MIN 

I just bought a 07 Lemond Poprad with Bontrager 700x34c tires. Not having owned a cross bike previously, I wonder if people can chime in with their view of its performance. (Regarding the tires.)

The rolling resistance seemed heavy on flat pavement but I'm wondering if that's specific to this tire or something that plagues all 34+c tire designs.

I rode 80 miles in the wet pavement on Sunday (Livestrong Portland) and it was (1) extremely comfortable, (2) extremely heavy-feeling and (3) good traction in grass and hard pack dirt and muddy conditions.

I'm not wanting to swap these tires.. just want to see if there would be any difference with other likely candidates. (Michelin Muds, WTB, Schwalbes)

gobes

I've ridden the bontrager that came on my trek xo2 (I think they're the same ones that you have) and some ritchey speedmax tires.
I think that the bontrager tires are pretty good in the dirt. I feel like the hook up pretty well in loose turns, a little better than the ritcheys. With the aggressive tread on the bontragers they're not going to be great for riding on the pavement though.
For riding on pavement, grass, and dirt (not mud) something like the michelin jets would probably be better. The muds are a pretty aggressive tread so not great on pavement.

i_r_beej

Is it the Jones CX or the Jones CXR?

My 06 Poprad came with the Jones CX. A good tire for dry hard-pack conditions-- the kind of course conditions that Bontrager himself experiences in NorCal. Not so good for the mucky conditions up here in the PNW.

Knobby tires are going to feel "heavy" on pavement-- they're made for off-road primarily.

If you are going to be riding your Poprad on the road mostly, but want a tire that will handle dirt roads, gravel roads, etc then look for a so-called "trekking" tire. These are tires with a heavy road tread and thick carcass that are designed for touring and riding on unimproved roads, cobblestones, farm roads, etc.

flargle

For road and occasional offroad, something like the Panaracer Pasela (28C through 35C, the 37C is a different tread pattern) will work great.

MIN 

It appears that the tires are the Jones Cross. At 350 grams, the weight is respectable because I've seen 700x35c slicks go for over 500 grams.

The pavement rolling resistance is certainly high because I hear them buzzing at 15+ mph.

flargle

I've just ordered a pair of Avocet Cross II in 32C for my all-rounder/pit bike. They seem like a good compromise between roll-ability on pavement and traction on dirt. I'll drop a mini-review after they arrive.

grahny

+1... the Jones CX tires are excellent on dry hard-packed and gravel fire roads. Not as good in the mud. They will cruise on the hard-packed trails... I can hold upper 20's no problem riding those tires offroad on long fire roads.

acorn_user

I have Panaracer Urban Maxx on my bike. They are not great at tight corners offroad, but fine for anything short of cross racing. I am trying out some Michelin semi-slicks, and the are not great on road. The knobs pick up going round corners and ruin the handling. Nice off road though. IMHO, buy some proper road tyres unless you do a lot of fast offroad. I crossed the alps on Kenda Eurotrek..

Recommend Schwalbe Marathon with reflective sidewall. Lovely tyre.

arctic hawk

Bontrager CX Jones came with the Trek XO1 that I bought in '03. I kinda liked them!

MIN 

I just checked:

The tires are actually Jones CXR but I don't know how that's different from the Jones CX.

grahny

The tread design on the CXR is completely different, and they come in 34 (I think the CX was in 30 & 32 - I have 32's). Looks like they were changed for dealing with the mud:

CXR


CX

gobes

The CXR is what came on my '07 XO2.