Adiankur

I have a Trek 4300 mtb and have been doing a lot of road work as well as bike paths. I looked at some of the threads here, and read a few reviews and am looking at the slickasaurus. I dont want to go below a 1.5 tire right now and figure that would make a big difference over my current knobbies.
I do ride on some dirt, crushed stone and gravel paths, and assume I would have to swap out the tires. I dont want semi slicks after reading the sheldon brown info on them. Planning on getting a pair of tires this weekend so I can have some time to get used to them before the bucks county covered bridges ride.

Questions:

1. Anyone know about those tires and how much of an improvement will I get over my knobbies?

2. How are they at resisting flats?

3. How hard are they at changing? I only have one set of wheels and dont really have the extra cash to spend on a second set.

4. I have some extra tubes that are 1.5-2.0 will these work on the slickasaurs?

5. anyone like to say anything else?

Retro Grouch 

If most of your riding is on paved roads or crushed limestone bike paths, I think that you will be pleasantly surprised at how much of a difference slicks will make. Knobby tires look gnarly, but the knobs don't really do much except on loose rock surfaces or something like that.

Keith99

If I understand correctly the slickasaurus is a 1.5 inch tire. If so a 1.5-2 tube will fit with no problem.

When I only haad a mountian bike and put slicks on it I found I that I was limited by the gears. E.g. at the top end I was always looking for a higher gear.

So yes you will be able to turn a gear 3 or 4 higher than you do now. It is a huge difference.

FarHorizon

Hi Adiankur!

I got WTB Slickis on my new Kona Dew Deluxe. BEST TIRES I'VE EVER RIDDEN! I like being able to lean significantly and still have traction. The Slickis never went flat, and when I wore the first set down, I bought a second set. Easy to change, work with any tube, best tires ever made, IMHO. GO FOR THE SLICKIS!

pelikan

I ran Slickasaurus for a while and they are pretty awesome. Fast and comfy on pavement & decent traction on fireroads. I ride through a little too much glass on my commute not to use a Kevlar type tire, so I had to switch. One week during the rain last year I had a flat a day. Oh yeah, they are super easy to change.

Adiankur

There is a 40 mile path I ride. 24 miles of which is paved, including a 2 mile stretch that is on roads, 1-2 mile total has some loose stone, but broken up into different sections, rest is crushed stone/cinder/packed dirt. The middle point of the ride is the parking lot so I ride out 20 miles paved out, 20 miles paved back, then go onto the combination roads, I could change my tires at the halfway point.

The one problem is there is a 3/4 mile stretch on the road that is covered with broken glass, as I think a lot of cars were broken into. Any suggestions? switch that last section out? or I could take the lane as its only the shoulder that has the glass.

Would it be safe to keep the slickasaurs tires on during the non paved trail if I was careful when I got to the stone or would they cause flats?

***For commuting purposes, which I havent started yet, its all paved so no problems there.***

capsicum

If you can go around the glass just go around the glass. Slicks are just as tough as knobies they just don't have knobs, put tire liners in if you want to avoid flats from glass thorns and nails.(Liners are tougher than kevlar belted tires anyhow.)

26" x 1.4 or wider slicks, will work very well on packed crushed rock and dirt.
Slickasaurus is a very nice tire. So are the Michelin country rock[1.75], Ritchy tom slick[1.4], Kenda K841[1.95] and Kenda K-rad[2.3]. None of them are of the flat resistant type though so useing tire liners is recommended.

Adiankur

Well, thanks for all the advice. I will be purchasing a pair of slickasaurus tires for my mtb. is there any liner that is better than others or should I just get whatever is available?

capsicum

I've had good luck with some generic nylon liners and Tuff-Skins brand, Slime makes some green tinted clear liners but I have no experiance with them.

Use talcum powder (base of a lot of baby powders, some use starch, read the label.) on the inside of the tire, on the tubes, and liners. The talc acts as a crude dry lube so nothing gets bound up.

Also add a bit of air to the tube, just enough to fill it out, but no pressure. This helps to hold the liner in place while installing the tire on the rim. Install half of the tire on the rim, then put the liner and tube in place, and install the second side.

Nermal

That talc capsicum mentions is absolutely vital if you use kevlar liners. The talc goes between the tube and the liner, by the way. NOT between the liner and the tire. Anyway, like the op, I'm favoring the tire as primary defense against punctures, as opposed to thorn resistant tubes. That just happens to be my current theory, though.

capsicum

Talc everything, go nuts, turn the room white.
Just use regular tubes, not the thorn resistant or extra light.