Bill Kapaun

Have you happened to look at what they use on road bikes?

krobinson103

Personally if its a 60 mile ride I like 28. Bit harder on the bumps, but it is a little faster. On a really long ride I'll stick to my 1.75. Those things are so comfortable.

pierce

I wonder what a 28-559 would look like on the typical mountain bike rim.

FrenchFit 

Well, it's probably been said but if you are staying below 15mph it doesn't much matter how wide the tire is, it's the weight and rolling resistance. Knobbies will punish you in those respects. I've done centuries on 26x 1.60 & 1.75, no big deal, but you want a quality tire that rolls well, a slick center line. You probably want to be rolling closer to 15mph than 8mph. As far as stability, I can't see any reason to even think about it until you get down to legit fast road tires..like 23 and 25c, and you won't be doing that.

Frankly, the biggest problems you should expect to have doing a century at a 7-10 mph pace is boredom, stopping to replenish your water/snacks, and saddle sit-time pain. You might plan to do a metric century as your goal, see if you are still interested in riding that bike for twice this amount of time before you bite off such a ride. I think my longest saddle time to date has been 12 hours, and I've not repeated that experience.

krobinson103

Longest for me was 10 hours riding time and total trip of 14 hours. Honestly I don't really enjoy more than 6-8 hours at a stretch. Multiday touring would be fine, all night randoneering? No thanks, boredom would set in.

elanamig

Not in great detail. I don't think I needed to, since I don't own and don't plan to own one.

Unfortunately, I can't really compare 1.95" to anything (yet). I have no idea at this moment what my comfort limit is. 1.95 are so comfortable and stable, like a tank, I can tell you that. I know I have to sacrifice some of it for ease of spinning those pedals. But I don't know how far I can go. I know it's all personal and experience, etc. But I'm not in the position to try 20 different tires to see what works for me. I have to make the best educated guess I can, and hope that I won't kill myself (too much).

I definitely want to be rolling closer to 15mph. On my ride the other day I did one 12mph stretch, but that was downhill, I hardly had to do any work. However, I'd like that to be my slowest speed on the ride, not my fastest! There were a few hills I couldn't even go up on, had to get off my bike and walk.

So what do you think about my top choice at the moment, the Ritchey Tom Slick MTB Tire https://www.amazon.com/Ritchey-Slick-...chie+Tom+Slick ? They seem to be wide enough for my peace of mind, *should* fit on my rims, have that slick center line, good reviews, tolerable price.

I will NOT last 12 hours in the saddle. The century I'm registering for has 3 alternate shorter distances, and I can change my selection at check-in. So I will see closer to the date, if tires+training do not get me into the 12-15 mph range (for at least most of the ride), I will not go for the 100.


I'm not worried about boredom - my head has enough junk in it to occupy itself for 12 hours. I AM worried about bonking, saddle sores, and pure exhaustion from the sheer length of it.

pierce

I had some old Tom Slicks on a 700c hybrid, I think they were 700x38, and they were awesome tires, very supple sidewalls, great ride. was sorry to wear them out and discover that they are no longer made in 700c, only in 26".

aggst1

I am on similar situation with the OP planning on doing two metric centuries on two consecutive days next summer. I currently have 26 x 1.95 slicks and I m looking for less rolling resistance. I am looking at Michelin Wild Run'r 26x1.4 . Anyone have used them? If so please let both the OP and myself know your experiences!

pierce

for the best ride with low rolling resistance, look for a tire with a high thread count, like the Vittoria Hyper Randonneur (sorry, I don't know if these come in 26", I have them in 700x32), which has 120 TPI on each of its plies. most cheaper tires are like 60 TPI, those ride relatively heavy and slow.

elanamig

The Kojaks mentioned above are 1.35" and come in the wire and folding version. Are they better than Tom Slicks?

Also, folding vs wire? Based on online reviews, it seems that folding are lighter (good), but less durable (bad). Which to go for?

PS Thread Count isn't one of the parameters easily found for the tire! Ugh...

The only TPI ref for Tom Slicks that I found says 27tpi? Can it really be that low?
Kojaks - 67

Does it really make these tires junk? Reviews seem to disagree... Ugh, just plain confused...

elanamig

Not that particular model. But this looks similar, no?
Vittoria Randonneur Pro City (120 TPI)

https://www.amazon.com/Vittoria-Rando...+randonneur+26

pierce

yeah, very similar.... the Hyper has "single shielding", the Pro has "double shielding" (Vittoria's branding for extra flat protection) so its a bit heavier, the Pro weighing 510 grams in 40-559 (26x1.5).... and oh crap, I think the rando hyper is discontinued?

btw, those reflective sidewalls are amazingly bright in car headlights at night.


folding tires are great for mail order too, as they are shipped in a sane sized box.... I suggest unfolding the new tire out of the box and putting it in the sun or a warm place for a half day or so before even trying to mount.... if you've never mounted a folder, the first time can be somewhat disconcerting as it won't seem like its tire shaped at first

krobinson103

Slightly inflated tube helps with that. Put it in the tire then mount one side of the bead. helps keep it tire shaped.

pierce

yup, thats exactly what I did. but at first, that tire, even with a half inflated tube in it, just didn't seem like it was going to stay on the rims, like it would have just fallen off, but after a bunch of fussing around with it, it all somehow became tire-like and stayed on.

FrenchFit 

I think the tire choice is OK. Are far as boredom, well, those voices in your head do get noisey after a while. Using an MP3 player, earbud in one ear, that can move things along nicely. If you get creative and match your playlist to your cadence, those miles seem to fly bye.


Note: I did an all night ride, starting about midnight and ending around 8 the next morning. Once is plenty.

elanamig

Folks, I'm still researching tires. My local bike shop carries Avenir Streetster for $20 per tire. Does anyone have first hand experience with it? How does it compare to Tom Slicks?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

And these Michelin

https://www.amazon.com/Michelin-Prote...153150&sr=1-29

Ugh, I wish I'd just make up my mind already...

Thanks

McCallum

Some 20 years ago (O MAN!) I did a century in a 700c x 38's it was a bit of work but doable. If I were to do much over say 40-60 miles a day or planned a century I would go to 28's but then again i am 50 something and not 30 something! I weigh less today than 20 years ago but . . . I would go as thin as your current bike will take about two or three week before the event but till then; ride the fattires and get the advantage when you ride the ride on the slimer tires!

elanamig

So, the debate is finally at an end. LBS stock availability turned out the be the deciding factor.

I got Specialized Nimbus Armadillo 1.5. I went to a LBS and the choice was Specialized Nimbus (regular), Continental Sport Contact 1.3, Specialized Nimbus Armadillo (1.5) and Panaracer Pasela Tourgide 1.5. The Panaracer wasn't in stock at that location, so I would have to go back to the shop after they order it for me. I really wanted the tires for this weekend, and I didn't want to drive back to the LBS (because it's not so local to me). I almost went for Continental Sport Contact 1.3, but the repair guy convinced me to go with the Armadillo's because of it's higher profile and more flat-resistant construction. He said there was not much difference in performance between the Conti and the Armadillo.

I was really set on Panaracer because of some reviews saying that it provides a smoother ride than Armadillos. But since they weren't in stock, I decided that it wasn't meant to be. I spent a bit more than I wanted to, but I hope it's worth it and I hope I made the right choice.

What do you think? Should I have waited for the Panaracers? (I could exchange them, I guess, since I haven't ridden the bike yet...)