pressure. I would NEVER run a 26 x 1.5" tire at 100#; I doubt I'd go higher than 80# at the absolute most.

catgita

The tire pressure should be proportional to the width of the tire and the load it is carrying. https://www.bikequarterly.com/images/BQTireDrop.pdf
For a 1.5" tire at 65psi that would support a rider in the 240# range. If you weigh less, you are suffering needlessly.

This being said, the Kwest is the slowest tire I have ever tried. If you don't have major problems with goats heads or glass I would suggest a Panaracer Pasela as an affordable, very smooth riding and very fast tire that is right at home on a hybrid. It would blow your mind how much difference a tire like this can make, even in the same size. You will ride 20% faster for the same effort.

Little Darwin

I would agree with the above comments. Pressure is only part of the equation. Nice tires make a difference. While I enjoy my 700c Kendas, they are higher end (120 tpi casings). They roll better than higher pressure narrower cheap tires based on my experience.

If harder narrower tires automatically meant faster, the pros would ride pencil thin solid rubber tires.

Bill Kapaun

I went from knobbies to 1.5" tires. I then went to 1.25" and they were faster/easier yet.
I have been quite pleased with these to the point I've already bought replacements which won't be needed for another 3-4 years.

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...et-runner-tire

BTW, I weigh about 240-250 and no problems.
I air them up to about 90 PSI and top them off every couple weeks when they are down to about 75.

explorer76

Thanks for all the great advice! I really appreciate that.

@headloss: Thanks for that info. Good to know that 65PSI should be sufficient.

@catgita: This is interesting data (though It seems to only go about as far as 37mm). I am in the 240lb range, so that puts me exactly where I should be with my new tires it seems. I will look into Panaracer Pasela but I have to first learn how to change my own tires Can't afford to pay the bike shop everytime I get new tires.

@Little Darwin: Understood! I have definitely felt a fair bit of improvement in last couple of weeks just by adjusting my seat height to a more appropriate level. My goal is not really to be faster, I just want to be able to survive for longer distances

@Bill: Thanks for sharing your experience! I will keep these tires in mind. Though I wonder if these might be too narrow for my rim?

Any verdict from any of you guys on how much of a difference I could expect from my newer 26x1.5 tires compared to my older 26x1.95 tires both at the same pressure. Apart from the size there is also the difference in the older ones having the knobby threads and the newer ones having a mostly smooth surface. I am riding 95% on roads - no rough trails etc., at least yet.

Little Darwin

It is really hard to quantify how much improvement you can expect. You can tell quickly if you like the feel of a particular tire, but speed and endurance are harder to be precise.

For my riding, I don't notice much of a difference between hybrid type tires and slicks... there is some difference, just not a lot. If you were moving from a full mountain bike tire the difference would be more pronounced.

My guess is that my higher end tires (Clement X'Plor UST, with a little tread and 35 mm width) would outperform a narrower low end slick tire, even on the road... but, I could be wrong.

As far as pressure, you do need to be cautious, You may not want to run a narrower tire at the same pressure, especially if on rough roads, or if you are a heavy rider... narrower tires require higher pressure to have the same level of protection from pinch flats.

dynaryder

I've owned several bikes with those tires;they're not awesome,but they're not total crap either.

You said you 'read things',what's really important is your actual experience. How do you like the tires? How well do they ride? Do you feel like they're dragging you down,or does the bike feel livelier than before? That's what's important.

As for swapping to the 100psi models,I wouldn't. They're intended for performance riding with recumbents using 26" wheels and full-suspension MTB's ridden on the street.

Steve Urquell

Explorer, my first bike in over 20yrs of not riding was a 7 speed Wal-Mart bike with cheap 45psi 2.0" "comfort" street tread tires on it. It handled like a cement truck. I switched to the Kenda Kwest 1.5" recumbent tires, aired to 80psi. That bike took on new life and I was able to ride twice as far with the same effort. It also lost 2lbs of tire and tube.

I sold that bike to a guy at work. He didn't want to spend much $$ so I changed the tires back to those cheapo 2". I rode the bike from the parking lot to our building and it felt like it was in the hardest gear--7, looked down and it was in granny gear--1. It felt that different.

I knew within 10ft how different those tires were. Sounds like you haven't ridden since the changeover. Hop on and see what you think.

explorer76

For my older 1.95 tires, 65PSI worked best for me. When they were at a lower pressure like 50PSI I could feel a clear increase in resistance and it became harder for me to ride. This is why I was thinking that the narrower 1.5 tires would need more pressure. However the advice in this thread suggests that for my weight and tire width, 65PSI should be about the right pressure for my new tires as well.

explorer76

dynarider and steve, you are right that the real test is in riding. I have been using the new tires for about a week and so far do not have a clear opinion on what I have and have not gained. My daily "commute" is only 1.5miles one way / 3 miles total, so perhaps not a big enough distance to make a great assessment. Nevertheless in the first couple of days of the daily riding and some test rides around the neighborhood, I felt that the new tires were a bit better when I had to go up an incline, though in some area it even felt that they perhaps took a touch more effort than the older ones. Either way there was no clear "yes I could feel these are better" feeling. And that's also why I made this post, to understand what I should and should not expect.

Over the weekend I took these for an 18 mile ride with my friends and things went fine. However this is not a route where I have taken my old tires, so cant compare. After that ride I increased my seat height and that did make a positive difference in last couple of days. On Tuesdays I have a longer commute (4-miles one way / 8 miles total) which is a better comparison point. And this tuesday I did feel a clear difference compared to previous weeks, but it is hard for me to say how much of that is due to new seat position vs the new tires. So in short I can't quite tell if I have gained much from going to the new tires or not.