Mins and Max for wheel tread on a 26" wheel?
 

The plan is to revamp my '97 rockhopper to a better commuter
bike.

I'd like to know how narrow a tread I can go on a mt. bike wheel?
I'm picturing a cyclocross wheel but with the smaller diameter of
a mt. bike. wheel. Is there such thing?

Can standard 26" mtb wheels handle narrow treads comparable
to those of a 700c?

Also, I'm always on the lookout for good shopping locations on
the web. So far I've had pretty good luck with supergo.com


Thx,
OlyBiker

Welcome to the forums OlyBiker, What type of riding are you planing on? How wide is your rim?

I have 1" slicks on my commuter bike, but i wouldn’t dare take them off road. Most CX tires have an aggressive thread, there’s not many 26" tires that are narrow, and have aggressive tread.

One tire that does come to mind is Continental's 1.5" CrossCountry: http://www.conti-online.com/generato...ountry_en.html Pretty narrow but lots of tread.

If you can get your hands on some WTB Allterrainasaurus tires in a 1.5", they have a fantastic all-around tread pattern. WTB seems to be making only a 1.95" anymore. :( Anyway, the tread looks like this:

http://www.wtb.com/images/popups/200...terrain_47.gif

Ok, I found some of the 26 x 1.25" All Terrainasaurus for $13 each, if you're willing to buy them from the Great Satan of Mail-Order: Bike Nashbar! :eek:

Oly,

I put some 1.25" Panaracer Pasela's on my 26" Bonty Selects this week and I've done 160 km without incident. I too was wondering how narrow a tire I could get away with (that is what you're asking isn't it?), but these seem to work. BTW, Bontrager's website had no info on this sort of thing, have you checked to see whether your wheel maker's site can help you? Maybe you could email them. Hope this helps.

Mike

Can't compare to the guys out there where their bikes seem to
have replaced their car, but I've been riding pretty often since
early last year. Maybe 100 miles a week, both road and trail miles.

To add to the two bikes I ride for rec, I retrieved my older mt. bike
from a friend's garage.

I'm only a measely 6.5 miles from work, but have been taking the
"kinda-scenic" route to extend my workout.

But I digress, back to my question...
(Yes Mikey, I'd like to know how narrow a tire I can get away with)
I'm not sure how wide my rims are, check that later. Just wanted
to be a little more efficient on the pavement, but not go full road
since I plan to span some rougher pavement. Replacing my rims
could be an option though. I do think I can lighten up the bike
1-3 lbs without breaking the bank. (Still deciding if I'll get rid of
the manitou shocks all together for a stiff front end)

Any suggestions are cool. Thx

- OlyBiker

if you ride in muddy/wet trails, i think it would be bad for the trail to use a tire that's more narrow than 1.95". i've read that the narrow 1.5" tires can destroy muddy trails (deepen or widen them?) :confused:

My 2 cents:

I ride 1.5" slicks on my commuter. I used the narrowest 26" paselas for a while, but flats were a huge problem. I went back to the old 1.5's and the problem was solved. This past weekend I actually took my slicks to mtb trails! With the exception of cornering, the tires worked very well (or I should say they did not hamper my ability to have really big fun). You could try out hard-pack specific tires, which generally have smooth center treads and lateral knobbies for cornering grip. I tried out an early set of Continentals in '98, but was disappointed by the lightweight construction. That tire was made for racing, and it got sliced and diced in record time on city streets. Believe it or not, 1.5" slicks have consistently been the most punture proof tires I have ever used.

Peace
BK

Nope no trail riding for this mt. bike. I've got a nice 2001
GaryFisher Sugar1 that does that job nicely.

Just plan to lighten it up the rockhopper and make it a little more
apt for paved riding.

ANy suggestions on rims? light/durable/cheap? Is this an
impossible combination?

Continental has some 1" clinchers that are supposed to fit a 26" wheel mtb wheel. They're a bit pricey. I settled on 1.25 Michelin Inverts that take 90psi. They made a big difference in the ride. I wouldn't take these off road except maybe on an extremely gentle paved trail.

I take my 700c x 32 slicks on serious off-road trails. On the last trail I rode, my buddies on suspension MTBs bottled out as I made the steep descent.
You can ride any trail you care to in slicks and semi-slicks. The tyres are not going to explode or cave in just through lack of tarmac.

For MTBs 1.5" is optimum for road riding. Narrower slicks do not give you much of a gain in rolling resistance. They are more aerodynamic, but you have to be riding very fast to notice. Go for slicks or a very light touring tread, not semi-slicks.