jerrduford

So I've recently started mountain biking. I gave a road bike a shot and hated how bad. It beat. me up even on decent roads here in Michigan, and do plan to do some off roading.

I have a raleigh talus 29r 2012.
got it a few days ago, running stock everything.

what would be a good city tire for me? I was looking at https://m.rei.com/mt/www.rei.com/prod...y-tire-29-x-20
for increasing my road efficiency. good idea? something better?

is the energy lost. due to front suspension reason enough to lock it out and let my ass get a bit more beat up? no serious math needed.

looking for a good pair of. value bike shorts. I'm on a budget after having just bought the bike.

jerrduford

phone was acting up.

also, is it ever recommended for city or dirt traveling to go much. above or below the listed tire pressures?

I'm running the stock at their max right now for road until I get in more appropriate shape for offroading

JonathanGennick 

Where in Michigan are you? Am just curious. I live here too.

Don't worry about "appropriate shape" for off roading. No need. Just go. Ride at your own pace. Find a trail that you can enjoy. And go.

That Sefas tire is probably fine for pavement. I've a similar, reverse-treaded tire -- Halo Twin Rail -- that I bought a couple years back. Right now I'm using a set of Specialized Burrough XC tires on my "road bike". I am going to eventually switch back to a set of Bontrager XR-1s that have teeny knobs similar to the Kenda Small Block Eight. The XR-1s are surprisingly good on pavement, and they play well on dirt roads and double-track too.

I rarely run my tires at max pressure. Right now, on the bike I have set up for pavement, I have the pressure midway between the min and max printed on the tire. I just picked that point as an experiment this spring.

The front fork has nothing to do with your arse and more to do with your wrists. Try locking it out to see whether you like it better that way. And take your weight slightly on your feet and pedals when you see a bump coming. That way the seat won't slam you in the backside so much.

And most important: drop by the forums often .

jerrduford

I'm in the Grand Rapids area
I think any tires geared towards road (especially the inverted ones) would make my commute easier.
The stock tires. on the talus 29r are pretty aggressive treaded and make some noise on pavement.

In regards to the lockout I was more concerned about energy conservation. any roadie will tell you the shocks in mtbs decrease. efficiency.. was curious if it was a significant difference to lockout instead.

The reason I mentioned my physical condition is because I've worked at McDonalds for a few months.. enough said. my buddies are still very in shape and biking lol. but I'll head out by myself anyways

I might also look into the tires you mentioned.

thanks a bunch for the info

JonathanGennick 

Noise means you're losing energy. Those tires you linked to earlier would almost surely make for a noticeable improvement.

Do you have a lockout switch on your fork? Turn the switch. Try the fork both ways. See what you like. Personally, I do not like suspension on pavement. I've actually been riding without suspension on the trails this season.

If you haven't already done so, pay a visit to mmba.org. MMBA = Michigan Mountain Biking Association. The site has active forums. I believe there's a trail directory. Plenty of mountain bikers in your area for you to meet and get connected with.

jerrduford

yeah that's why I figured I'm working way harder than necessary on pavement, I'll do a bit more searching, it's difficult to find 29 in road tires.

I do have a lockout, I just prefer the shocks because it seems to save on the butt for a few bumps right now (going to look at shorts today). but if I can do less work on pavement by locking them out then I'm all for it.

and thanks greatly for the resources

JonathanGennick 

Anything 700c that is reasonable width will work. Don't go crazy skinny like on a road bike, because your rims are too wide.

Here's a link to 700c commuter tires:

https://www.universalcycles.com/shopp...p?category=590

Scads of them to choose from. I'd stay in the 32mm and higher widths for mountain-bike rims.

jerrduford

aaahhh there we go. I didn't realize 700c was roughly the same as 29in

JonathanGennick 

No "roughly" about it. The "bead seat diameter" is the crucial measurement, and it is identical.

In Europe, it is common to see touring tires marked as 28" tires. That is because a reasonably wide touring tire mounted onto a 700c rim will more or less measure out at around 28".

Mountain bike tires are wider, tend to be taller, and possibly for marketing reasons as well the term 29er caught on.

The one thing to keep an eye on is rim width. Touring tires and mountain bike tires are wider than roadie tires. I have some 28mm-wide mountain-bike rims. It would be sort of silly of me to mount a 22mm-wide road-bike tire on those rims, even though the bead seat diameter would allow me to do so. Likewise, I have a 17mm rim around here somewhere. I could cram a 29er mountain-bike tire on it, but I'd probably pinch flat a lot.

So bead seat diameter is the crucial thing, but you also generally want your tire to be reasonably wider than your rim.

cc700

i have no experience to actually give advice from when it comes to mountain biking... but i am an avid commuter, cyclocross racer and bike shop employee.

basically, you have a mountain bike. it will never be as good or efficient on road as something rigid with better road geometry. make sure you don't lock out the fork and then take a curb drop, or you can damage the lockout. that fork isn't a high-end piece and while the lockout works, it will blow out fairly easily if you lock it out and then it takes big hits.... and then you will never have lockout again.

my real advice here is basically what someone else said:

stop worrying about all the things that you're inventing to keep you from riding, and just go out and ride.

find trails, ride them, challenge yourself, go at your own pace and learn... but whenever you find yourself hesitating or deciding you're not 'ready' in one way or another, consider it.

i'm not saying you should throw yourself down a double black run at whistler just yet, but not riding dirt because you think your fitness isn't up to it is self-defeating.

start riding dirt. you will very quickly gain fitness, and there's really no better way to get there than by just doing it. find riding buddies to help give you pointers, and actually do some dirt trails and even mountain features with technical difficulty.

you have to try to get anywhere, and you will fail. the sooner you get to it, the better you'll be. if you fall down 8 times, get up 9, and so on. but just do it.

the one trail i have ridden was awesome and i never would have done it (i figured my dirt jumper wasn't a good bike for it... and i was right, but...) without having a friend take me out and rip it up, and tell me to just stop thinking and go for it.

you have to just stop thinking and go for it, in so many ways with this sport.

it's not like road riding. if you overthink, this happens: https://youtu.be/ZdQeIZ5hWXo

jerrduford

That makes sense, that'll make it much easier to shop. Thanks again

I just want to make sure i fully understand the way the bike works, I've never bought anything more than a wally world special. lol. I look into everything these days.

Probably great advice for me - But I have been riding a LOT, just I haven't had time to take the time and go ride trails (i've been using it as a commuter mostly, 50 miles in the last 3 days hasn't been bad for someone like me.)
I went the mountain route because hybrids aren't really acceptable at either, and mountain at least allows you to both, and can be semi feasible for commuting.

jerrduford

Just coming back in for an update, thanks for the early advice to both of you, haven't been on here lately.
Made the switch to a road bike - Fuji Roubaix 3.0. Got a nice deal and exchange for it at Freewheeler in GR - They treat me well.
I never really offroaded with the Talus so I was just wasting its potential.

Needless to say, I am loving it. I have upped my AVS, and shaved about 5 minutes off my commute. Starting to get into shape for my first century when the weather gets cooler, been putting up to 150 miles a week in though when I have the time.