semislicks

[email hidden] schreef ...

Quoted message said:

Hi guys,

Unfortunately, being currently confined within the M25 (no car!) I need to
swap my 2.3 knobbly tyres on my Kona for some semislicks.

Can anyone recommend a good set to look at? I'm looking for 1.95 or 2.1"
width, which wear well. Cheap would be nice, but I'd prefer to buy one set
that lasts a while rather than 2 or more when they wear out....

I understand you're restricted to the road so I'd suggest you buy some
real slicks. My tire of choice would be the Schwalbe Super Moto: 2.35 of
pure rubber. It runs amazingly smooth at 4.0 bars. Or, for some more
puncture protection, take the Big Apple it was derived from. Super!

--
Regards,
Marten

Nick Drew said:

Hi guys,

Unfortunately, being currently confined within the M25 (no car!) I
need to swap my 2.3 knobbly tyres on my Kona for some semislicks.

Can anyone recommend a good set to look at? I'm looking for 1.95 or
2.1" width, which wear well. Cheap would be nice, but I'd prefer to
buy one set that lasts a while rather than 2 or more when they wear
out....

My usual recommendation again: Schwalbe City Jet. At 1.5" they're
narrower than you specify but you won't notice that. Plenty of rubber for
a long life.

url:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/v2_product_detail.asp?ProdID=5300003751

~PB

Pete recommended those tyres to me earlier in the week. I bought a pair from wiggle - 24 hour delivery time. I fitted them Friday night, and cycled 80 miles on my trek mountain bike to see my dad saturday morning. I have only ever done 50 miles before and wanted the road tyres on to make sure I got up the steeper hills and to generally take some of the effort out. The tyres were fine so cheers for that. I am gonna fit some bar ends next week, any ideas, Pete? ;-)

in message <[email hidden]>, Skunk

(') said:

Pete recommended those tyres to me earlier in the week. I bought a
pair from wiggle - 24 hour delivery time. I fitted them Friday night,
and cycled 80 miles on my trek mountain bike to see my dad saturday
morning. I have only ever done 50 miles before and wanted the road
tyres on to make sure I got up the steeper hills and to generally take
some of the effort out. The tyres were fine so cheers for that. I am
gonna fit some bar ends next week, any ideas, Pete? ;-)

I love Cane Creek's 'Ergo Control' bar ends. Quite pricey but *very*
comfortable <URL:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?ProductID=5220000162>

--
[email hidden] (Simon Brooke) http://www.jasmine.org.uk/~simon/

...but have you *seen* the size of the world wide spider?

Skunk said:

Pete recommended those tyres to me earlier in the week. I bought a
pair from wiggle - 24 hour delivery time. I fitted them Friday night,
and cycled 80 miles on my trek mountain bike to see my dad saturday
morning. I have only ever done 50 miles before and wanted the road
tyres on to make sure I got up the steeper hills and to generally take
some of the effort out. The tyres were fine so cheers for that. I am
gonna fit some bar ends next week, any ideas, Pete? ;-)

Sorry Skunky, I haven't got enough experience of bar ends to make a
recommendation. Take advice from the proper mountain bikers :-) Glad you
like the tyres.

cheers
~PB

On Sun, 25 Jul 2004 22:05:04 GMT, Simon Brooke <[email hidden]>
wrote (more or less):

Quoted message said:

in message <[email hidden]>, Skunk

(') said:

Pete recommended those tyres to me earlier in the week. I bought a
pair from wiggle - 24 hour delivery time. I fitted them Friday night,
and cycled 80 miles on my trek mountain bike to see my dad saturday
morning. I have only ever done 50 miles before and wanted the road
tyres on to make sure I got up the steeper hills and to generally take
some of the effort out. The tyres were fine so cheers for that. I am
gonna fit some bar ends next week, any ideas, Pete? ;-)

I love Cane Creek's 'Ergo Control' bar ends. Quite pricey but *very*
comfortable <URL:http://www.wiggle.co.uk/?ProductID=5220000162>

I just bought a set of them! Biketrax are doing free fitting, too!
(I get my bike back from its major service on Thursday)

I also decided to finally get a new rear tyre - I was persuaded by the
shop staff to get a Schwalbe Marathon XR rather than the Schwalbe
Marathon.

(It's got an extra blue foam layer inside, around the main contact
patch path to help prevent punctures)

Anyone have any experience of them? Comments?

Are they useful? Much more effort to pedal? Worth the extra 4 quid?

(My current tyre started off as a knobbly, but now is worn down to
slick - with a hint of reinforcement weave showing! Still it's lasted
a good ten years...
--
Cheers,
Euan
Gawnsoft: http://www.gawnsoft.co.sr
Symbian/Epoc wiki: http://html.dnsalias.net:1122
Smalltalk links (harvested from comp.lang.smalltalk) http://html.dnsalias.net/gawnsoft/smalltalk

Nick Drew said:

Can anyone recommend a good set to look at? I'm looking for 1.95 or 2.1"
width, which wear well. Cheap would be nice, but I'd prefer to buy one set
that lasts a while rather than 2 or more when they wear out....

