tire size help
 

well, I want to buy some road/hybrid tires for my old F.S. Elite mountain bike. the tire's on there now are Kenda 26x1.95" mtn bike tire's of some sort. I like the Michelin Country Rock's but there 26x1.75" is that going to be a problem? I am also thinking about getting a set of these Innova Swiftor City Tire instead which come in either 26x1.75"-or-2", I figure I will ride mostly on road, so for ~$10.50 a tire I can get them and save a bit of money. Another option I saw are these Kenda K847 Kross Plus which is a 26x1.95" tire (is this a kenda size thing?)

I tried to search the net and even checked http://sheldonbrown.com/tyre-sizing.html for info, but I am still unclear. suggestions for other tire's are welcome as well.

TIA

Those Michelins should be fine. They're just a bit narrower than the Kendas you have. The bead size is the same width it's just that the Michelins aren't as "fat" as the Kendas.

Those Innova tires will fit too. For strictly road riding they will be better than the Kenda Kross. Those side knobbies will really cut your grip if you lean into a turn especially on damp asphalt. They would help off road though.

Good Luck.

All the tires you have listed will fit. For road riding I would choose the higher pressure ones with the narrow tread. I have an old MTB that has run tires from 1.5" up to 1.95". Currently it is running a 1.75" city tread kevlar tire. IIRC they are the Performance Forte City Gotham.

My go to tires in most cases are Schwalbe, a bit expensive but well worth the money IMHO. I primarily use kevlar belted tires on my bikes for flat resistance. There are a lot of good tires out there and it can be hard to chose the best bang for the buck.

Aaron :)

That's what I figured before i started reading, lol.
I'm going to have to look into the other tires... I just don't know how much money I want to put into this bike is my main concern at this point. I might just get the cheap Innova's or go check out those Forte City Gotham's (there's 2 performance bike stores only ~20min drive north OR south from my house,lol.)

Thanks for the help.

What rims do you have? If they can handle the Performance Forte Slick City tires those things are great for road riding! They work fine on Sun 0° Lite and Mavic 231 rims but those are both fairly narrow choices.

I run the Mich. Country Rocks also and they don't grip the road quite as well as the slick city tires but are pretty good on the road and much better on mellow dirt trails than the Slick City.

I don't know....what ever ones came with the bike back in the '98-'99 era. If the rims had markings on the side it has been long rubbed off be the brakes, lol. (just measured and the rim is just over 1 1/8" on the out side if that helps?)

Hmmm, so just over 28.575 outer. Could be around 22-25 inner. I'd stick to at least 1.5" if I were you.

Unless you like experimenting with $20 worth of tires (Slick City). Sometimes you find Performance Bike mechanics that are cool enough and not busy enough to give it a trial run with something like this. Try first thing in the morning on a weekday perhaps. That is if you really want the most roadie, lightest, slickest, least expensive possible tires on your bike.

My local Performance also carries Ritchey Tom Slicks in 1.4" which might work and are also reasonably priced and ride nicely on the roads.

With rims that width go with some wider tires (1.75+) and live with the weight if you don't want to worry about keeping your PSI just right and the possibility that the tires' beads will not seat properly.

Actually, you know what? Go for the Slick City tires! I forgotten I'd put them on some pretty wide rims for a while and they worked fine! Just make sure to keep them aired up! (EDIT: still see if you can get them to try one on your rim to see if it will seat)

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