-Joseph

I just picked up a GF Tassajara on the cheap and I want to commute around town with it. It has the traditional nobby MTB tires on it, and being that I am coming from riding a road bike, I hate them. I want smoothies or at least something less agressive and skinnier. Any suggestions? Thanks.

-Joseph

Retro Grouch 

What kind of rims do you have?

There are LOTS of slickish tires in the 1.5" range that will fit virtually any mountain bike rim. There are 26 inch tires available in 1" to 1.25" but I'd check the Sheldon Brown website for rim compatability before commiting myself.

Personally, I use 1.8" Continental Town and Countries on my beater mostly because I like the fat macho look. I think that skinny tires on a mountain bike frame look goofy.

-Joseph

I don't recall seeing a size on the rim. The tires on it are 26x2.1 and they are a bit wider than the rim.

-Joseph

Bill Kapaun

Sounds like a 26x1.50" would be about right.
I use a Serfas Drifter in that size and have no complaints. I air them 5 PSI over max.

CdCf

Continental SportContact 26x1.6". Great tyres and they seem to be very puncture-resistant. Not a single flat in 2000+ miles of city commuting.

scoatw

I use anything cost efficient. Lately I've been going with semi-slicks. I like a little tread for cornering on slick roads. And I don't think that skinny tires on a mountain bike look goofy. Riding knobbies on pavement looks goofier.

Raiyn

Panaracer Pasela TG's will be my next tire.

pluc

I'd recommend Schwalbe Marathon 26x1.5. MSRP is 35$ but I've seen them at 28$.

dayve

I also have a Tassajara. It sees mostly street or dirt road use these days, so I'm considering going with the Michelin Country Rock. At $14/tire, I figure I'm not out too much if I really don't like them.

-Joseph

Thanks for all the replies. I am glad to hear that it is OK to run something kinda skinny and smooth on a mountain bike. I will go to the LBS and see what they have and go from there. Thanks again.

-Joseph

-Joseph

Also, and this may be dumb, but can I reuse the tubes that are in the tires now or should those be replaced also? Thanks again.

-Joseph

Raiyn

Depends on how small you go.

-Joseph

I am figuring on goint to a 1.5" wide.

-Joseph

Raiyn

Should be fine. I've done that in the past.

bdinger

I have a set of Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 26x1.5's on my Specialized MTB, and they roll FAST. Provide enough cushion to not beat you up entirely, and the Armadillo casing is quite nice. I only have a handful of miles on them so far, but impressions are very good.

Sixty Fiver

Schwalbe Hurricanes... 26 by 2's.

Uber fast and still very capable off road... have used them on singletrack a lot.

They have amazing tread life and puncture resistance and have even seen them run on a century when I loaned my wheels and tyres to a friend to use on her touring mtb.

mstrpete

+1 on the Contis. Very good tire. $18.95 each plus shipping here:
https://www.bicycletires.com/bicycle_tires.asp#
I've ordered from this site and got 'em overnight.

Sirrus Rider

I'm partial to Michelin Transworld City in 26 X 1.5 or 26 X 2.1. The latter would give you more "float" over rough surfaces, but a good tire in either size. I also like Continental Town & Countries; however, I haven't had a chance to evaluate a set yet, but I've heard good things.,.

Sixty Fiver

I've put well over 3000 and 300 km on my Hurricanes... you can't tell the difference between the two tyres except that the label on the old tyre is a little more scuffed up.

No flats either... but that seems to be a trait with Schwalbe tyres.

comet the dog

ive got the transworld city tires on my niner 70045s and i cant say i am all that impressed. roll nicely on the pavement but seem to to a magnet for small gravel. having them only a year i have had about 5 to 6 flats less than a 1000 miles. i now have tire liners in.

chephy

I use Schwalbe Marathon slicks. Not the lightest, but durable as heck and quite puncture-resistance. Efficiency-wise, big improvement from knobbies.

Cadfael

Fitting a slicker tire on an MTB is the fast and simple way to turn a mountain bike into a commuter... it is just which tire to go for is the problem... there are so many!

I went for the SCHWALBE Marathon Plus 26x1.35, not to everyone's taste I am sure. They are heavy, they have a slight spongy feel... but I have not had a road debris puncture in 18 months, end of story. They can also handle some off road uses on decent paths and trails, but leave the mud plugging tracks alone with these tires. But if kept up to recommended pressure they are easy to get rolling... and then inertia will take over, and keeping up the speed is easy.

The idea is the layer of blue gel grips and holds any shards of glass and metal that penetrate the outer tread, it will not then puncture the inner tube.

https://www.spacycles.co.uk/products....id=m2b6s142p31

BCRider

Excellent tires. I rode a set on my old Trek 970 for about 4 years until I sold the bike to switch to disc brakes. Speedy tires that I don't even remember ever getting a flat with other than the blown out rim tape... which you can hardly blame the tires for...

I'm sure I did get a flat or two but that's how good the TG kevlar band is. I don't even remember them unlike all my other tires.

To the OP.... if your rims are within a mm or two of roadie rim widths then you can easily get away with super skinny tires. But they don't like hopping curbs at all.

If your rims are a little wider than that or you DO like hopping curbs then a 1.5 to 2.0 smoothie would be great.

And if you like urban assault riding then something more like the Kenda K-Rad tires in the 26 inch sizes will let you jump and bash but still roll pretty good. Not as low a rolling resistance as the other smoothies but pretty good for a smash and bash tire. They are more like a knobbie but without all the squirming in the turns.

https://www.kendausa.com/bicycle/commuter.html#kwest

jgedwa

I love slicks on a MTB.

Continental makes Gatorskins in 26"x1.25", but for some reason they are not listed in the MTB section of the QBP catalogue. Instead they are with the recumbent tires. I love these tires. Not super-light, but they are tough as iron.

The cheapo Forte 1.25s from Performance are also decent. They go on sale for as little as @7 a tire. Very light and seem cheap, but I have run the hell out of them with no flat problems. Plus, they are true slicks, so you win extra hipster points.

jim

jim

Little Darwin

I have ridden the Serfas Drifters (1.5") for a couple of thousand miles, and put the Nashbar slicks (1.25") on a friends bike since she was concerned with weight lifting the bike on and off a rack.

Both ride well, and I have a couple of thousand miles on mine, and other than one flat from a goatshead, I have been flat free.

If you can find some exceptionally smooth pavement in a parking lot, go ahead and do slow sharp turns, the sound of the inverse tread sounds like suction cups engaging and releasing rapidly... There was a parking lot I used to love doing that on before I moved. I can't get the fun sounds on most pavement.