Originally Posted by
zzMike
I have a mountain bike with knobby tires that I would like to change out to something a little more road-friendly. The tires are currently 26x1.95. Should I look for something with that same size or are road tires different sizes? Also, does anyone have recommendations on a decent low cost road friendly tire?
A lot will depend on what you mean by "road friendly". Are you looking to ride on the road exclusively (i.e. you don't need any grip in mud etc at all), or wanting something that will offer some grip in the mud but give you some speed on the road?
I used Schwalbe Marathon Plus tyres from the point I bought my mountain bike. When the rear tyre was worn to the point of sliding all over the place I replaced it with a Marathon Extreme. The front Plus tyre is still going strong and when it wears out I'll probably replace it with either another Plus or something like a Dureme or Extreme. I don't know I'd call the Marathon series "low cost" although all things are relative.
Both my tyres give reasonable grip in mud although will struggle if there's loads of mud. Both are fine on surfaces like dirt, gravel etc. Both are fine on the road - on paved roads that are essentially flat I can maintain 15mph or so and I'm far from an Olympic athlete.
If what you're looking for is something for speed on the road and never plan to go off-road at all you can probably get something faster.