I'm sure Pete's suggestion of the City Jets is an excellent one -
especially at their current price on Wiggle. I've not had any personal
experience of those particular tyres but Schwalbe are a brand I'd trust
from past experience.

I'm also looking at changing the tyres on my new hybrid (Edinburgh
Contour) because I'm finding the so-called "semi-slick" 1.9" tyres it
came with are draggy and sluggish on the road and don't give
significantly more grip than slicks on the local cycle path I use (it's
fairly rough in places but I've used narrow, slick Conti Gatorskins on
this path without difficulty). I'm sure it's partly because they are el
cheapo nylon tyres, but they don't give me any reason to think that
semi-slicks are a better option than slicks.

I might even take up Pete's suggestion myself.

d.

"Nick Drew" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Hi guys,

Unfortunately, being currently confined within the M25 (no car!) I need to
swap my 2.3 knobbly tyres on my Kona for some semislicks.

Can anyone recommend a good set to look at? I'm looking for 1.95 or 2.1"
width, which wear well. Cheap would be nice, but I'd prefer to buy one set
that lasts a while rather than 2 or more when they wear out....

How important is 'cheap'?

I have been using a pair of semi-slicks from Halfords - just looked and they
are labelled Vee Rubber, made in Thailand. 26 * 1.90.

I bought them years ago on a '2fer1' but I am sure they (or ones very
similar) are still in Hlafords.

They did me fine for a 10 mile each way commute, and the London to Brighton
a good few years back, and they are still going strong although now a little
crumbly around the tyre walls.

So they were cheap and have lasted well, which seems to match your
requirements.

Don't know if you are prejudiced against Halfords and want to support your
LBS instead, though :-)

HTH
Dave R

P.S. What is the dividing line between slick and semi-slick?
Is slick (as in cars) absolutely no sign of a notch or knobble anywhere on
the tyre?
Smooth as a baby's bum?
These are (I guess) 90% slick with a central groove and curly lateral
grooves, presumably to shift rain water in the wet.
I guess that real thin road bike tyres don't need any rain shifting grooves,
but when you get to 1.90 or wider I suspect they may be a little slippy in
the wet if totally slick.
The tyres are also a V profile, which means you only use a narrow central
part in normal cycling (clean them then run on some dirt and the contact
area shows) and most of the tyre is only used in cornering (which is
infinitely superior to trying to corner on the road with knobbly tyres).

davek said:

I'm sure Pete's suggestion of the City Jets is an excellent one -
especially at their current price on Wiggle. I've not had any personal
experience of those particular tyres but Schwalbe are a brand I'd trust
from past experience.

They're good. Fast, and tough as old boots.
I like Schwalbe (I have a pair of blizzards on the road bike).

I run them at 50-80 psi (they start off at 80 and after a month or so they
feel a tad slow so I pump them up from 50 again) and they roll very nicely.

...d

Quoted message said:

I have been using a pair of semi-slicks from Halfords - just looked and

they

Quoted message said:

are labelled Vee Rubber, made in Thailand. 26 * 1.90.

I bought them years ago on a '2fer1' but I am sure they (or ones very
similar) are still in Hlafords.

They did me fine for a 10 mile each way commute, and the London to

Brighton

Quoted message said:

a good few years back, and they are still going strong although now a

little

Quoted message said:

crumbly around the tyre walls.

So they were cheap and have lasted well, which seems to match your
requirements.

Don't know if you are prejudiced against Halfords and want to support your
LBS instead, though :-)

HTH
Dave R

P.S. What is the dividing line between slick and semi-slick?
Is slick (as in cars) absolutely no sign of a notch or knobble anywhere on
the tyre?
Smooth as a baby's bum?
These are (I guess) 90% slick with a central groove and curly lateral
grooves, presumably to shift rain water in the wet.
I guess that real thin road bike tyres don't need any rain shifting

grooves,

Quoted message said:

but when you get to 1.90 or wider I suspect they may be a little slippy in
the wet if totally slick.
The tyres are also a V profile, which means you only use a narrow central
part in normal cycling (clean them then run on some dirt and the contact
area shows) and most of the tyre is only used in cornering (which is
infinitely superior to trying to corner on the road with knobbly tyres).

Holy [censored]! Those slicks y'all recommended are *slick*. I've seen durex with
more grip than that!

erm.... yeah....

If you've seen the slicks on wiggle (eg city jet) you'll know what a slick
is. Semi slick tend to have some small knobbles, so you can use them on
towpaths etc.

