Rich Gibson 

I have a Trek FX 7.6. I've got it tuned to my liking except for the tires. I had the LBS swap the 28s for 32mm. My plan is to ride exclusively on paved surfaces. Unfortunately, like most things in life stuff happens. The roads around here have serious ruts in places and the 'paved' bike paths frequently change to crushed granite. This substance is unstable and the edges of the stones are sharp as razors. I've been out on the paths three days now and continue to be surprised by it. How wide a tire have some of you FX owners put on your bikes? Any special tire/tread? The ones they put on my bike are essentially bald so the front wheel does a dance once it gets on the gravel or dirt.

Thanks, Rich

stapfam

Unless you are going Cyclo cross on mud- I don't think a tread will help much on grip. What will is dropping tyre pressure and couple that with the 32 tyres- you will have a more comfortable ride aswell.

JerrySTL

I agree with the 32mm tires being OK. I recently rode 260 miles on the crushed limestone Katy Trail and used 700x32s at 70 psi.

drorgo

I saw in a previous post that you have them at 90psi which I think is way to high for 32c and you weight. I would try down around 75 to 80 psi and see how that does.

Bob W

Rich Gibson 

Thanks, that made a difference. I went out at 80 today. Tomorrow I'll try 70.

Rich

Sixty Fiver

You simply have to measure the spacing in the rear stays and front fork to determine maximum width and then account for tyre depth... my old Trek 7500 would handle 700:50 tyres (which was simply a blast to ride) but usually wore 700:35 cross tyres with a semi aggressive tread that allowed for riding on gravel and some rather challenging trails and allowed for good road speed.

These ran at 75psi.

Rich Gibson 

I bought the larger 700x38mm tires before riding today. It seemed a lot better. I want to try 70psi to see if I can just return the tires unused.

sreten

Hi,

About 20% less pressure in the front will improve
the road grip and front suspension comfort.

~ 70 psi rear go ~ 55 psi front.

rgds, sreten.

jsjcat

JerrySTL, not to change subjects but how was that Katy Trail ride? I live in St. Louis also and the wife and i talk about riding the whole thing. We hear good and bad things. What say you? jsjcat

drorgo

Glad the lower psi helped. Welcome to the bike forum. I am also on the Nikon Cafe.

Bob W

johnnywhale 

If you didn't try them yet, I was able to put 38s on my fx no problem at all

Hangtownmatt

I'm running Schwalabe (,sp?) Marathon Supremes (700x35). For the first 2,000 miles I ran them at full pressure (80 psi). I had 5 flats and was not happy with the ride characteristics. I hated the tires! Maybe because I paid $65 each. For some reason, probably reading "Bike Forums" (can't remember), I lowered the pressure to 60 lbs. The ride became more comfortable and I didn't notice a reduction in speed. I now run these tires at 40-50 psi and still don't notice a reduction in speed. I currently have over 5,000 miles on these tires and have not a flatted once since reducing the pressure. I think there is something to this; especially when you take into consideration these tires have less tread as I go. I'm about to rotate them for the third time (front-to-rear) and expect to get at least 7,000 moles out of the set. Not bad. I'm a daily commuter and a firm believer in high volume low pressure tires.

Matt

Rich Gibson 

Coincidentally I did have a flat on the very first ride. The tube ruptured along the seam between the tube rubber and the valve stem rubber. There were other irregularities in the tube as well so I decided to forego patching it and got a replacement under warranty. I'll try 70# today. Thanks all for your advice. I can save over $70 on the wider tires.

JerrySTL

I've done the whole KATY end-to-end that past 3 years and plan to do it again in June 2014. But then I tend to be an idiot.

Tip: On March 1, 2014 go to the Missouri DNR web site and search for the 2014 Katy Trail Ride. That's the first day that you can sign up for their 2014 group ride. It's limited to 300 riders and filled up in only 4 days this year.

https://mostateparks.com/

Here's the info from this year's ride.
https://mostateparks.com/2013-katy-trail-ride

PM me if you want more info.

Rich Gibson 

Super! Glad to meet you. Serendipity that I sold my Nikon DSLR kit and switched to the Sony NEX-7. I even bought a 30mm f/2.8 and then wondered why on earth I bought it. It will make a neat companion for the Trek.

Forty minutes today with 50 in the front and 70 in the rear; that's it! Still have to tweak the hand grips to eliminate the numbness in the finger tips. I wore gloves and the bars have shock absorption; it's the angle my hand makes with my wrist. Got my first scare coming up to an intersection...a blond in an SUV. I had to shout to get her attention.