What are people's thoughts on the best 26" tires for commuting on a mountain bike? I used to commute with a road bike but that was retired and now I have MTB. In terms punture resistance, weight, cost what do people recommend? Also does the width matter? I've found slicks from 1.0 to 1.95. If you are trying to be as fast as possible (which I am) wouldn't you go for a narrower tire as opposed to something wider? Thanks for any input you may have.

Rolling resistance is a funny thing.
For any given pressure, the fatter a tyre is, the LOWER its resistance.
Thinner tyres can take higher pressure, are lighter and have lower air resistance.

If you can pump up to a high pressure , and can ride bumps competantly, then a thin tyre is faster.
1.25" -1.5 is a good size for commuting.

I have used 1.25" 95 psi slicks, and they have been great. I think one of the pairs are the IRC metro clincher, and the second is the performance brand slick. I got both of them on sale from a catalog, about $10 each.

I think you are right skinnier tires are best for speed. You also want to run fairly hi pressure, and true slicks work great for traction and speed.

The roads I commute on have narrow broken shoulders, and the 1.25" tires perform very well.

Enjoy your commute.

Pure road riding?

I use a set of 26" Avocet Cross II ks for touring, they are 1.5" wide (not measured, using mfgr) and have an "inverted" tread. They are available with and without a kevlar belt too so that makes it good for commuting/touring.

Jay

depending on how heavy you ride, i'd recommend a 1.0 tire. i've had great success with ritchey "tom slicks" at 100psi. if your commute route is smooth, you'll really reap the benefit of an almost treadless tire.

unfortunately, my routes changed a bit and i found myself riding rougher, pitted streets with a lot of debris to ride over. i've since changed to specialized "nimbus armadillos" at 1.5". knock on wood, i haven't had a flat in over 6 months. i've also religiously kept the tube at the recommended max of 100psi. the tire is *a lot* heavier than most slicks, but balancing a drop in speed vs lots of flats, the reliability wins out.

for the record, my ATB commuter bike is ~27 lbs., me being between 175 and 185. the armadillos have kept me a very happy commuter.

-chris

Nashbar has some nice inexpensive 26x1.25" slicks that work well for me. I think they're rated to 90 lbs. They've been pretty good in my urban environment until a couple weeks ago on a short jaunt, where I somehow managed to find the only goathead bush in the city. Got five holes somewhere along this one mile stretch, with four of the goatheads still in the tires. Over the last ten years in this city, I've never seen a goathead here, so it may have just been a fluke. A heavier tire may or may not have survived, as those thorns were pretty mean.

The lightest kevlar 1.0 tire is the Continental Grand Prix.It's also the most expensive.The Tom Slicks are nice too.

Richey Tom Slicks 1.4". Good size for winter commuting with a 30 lb. MTB bike. Stable on poor roads and weather conditions.

I have been running Tom Slicks in the 1.0 and have had a few flats here, but the ride is rather rough. I have been so impressed with the Bontrager Hard Case tires I bought for my road bike, that I had the bike shop order me a set in 1.5x26 for my commuter/knock around bike. If these are half as good as the road tires, I should get better flat protection and a plush ride.

I use and love these 1.25", 90 psi tires on my MTB:
https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...e.cfm?SKU=2314
(tubes: https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...e.cfm?SKU=1446 )
I'm 148 pounds and my MTB weighs 22.5 pounds...heavier riders may need to go with 1.50" tires.

I weigh 180 pounds a regularly ride 1.25" tires on my 30 pound bike. I have never had a problem.

Does anyone know where I can get hold of some slick tubeless tyres? My boyfriend upgraded my wheels to tubeless for christmas and was told he could get some slick tyres for them but I am having no luck finding any in the UK. Find it really hard to get normal tyres on and off so am keen to find replacements.

I like the Ritchey Tom Slicks. Supple casing, good rubber, and round. I run 1.4" because my rims are wide (23mm inside width).

Hi trapjaw,

I currently ride a pair of michelin 'rock thread tyres' they are 1.75's. They are rated to 80psi but I'm older now and I ride them between 60 & 65. They roll ok and have good wet performance. The compound is a bit soft though and won't stand up to even minor locking of the wheels.
The best semi's I ever had were a pair of IRC's. They were rated to 95, I ran them at 105. They were bald in the middle and had inverted thread on the sides. That made for one hell of a fast ride. The only complaint was that fast cornering in the wet was sometimes a tad hairy. Also after one season bulges appeared in the side walls and I had to throw them, but that was probably due to me over-inflating them and also a harsh winter. They were 26X1.5's by the way.

Happy hunting.
P.s.
Michael, I never knew fatter tyres had a lower roll resistance. Can you explain this with a bit more detail?
Interesting

Here's some info on resistance:
https://www.terrymorse.com/bike/rolres.html

Evening all,
I just wanted to come back to the rolling resistance issue. I understand now what Michael was saying, not that he was unclear, I just didn't read the black and white!
So a fatter tyre will have a lower resistance at a given pressure, but the key 'Real-life factor' is that you will always run a thinner tyre at higher pressures. Unless you don' t want to!?? for whatever reason. Hence in a real world scenario a thinner tyre will have a lower RR.

The wife and I have been running Panaracer Tserv on our tandem for the last year. Very durable and relatively light. Kept them pumped to approx. 110 psi and have never had any problems. BTW, we run 26x1.25 on Velocity DeepV rims, and our team weight is approx 280 lbs.

Don't forget to also take tyre profile into account when considering resistance - is the tyre fairly square shouldered or round shouldered - generally the rounder the better. Of course different thickness/compositions of carcass makes a big difference too...

Funny that you mentione goathead stickers. When I was a kid we just called them "Puncture vine" stickers. We called them puncture vines for the reason that they went throught every bike tire that you could put on, and gawd forbid that you step on one. I never heard the name "goathead" till about 10 years ago!

There were always some of those stickers around, but never bazillions like I seem to see now. The fields around our house were disked (plowed)to keep weeds growth down every year right before the sprouting puncture vines could flower; this kept the numbers down. Now they mow the weeds down, which allows the flat-growing puncture vines to flourish. Yuck.

Oh, and as not to hijack the thread, I run GEAX slicks on my la bomba bike; I think they are 1/25. Haven't had a flat yet, and they seem to track well.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I am going to go with 1.25 Panaracer Tserv's. I think they fit what I am looking for. They also have a good rating on mtbr.

very informative thread!

i have been using IRC metros but unfortunately, after 5 years, it is starting to crack

you can tell how much i have been commuting

in australia, a few places sell the MAXXIS brand... what is this?

i will keep the panaracers in mind...

also, how do you know when you slicks are worn, since they are bald anyway?