cyber.snow

I have been doing a lot of back roads (forest service roads) on my Salsa Fargo 29er. I am now planning on several credit card trips that will be mostly road. I currently am running 2.25" mountain bike tires and want to down to more road tires.

Can I use 700c tires? Was thinking of Schwalb Marathon in 700x38. But not sure if it will fit. Any suggestions?

rumrunn6

oh I think you can! I know you can do vice a versa, so long as the tire isn't too wide to fit a 700c hybrid

LeeG

"29'r" is 700c or 622mm ISO

I would pick a lot of other 38mm road tires before the regular Marathon.

Tire Sizing Systems

cyber.snow

Which tires would you recommend?

jefnvk

Haven't had lots of miles on them yet, but I'm really liking my Clement Xplor USH. 35mm, very plush, easy rolling.

Alot depends on what youre doing with them tho.

LeeG

They cost more
Schwalbe Marathon Supreme
Schwalbe Almotion
Vittorio Voyager Hyper
Panaracer T-serve. 35mm

saddlesores

check the mfg website for the minimum tire width for your
specific rims.


for 709'er, i've been using kenda K935 in 700*45 (~29*1.75).
mostly solid center strip for road, light profile for trails.
not for heavy-duty off road.

rumrunn6

Trek FX bikes come w Bontrager H2 Hardcase tires, might look at those. they've been fine for paved roads, trails and even campground dirt



https://www.trekbicyclesuperstore.com...e-195753-1.htm

Bike Tires Direct has a city / touring section (I recently got the 40mm Proteks cuz they had good reviews & are inexpensive. they measure 43mm at 90 psi, a tight squeeze on my FX but would fit real fine on your bike)





https://www.biketiresdirect.com/sear...-touring-tires

I've read lots of ppl write about these Big Apples

https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...ance-line-tire

djb

yes on this, you need to measure the width of your rims yourself and then look up what is the min. you can run on them.
take a peek on the interwebs to see how to measure and all the other stuff, and then get back to us.

if you have 2.25's on them now, going from my experience, you should have no problems with 37's or 40s, 1.5 in range, but find out the details.

there are tons of tires out there, the "regular" marathon in that 35-37-40mm range is in my experience and opinion a very good balance of rolling along well on pavement, dirt roads, a good long lasting tire for the price.

the supremes roll nicer, are lighter, but more expensive
but as mentioned, there are lots of good tires out there, it will come down to what your rims can take, what you have available in stores near you and how much you want to spend.

fietsbob

622-50 will probably be good size, though there is a 622 - 60 ..

twodownzero

I'm running the Marathon Supremes in 26" and they come in 700c. I doubt you could possibly have any complaints about them. Pick a width that fits and rock on.

cyber.snow

Since I still want to ride the fire and forestry roads, does it make more sense to make another set of wheels with a little narrower rims? Or just change tires and tubes?

djb

money and how often you really think you will make these changes.

oh, and money.

u235

If it makes sense to you then swap. I have a 26 hybrid "do it all" bike. I swap wheelsets with either 1.75 Marathons or 2.10 Smart Sam depending on the plan for the day. The Marathon is good on the road and can do off road hard pack (although it turns to fly paper when you hit soft ground) and is not supple or forgiving at all even when aired down. The Smart Sam is not a full blown MTB but despite its decent tread, it rolls really well on road for what it is. I've done multiple 20-30 mile pure road rides with the SS with no problem. Bikeisland has some 700c/29 wheels sets with tubes and tires (Nano 40c, Race King etc..) under $200 that may fit your bike. Not the greatest wheels but will serve most people well (I assume you are riding fire roads, not doing time trials). Two wheels sets also gives you the benefit of using different gearing ranges on cassettes if your road riding and trail riding differ in hills.

The other option is a single set of wheels and tires and get a multipurpose tire that can do a little of both, leaning toward what terrain you value more.

