I have a mountain bike (26") That I'd like to use for road riding. (Parents got it for me a few years ago thinking I wanted a mountain bike not a road bike). Is there a set of tires I can get to make it easier to ride on the road? Something thinner and slicker?

Plenty of non knobby tires available in 26"
https://www.biketiresdirect.com/sear...lick-mtb-tires

Recumbent riders discuss performance 26" tires quite a bit.

The Shwalbe Kojak seems a popular choice for performance, but I have not tried it.
The Panaracer Pasella gives a very smooth ride.
Premo Comet is my favorite 26", just don't ride it in the rain.


A word of caution: when using relatively wide tires, don't inflate them to the maximum pressure on the side wall. Not only will you rattle out your fillings, you will loose traction and get more flats. There are many posts here on that topic.

What kind of riding do you have planned?

Mount smooth tires on a MTB, and it is still a MTB.

You might choose to upgrade to a road bike or cyclocross bike.

Agree with Cliff. Tire width is not an issue. Getting slick or semi slick for road will help but small wheel diameter and geometry will slow you down and if the bike has full suspension or front suspension without lockout it will make it very inefficient for the road. If you plan on riding mostly on pavement a different bike is the long term answer

You can sell your mountain bike and get a road bike.

Haven't you ever heard of N+1?

He sounds likes he is not happy with his mtb.

The Panaracer Pasela is my favourite tire for road going mountain bikes. It's cheap and fast, if you get the non TourGuard version. Still cheap and still pretty fast if you get it with.

I put a Kojak on the wife's 26" MTB so she can ride on a trainer. It is a 2.0" wide tire though. Does awesome on the trainer, no idea how it is on the road. It is an impressive looking tire.

It turns out that a 26" x 2.1 or so tire is very close to the same diameter as a 700c x 23mm tire.

Of course, if you go with a smaller tire, you'll loose size, which means you'll just have to spin the hoops a little faster. And, of course, with the big tires, there is a lot of rotating weight. ROAD GEARING vs MTB GEARING?

MTBs with somewhat smooth tires can make great city bikes and commuters. Perhaps even for the occasional longer leisurely rides, but they aren't optimized for the long rides.