sillygolem

According to Sheldon Brown, any 26" tire with a decimal size will fit any 26" rim, but narrow tires don't work with wider rims. That's a bit vague.

I have a mountain bike with 26 x 1.95/2.10 (both are listed on the sidewall) tires that I'd like to switch to road tires. Where would the wheel fit on the narrow/wide spectrum?

Would I have problems with 1.5 tires?

Would I have a noticeable speed penalty between 1.5s and something wide and heavy, like a Schwalbe Big Apple or CST Cyclops?

Would cruiser tires also fit? Does their squarish profile affect handling?

dabac

Well if you go to Sheldon on tire sizing and then scroll down to about the last quarter, youll find a chart for recommended rim vs tire width combinations. Stay within that range and you are definitely "safe". There's probably not much risk in straying outside either, but you might want to avoid the extremes. I've had some issues with narrow rims and wide tires that I'd prefer not to encounter again.

You've got to separate tire and rim here. MTB tires for trail use basically run from 1.7 to 2.3, putting your 1.95/2.10 tires smack in the middle of the span. Rider weight, riding style and soil conditions will influence where in the span people stay. For me, my riding buddies and my conditions we tend to use 2.1-2.3. If I'd be riding more hardpack I'd probably look at 1.9-2.1 instead.
Where your rims are, and how narrow/wide it's sensible to go on those we have no way of knowing.

In all probability - no. If you're looking for slicks I'd recommend not going any lower. I ran 1.2 for a season and had quite a bit of problem with snakebite flats when going over curbs. Can't bunnyhop a bike with panniers well enough.

Again, you've got to separate, this time between speed and acceleration. Light tires make the bike feel a lot more nimble when pulling away from standstill, but won't really affect your "cruising" speed.
Sure, a heavy tire can hurt your top speed if you're not done accelerating before you have to slow down the next time. But on a "reasonably" open road, outside race conditions it's pretty much a non-issue.
Big Apple is quite popular, so it has to be doing something right. Lower the pressure and you get a bit of cushioning. At high pressure you're pretty much safe from snakebite flats.

Cruisers and 26" is a bit muddled, so beware. But if it's an ISO (E.T.R.T.O.) 559 mm tire it will at least fit the rim.
It'd definitely still be rideable, but whether you'd notice any particular handling changes is all up to your level of sensitivity and how hard you push the bike. My guess is that as long as you stay on roads and don't go pushing the envelope what you'll notice will be on the level of "different" rather than actual downsides.

HillRider

Bicycle rims and tires are quite tolerant of size "mis-matches" with in relatively wide limits. My Trek MTB came ISO 559 rims and matching tires (by far the most common MTB size) and the tires were 2.0" wide knobbies.

When I "roadified" it with drop bars, etc I fitted 1.25" slicks to the same rims and they worked very well as road tires. They weren't suitable for any significant off-road use but that wasn't their intended use either. Later I switched to 1.5" treaded tires for both road and rail-trail/gravel road use and these also worked well and were a good compromise.

Mad Scientist

I run the 26" version of these:
https://www.conti-online.com/generato...orskin_en.html

They are pretty puncture resistent and roll really nicely. Prior to these, I tried Specialized Fatboys; the GatorSkins feel much better, even at higher pressure.

My rims are either 17 or 19 mm (interior width), so according to Sheldon Brown's chart (https://sheldonbrown.com/tire-sizing.html#width) I'm right around the limit on how narrow I could go. Note that even though the GatorSkins are not given a decimal width, their ETRTO is 559, so they fit my normal 26" wheels.

BCRider

Some of the racing setups used on mountain bikes have 1.95 tire mounted on rims that would be the sort of widths used for 23 to 25 mm road tires if the same extrusion was used in a 700c rim. So you really want to check the rim itself. If it's one of the more narrow types you'll be fine with any of the smooth road tires in the 26 inch size.

Cruiser tires are 26 but they are the "other" 26inch size. The one that uses a different size of rim.

Fat tires like the Big Apple and Kenda K-Rad are fine if you want to do city trials or city jump riding. But for use on a bike that you want to be fast and sporty they fail big time. I put a set of 2.35 K-Rads on a bike and it made it feel so much like I was riding through draggy sand all the time that I was going to sell the bike. I then put some Tioga City Slicer 1.25 width tires on the same bike with no other changes. It was like someone had put a big Hemi engine into the bike. It felt totally lighter and quicker. It was this bike that proved to me that 500 grms of weight on the rims and tires of rotating mass is easily more harmful than 5 kg's of static weight on the frame or in a backpack. So if the idea is to have a fast and sporty city ride then stay light and stay narrow for the tires.

Options that I have personally tried and would suggest without any reservations are Panaracer Pasela 26x1.25, Tioga City Slicker 26x1.25 and Ritchey Tom Slick 26x1.4. The Pasela ends up being the narrowest and most "road bike" like but the Tioga and Ritchey both roll almost as nice and offer a shade more tire section to withstand bumps and bangs.

fietsbob

ISO is an international standards organization
So rims and tires from different sources fit.

It has more accurate meaning than 26 inches..

sillygolem

The general rule of thumb with cars is removing 1lb. of rotational weight is equivalent to 6lbs. of stationary weight (i.e. wheels vs. interior.) The Cyclops weighs just over a kilo.

I've used CST tires close in design to the Pasela (which some believe is made on old Panasonic tooling) for my ten speed and it feels very light, but 1 1/4" is too small to deal with the rough roads in my area. I'll probably opt for 1.95-ish road tires instead of moving up or down a size.

highonpez

This thread is going to make my Schwinn Frontier into a badass commuter/rain bike. Thanks guys.