Someone above posted a Kenda K935. I had a set of Kenda 841A/847A and they were a good all around tire, decent compromise of on and off road. The price went up on them so I tried a Kenda K908 which is similar to the K935 and they were not so good. Noticeable higher rolling on the road and the solid bar in the middle was not good off road either. Not what I expected. At that point, I decided on the two wheels set concept. The K935 is different than the K908 so maybe it's not as bad. There are a lot of multipurpose choices in the 700c/29'r size. There is no "wrong" choice, it depends on what you want and where you ride.

cyccommute 

Measure your rims! That way we don't have to speculate

That said, having a second set of wheels is an okay way to work but most people find a second set of wheels to be about as onerous as changing tires every time you want to go for a different ride. I've been that route and, frankly, my solution was to just ride a different bike. That's usually how people find themselves with a garage full of bicycles

On the other hand, just run off-road knobbies everywhere. Yea, they buzz on pavement and they are a bit slower but if you are riding down the road and all of a sudden discover an interesting trail or fire road, you are ready to go. There are a number of fast rolling mountain bike tires around that do a pretty good job on pavement. Maxxis Ardents or Kenda Small Blocks are good hardpack tires that roll well on pavement.

Rob_E

It would depend on how thin of a tire you want to run and how narrow your current rim is.

I have enjoyed the ride quality of a fatter, smooth tire on pavement, but if you feel like a thin tire is needed, then you need to figure out how thin. For me, tread is more important. I commute on mostly pavement, and I've been using 2.15" tires (26") lately, Big Ben and Almotion. If using tubes, I'd favor the Big Ben. They come as wide as 2"

Prior to those tires, I was running 700 x 40 Vittoria Hyper or Randonneur Hyper or something. They keep changing the name. Loved those tires, too, but a rim that ran a 2.25" tire might not work great with a 40mm tire.

I do have two wheelsets in use right now. It's handy to me to be able to swap wheels rather than tires, especially since they're tubeless, and it's nice to have an expanded range of tire width options. But I built up a 2nd set to get my tires wider, not narrower. I'm happy doing my pavement riding an a 2" tire as long as it's not too knobby.

cyber.snow

Not sure how to measure the rims without removing the current tire. It looks pretty narrow and I was wrong on the current tire size, it is 2.35".

I can't find a number or name on the rim and the wheels were custom made by my LBS. will call them to see if I can get the rim width. Am thinking of going to a 700x35-40 tire. (~1.5") to be used primarily on road trips.

rumrunn6

N+1?

djb

remove tire, get out measuring tape.

but before hand, look at interwebs stuff to tell you how to measure rims accurately and while you're at it, look up rough guides, or exact guides, to rim width vs min. and max tire widths.

LeeG

Calipers

TimothyH

I think the Fargo factory builds come with Whisky No. 5 rims and believe these might be 44.5 mm inside width. I could be wrong so please verify.

Running 38 mm tires on a rim that wide might not be a good idea.


-Tim-

cyber.snow

My LBS just quoted a price on another set of wheels that was set up with brakes, cassette, and Schwalb Supreme touring tires in 700x40.(40-622?). Build price was $790. Yikes!!!!

Since I live in the mountains of Idaho for 7 months, the beaches of S CA for 4 months and travel at least a month, I prolly will just leave the MTB tires on while in Idaho and go for a more "roadie" tire only during the 4 mos in SCA. Changing tires twice a year just doesn't warrant the cost of new wheels.

After reading Sheldon Brown's website on tires, now know what the 622-60 on my current tires means. These tires look definitely crimped in.

Back to looking for more multi use 40-60mm tires. Since I ride with folks riding hybrids and cyclocross bikes, don't want to be the slowest one in the pack.

DanBell

I've used three different tires on this trip so far:

Vittoria Evolution 29x1.9
Specialized Borough Armadillo 700x40
Kenda Small Block Eight 29x2.1

Aside from the Borough, which is a smooth city tire, both the Vittoria and the Kenda have done well for me on mixed surfaces. The Evolution leans a bit more to road smoothitude while the Small Block is a bit more at home on loose surfaces, but they both handle a range of riding well. The blocks on the Kenda are small and close together, which makes them smoother on the road but they can get clogged in muddy riding.

Ridefreemc

+1, or the MSO in 40mm if you are a big guy and might want a little more cushion. I have MSO's for mixed (I'm 160 lbs so not really needed for my size), but mostly road and they are very nice tires. The USHs are going on this week for pavement (35mm). Ironically, I'm sending the MSOs to a buddy with a Fargo in the same predicament.

As stated above though, you may need to stay with a 40mm or bigger for your rim width.

djb

as I mentioned--money!

do take 10 mins and deflate one tire, remove tire and tube, measure rim and look up what rim widths can handle.
40mm lighter tires like supremes roll along really nicely, but you can look up and ask about other tires--in any case, you need to measure your rims yourself to be sure of what they are and what they can take.

changing tires isnt a big deal, if the tires go on easily, its done for both wheels in a short time.