Thinking of doing C to C with my son later this year, we are both a little short of endurance at present but working on it. I think slick tyres would help us, so:-
1/ would slick tyres be ok on the off road bits? And
2/ which tyres would you reccomend?

These would also come in handy when I go off to pyrenees next year in camper van, so I can swap tyres depending on whether riding road or trail. Cheers, Steve.

Kenda small block 8

Schwalbe Kojak 26 x 2.0 – very fast, probably be fine off road in the dry, but I wouldn’t fancy using them in the wet away from tarmac.

Schwalbe marathons for road, or big apple’s if you want a bit of spring!

Just use summer, XC mountain bike tyres (like what rrr suggests) with a high PSI.

Schwalbe Big Apples

Thanks for all suggestions. I’ve got rocket ron/racing ralph if it’s wet, want to save them if dry conditions. Still using nobby nics at mo to make me work harder 😕

Maybe some Conti Touring tyres like the
Top Touring or similar in 1.5 inch should be well quick.

conti sport contact very fast on road, useless off. vittoria rubino 1.5″ fast on road and very durable with a largish air cushion, crap if muddy/loose.

schwalbe hurricane 2.0″ usefully fast on road. good wet or dry. will cope with surprising conditions off road. crap on mud.

Now I was thinking of a similar thing but with the variation, “whats the biggest slick IO can get?”
I have a Rogers trike that the previous owner has laced 26″ wheels into. thought it might be fun to keep that set of wheels with some monster slicks!

Shwalbe City Jet 1.9s. With the added advantage of being seemingly puncture-proof

We’ve plumped for the Schwalbe City jets, giving them a test ride tomorrow. Got to say they look horrible on the bike though…

Yeah they look all wrong but they roll really well which will make a big difference on-road. Plus they are dirt cheap. When I used to commute on a HT shod with City Jets I took a diversion onto the trails sometimes. Obviously you have to tone down the gnar a bit, but you won’t die. As long as it’s bone dry. They really don’t like mud.

+1 for not going into mud with the City Jets.

I’ve used them on Towpaths, old railways etc, but they slide like a ice skater if you hit mud. Makes it interesting 😉

Kojack’s, light and fast for road work, is ok off road (I road through CYB on a wet day with no real issues)

Sorry, slight hijack…. on my MTB commuter I use Crossmark UST. They’re OK for where I ride, but how much faster would the Small Block 8 be, if at all? Ta

i changed from small block 8s, to shwalbe sammy slicks 2.1, they give you a bit of bounce on my rigid mtb, plus they are fast on road, also a bit of grip off road on dry single track, and only 1 puncture in a years cycling, mind you it was a big shard of glass, which would of gone through most tyres.

Schwalbe Marathons, £16 each from Spa. They’ll be fine for all the C2C. We used Paselas on the tandem and they are much more fragile so Marathons will be reet.

Michelin country rock. £10 each CRC. 1.75 inch so can handle rougher stuff

I liked Schwalbe Super Motos. They are the light version of the Big Apples. Great for road, and lower the pressure they are great for beach / loose dry stuff, and general dryish trails. Nice and fat so don’t look daft on a MTB, and can run lower pressures for comfort, float, and grip.

Same as any slick type tyre, using them on mud is like being on ice. For summer MTB mixed surface touring, they fit the bill IMHO. Also good for general MTB road fitness training.

They are much of a muchness on road, but specialized nimbus 1.5″ (with the ‘mark 2’ swirly tread/sipes) were suprisingly good when I rode them round wet steep and in parts muddy forest roads. Nothing like an xc tyre of course, but way better than I expected.