Hi all

My commute is 23 miles each way and I usually ride my cross bike with road tyres. As I come in early I miss the traffic, but riding home is a not nice – lots of traffic, lots of unlit roads – it can be a bit intense!

I can do 18 miles of my commute along the canal towpath – but only if I have made the decsion to do it the night before and put some knobblies on. A second set of wheels has been considered, but I would always rather go into work on road and have the choice to come home off-road.

Is there such a tyre which would cope with both? A touring tyre maybe. I have been looking at some semi-slick CX tyres but the side knobs look like they could be scary when cornering on road.

I am not too fussed about having loads of grip for the towpath, just something a bit more robust, maybe with an ‘inverse’ tread pattern but I am struggling as I have no knowledge on these types of tyres. Any recommendations appreciated.

Schwalbe Marathon should handle that – or go for the Mondial version if you want something with slightly deeper tread.

Unless your path is muddy, a road tire should be fine, as long as it’s wide enough.

Mind you, light cx tires don’t feel too slow onthe road either. Why not try what you have? It won’t kill you.

Schwalbe land cruisers. I have these on my commuter and they are ok.

I used Halo twin rail road tyres in a similar situation. 2 years or so of london roads, fixed gear mad skidz and Thames path on one set without any trouble at all, not even a puncture. I even managed an offroad Strava KOM.

Schwalbe Marathons are the immediate choice – pretty puncture proof, but heavy and a bit draggy

I have 12 mile each way commute, half on towpaths and cycle paths of varying quality, and I’ve just replaced my Marathons with Conti Sport Contacts, 700×32. They came from Wiggle, I think. Only had them on a week, but the ride seems to be comfier, smoother and “better”. Despite the lack of tread they have been fine on slippy leaves, and not tested the puncture resistance – yet!

Not semi-slicks, but I have been using some cheap Schwalbe CX Pro’s which seem to last twice as long as other softer cx tires I have used in the past.

Not ideal for road, but they have been great for my canal/offroad 14 mile commute loop.

Any one of the numerous Schwalbe Marathon variants:
http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/tour/

Having said that, I use Smart Sam’s on my CX and it still rolls pretty quickly on the road.
http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/cross/smart-sam/

The rear is nicely worn down to almost semi slick levels, once it starts puncturing, I bin it, put the old front onto the rear and a new tyre onto the front.

Another vote for Schwalbe marathons, they work nicely for me

I’ve survived fire road sections on normal road tyres, I’m commuting on Conti sport contact 700x32c this winter for a bit more comfort when not chaseing KOM’s!

I don’t like Cx tyres on the road, they feel like they’re squirming arround too much.

If it’s not muddy I’d stick with slicks and take it easy on corners/leaves/mud/puddles etc.

I’ve used hollyrollers on an old 26″ commuter, and they work suprisingly well (i.e. you need low expectations) so similar treads like twin rails might be a god bet. Added advantage that the ‘tread’ is really thick making them almost impossible to puncture.

marathon cross for me, the side knobs are fine on the road. The prob lem (I think) with ‘normal’ cross tyre is the lack of puncture protection?

AFAIK the Marathon Cross isn’t available any more. The Mondial is the closest.

Schwalbe Marathon. Bomb proof, and will happily handle trails.

I also have Marathons – great commuter tyres but as mentioned above, a bit draggy….but thats only good for you!

marathons for me too, v happy on bike paths on old railway lines – compressed gravel surfaces. No punctures in 6 months & 1000s miles

Marathons it is then.

Planet X have the Marathon Racers at £15 at the moment so I shall give those a go.

Thanks

No, no, no. Go for the plain Marathon!!!

Conti Travel Contact here. Clocked up over a thousand miles now and used them for all sorts, road, railway paths, and some pretty serious off-road (natural moorland trails, etc).

They’re a great all rounder. To the point where I rarely use my ‘trail bike’ anymore. Not so good off road in the wet and mud but I’m not sure you’ll find that anywhere without making big compromises on what I guess would be 90% of your riding.

Puncture resistance is good. You can smash through glass with confidence.

druidh – why?

monkeyp – the Marathon Racer is a thinner, less robust tyre with a completely different tread pattern. I’m pretty sure all the Marathon recommendations above were for the plain vanilla version.

Schwalbe land cruisers +1

I use Land cruisers for exactly what you describe. 20 miles on the road, and often use them along the canal tow path. They’re pretty bomb proof, the downsides are they’re heavy an not a great ride, and they’re not great in the cold.
A friend uses Marathons and thinks they’re better if you want a bit more speed. Not used them myself.

I’d avoid CX tyres. Nobbies on the road are horrible, and they’re more often or not lightweight and soft tyres designed for an hours racing on mud and grass.

Finally, road training tyres are quite suitable on canal tow paths if the surface is good. Not so great when it gets muddy/grassy but if it’s gravel then they are an option.

I use Specialised Boroughs (32cc) for the type of riding you decribe – fast enough on road and able and tough enough for the rougher stuff. I have them on my Jake most of the time as they are only marginally slower for winter road riding than GatorSkin 28’s

scwahlbe landcruisers, it’s what a lot of 3 peaks racers use for the mixture of puncture inducing rocks/long road sections and muddy moorland.

Or, if it’s just canal towpath with no mud then Michelin jets, pretty quick on the road and capable off road, I’ve used them on the peaks at 70psi when it’s been dry.

No one has mentioned Specialized Crossroads yet. The Armadillo versions are as near to puncture proof as you can get. They are fast and quiet on the road sections, and great on the hard packed gravel tow path that makes up most of my commute. They seem to last for ages too.

Panaracer Mach SS.

Good enough for the 3 peaks, good enough for you!

As (many) others have said, Schwalbe Marathons. I’ve also found Schwalbe CX Comps worked well enough and seemed to roll nicely on the road.

Schwalbe CX Comps are not very exciting but work brilliantly for the sort of thing you describe. My commute is half road and half muddy track and they cope fine. And only £10 too!