Cheers for the help
Nick

Quoted message said:

Pete recommended those tyres to me earlier in the week. I bought a pair
from wiggle - 24 hour delivery time. I fitted them Friday night, and
cycled 80 miles on my trek mountain bike to see my dad saturday
morning. I have only ever done 50 miles before and wanted the road
tyres on to make sure I got up the steeper hills and to generally take
some of the effort out. The tyres were fine so cheers for that. I am
gonna fit some bar ends next week, any ideas, Pete? ;-)

Oh, forgot to ask - what's the puncture resistance like on skinny slicks
like these? I'm guessing you have to have them pumped up pretty hard,
particularly if you're going over any kerbs?

And for those of you complaining about drag on 1.9" semislicks, I'm
currently running 2.3 WTB Motoraptor. BIG nobs. Still, it's a good workout
🙂

Nick

Nick Drew said:

Holy [censored]! Those slicks y'all recommended are *slick*. I've seen durex with
more grip than that!

erm.... yeah....

If you've seen the slicks on wiggle (eg city jet) you'll know what a slick
is. Semi slick tend to have some small knobbles, so you can use them on
towpaths etc.

Normal slicks have enough grip to use on all but the very muddy/wet
grass/loose surfaces. So much better on tarmac.

...d

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I'm sure Pete's suggestion of the City Jets is an excellent one -
especially at their current price on Wiggle. I've not had any personal
experience of those particular tyres but Schwalbe are a brand I'd trust
from past experience.

They're good. Fast, and tough as old boots.
I like Schwalbe (I have a pair of blizzards on the road bike).

It's been quite a while since I last used City Jets, so they may have
improved no end, but mine where very puncture-prone.

I like the Vredestein S-licks, but only the coloured, folding version.
The black ones lack grip, and the steel-belted version tends to tear
along the sides. Hear nothing but praise about Big Apples.

Mark van Gorkom said:

It's been quite a while since I last used City Jets, so they may have
improved no end, but mine where very puncture-prone.

I think you must have been riding over some peculiar stuff to get loads of
punctures with them. My brother's been using them for a couple of years
or so without a single puncture -- albeit not for huge mileages but enough
to discover a problem if they were particularly puncture prone. There's
quite a fair depth of rubber for objects to penetrate.

~PPPB

Nick Drew said:

Oh, forgot to ask - what's the puncture resistance like on skinny
slicks like these? I'm guessing you have to have them pumped up
pretty hard, particularly if you're going over any kerbs?

Kerbs aren't a problem at medium pressure unless you ram hard & heavy
straight into them, and the Jets actually feel fine and grip well enough
when pumped up quite hard anyway. BTW, the idea of 1.5" being "skinny" is
funny to me as I'm used to 23mm 700c road tyres. 1.5's give a magic
carpet ride in comparision!

Knobs on side of tyres probably don't help as much as you think they do on
towpaths etc, but yes I suppose you might be better off with less slick
tyres after all. I was thinking more about road use.

~PB

Quoted message said:

Can anyone recommend a good set to look at? I'm looking for 1.95 or 2.1"
width, which wear well. Cheap would be nice, but I'd prefer to buy one set
that lasts a while rather than 2 or more when they wear out....

Continental Top Touring 26x1.75. Touring tyres with a slight inverted
tread. Fast on the road and enough tread for the odd piece of towpath
etc.
Iain

Hi,

Could I suggest Hutchinson Acrobats? These give a pretty good speed increase over gnarlies, and I did 4000 miles on a pair and never got a puncture. Failing that there are a couple of 26x1.5s. If you're a real speed demon try the Maxxis Xenith or Continental Gatorskin - both look the business too.🙂

Quoted message said:

Nick Drew said:

Oh, forgot to ask - what's the puncture resistance like on skinny
slicks like these? I'm guessing you have to have them pumped up
pretty hard, particularly if you're going over any kerbs?

Kerbs aren't a problem at medium pressure unless you ram hard & heavy
straight into them, and the Jets actually feel fine and grip well enough
when pumped up quite hard anyway. BTW, the idea of 1.5" being "skinny" is
funny to me as I'm used to 23mm 700c road tyres. 1.5's give a magic
carpet ride in comparision!

Knobs on side of tyres probably don't help as much as you think they do on
towpaths etc, but yes I suppose you might be better off with less slick
tyres after all. I was thinking more about road use.

Given that I'm right in the city, I won't be going on any towpaths, so these
recommendations sound good.
Cheers
Nick

[email hidden] schreef ...

Quoted message said:

Oh, forgot to ask - what's the puncture resistance like on skinny slicks
like these? I'm guessing you have to have them pumped up pretty hard,
particularly if you're going over any kerbs?

Puncture resistance is more a function of the construction than of
slick-or-knobby. Kerbs wouldn't be a serious problem is you keep the
pressure correct.

Quoted message said:

And for those of you complaining about drag on 1.9" semislicks, I'm
currently running 2.3 WTB Motoraptor. BIG nobs. Still, it's a good workout
🙂

Hell yeah, Motoraptors have truly BIG knobs!

--
Regards,
Marten