Switching between mountain AND road tires
 

Does anyone have experience using both mountain AND road tires on their bike? I live near roads and bike trails, so I'd like to get a bike that works well with both types of tire.

Any suggestions for bikes and wheels that are most versatile? I don't really know much about this ... I'm assuming road tires for a mountain bike would be wider than road tires for a road bike?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Cyclocross bike.

I'm actually looking to spend less $$$ ... and was looking at front suspension mountain bikes. I had a Felt F70 road bike and just didn't like the feel of it as much as my old Trek mountain bike.

Anyone have a mountain bike they switch tires with that they're happy with?

Get a second set of wheels, swapping tires gets old really fast. I use my classic 2003 Zaskar for everything when I travel. I've used a half dozen sets of tires and it performs on a par with entry level road bikes with road slicks.

The race wheels generally have semi-slicks or slicks unless I'm racing which I rarely do. My Tioga Factory XC Slicks (good luck finding them any more) roll pretty well on the road and do well on hardpack too. The Michelin XCR Roads are noticeably faster on pavement but I can't really take them in the dirt.

The second, tougher set of wheels usually have knobbies mounted on them. Locally I usually run Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1's but if there's a lot of sand where I'm going, I'll switch to WTB Motoraptor 2.24's. Neither tire rolls well on pavement.

I had a Cannondale Bad Boy, which was basically a mountain bike with skinny 700c wheels & tires. Worked great. Most large manufacturers have similar bikes these days.

Second set of wheels is a cool idea. It makes the tire swap go a lot faster. If you decide you want a second set of wheels for tire swapping purposes, think about this:

1. Mountain bike rims come in a wide range of widths. If you get rims that are the same width as your primary rims, you won t have to readjust your brakes every time that you change wheels.
2. Different hubs may position your cassette a skosh differently than your original equipment wheels. It's certainly less difference than rim width, but it may be just enough "off" that you'll have to readjust your derailleur if you want it to shift and index properly. The best bet is matching hubs on both wheelsets.

Have to agree about the 2nd set of wheels but I did switch tyres from road knobblies when I started out.

If you do switch tyres- remember that slicks take a higher pressure and if your current rims are worn much- then you may have a problem in that the higher pressure causes a bow in the rim that can lead to rim failure.

If this does occur- then you are up for new rims at least so new wheels will be the way to go. Then you can keep the "Worn" wheels for the knobblies.-For a little while at least.

And an alternative- but not fully satisfactory- is to get "Semi-Slick" tyres- they look like worn out knobblies with the only tread being at the edge. The centre of the tyre only has a little bit of tread. Not as good as a slick on the road and do not work in mud- but better than slicks on dirt and better than knobblies on the road.

i use offline tires, because i also do a 50%-50% mix of road and dirt trail rides for my commutes :thumb:

https://www.schwalbetires.com/racing_ralph

If you don't want to spend the money on a second wheelset, Kenda Small Block 8's roll pretty good on the road and are my prefered tire for trails.

Kenda Kross's work pretty well too.

-R

+1

Mine's not an MTB, but my experience with multiple tires and wheelsets carries over.

I have two wheelsets--one with road tires year 'round, the other with cyclocross tires in the three seasons, and studded snows in the winter.

Keep in mind you can also use different cassettes then too. I have a 12-23 close-ratio road cassette on the wheelset with the road tires. On the second wheelset, in the three seasons, with the CX tires, I run a 12-27. Come winter with the snows, I've run a 16-27. It gives me more choices in the lower gears.

This coming winter I'm going to try a custom gear set made from loose cogs--27-25-23-21-19-18-17-16-15-14. Presently I spin out at 24 or 25 MPH in the 52/16, and I really don't need the 22 and 20 in the 16-27 cassette.

When planning for a second wheelset, don't forget another wheel magnet for the cyclometer if you have one, and rotors if you have disc brakes.

I changed my girlfriends Kona mountain bike from a 26" wheel to a 700c with a cyclocross tire. The switch took about 30 minutes time. Not something you want to switch back and forth all the time but it is doable.

The change went surprisingly well. I ran into no problems at all.

No problems and it took 30 minutes? What did you have to do?

For poops n' giggles, I found that I could swap wheelsets between my Cannondale Rush MTB and Bad Boy in about as long as it takes to remove and replace the wheels. Both have disc brakes and might even have the same gearing, and nothing needed to be adjusted on either bike. Pop in the axles, squeeze the skewers shut, and ride.

The 28 mm Conti SportContact tires on the Bad Boy's wheels were just low-profile enough to fit under the little bridge reinforcement on the Rush's rear triangle. I've tried another wheelset with Marathon Pluses, also in 28 mm size, but they're too thick and don't fit. But anyway, the Rush with the Bad Boy wheels rode almost exactly like the Bad Boy did, especially with the suspension locked out.

The bike has rims brakes so I purchased a brake adaptor kit from Mavic. I removed the V-brakes, attached adaptors, reattached V-brakes, put 700c wheels on, did some minor adjustments on the brakes.

Ah, ok. Score one point for disc brakes, then. ;)