What are the narrowest tires i can put on a 26 inch rim? Its on a Gary fisher 09 Mako if that helps.

you could go down to an inch if you want. ritchey makes a 26" slick tire that comes in a 1" width. rims will accept a pretty wide range of tire sizes.

Here's another 26x1.00 option:

https://www.amazon.com/Primo-Racer-Ti...1709599&sr=1-9


Though seems like I remember reading somewhere that you generally don't want to go smaller than 26x1.25 on a typical MTB rim...

I did that one time and ended selling the road tires, it looked horrible. It is ok to get road tires, but stay within 2 inches or more. The difference in speed is very minimal, besides more punctures etc as there is a reason why use a mtb for the road.

Have a clean drivetrain, the wheels trued and proper air pressure to get good average speeds.

i have 1.95in road tires on my mtb and it looks good, rides fast, and most importantly, the ride is super smooth with the fat tires. plus with fatter tires you can still handle grass and other surfaces that you're used to being able to ride on with your mtb

get some Big Apples or kenda k838 tires around 2 inches, you'll be stoked

I have the 1.25" Ritchey road tires on a spare set of rims. The bike rolls really fast and handles pretty well on pavement, but the wheels look comically small on the bike, kinda ridiculous. Next time I think I'll go with a wider tire so that I can still handle the grass.

Skinny is for roadrace bikes. But only because the frake/brake clearance won`t let them mount wide tires. Touring and hybrid rigs will and do use wider tires.

My own latest build is a mtb base with 2.3in BMX tires. Geax Tattoos to be exact. Quiet and fast on the asphalt, no chance of running out of tread when cornering hard and wide enought to do trails and grass no problem. I have bikes with 25mm and 35mm and 1 3/4in tires and for city use the Tattoos beat them all. A Schwalbe Marathon Supreme might be just as nice in a 50mm size but its twice the price too.

I put some Continental Tour Rides on my Trek Marlin for the road. At 32mm and 40mm front and rear I do not think they look bad and the ride is great. Plus at about 10 minutes to change tires the Bontragers at 2.1 inch for trails change out nicely. Look before function not here.

Not really.

Road slicks look decent, roll considerably faster, last longer, corner better, puncture less (for me), and are quieter than knobbies on the road.

Oh, and they look decent.


Here's what I use on a spare wheelset for when I want the low gearing for the road:

https://www.amazon.com/Kenda-20x1-50-...2576482&sr=1-5

I think there's a high pressure 100 psi version and a lower psi version, go for the higher. The 1.5" width is the perfect compromise, IMO.