What’s a good light semi-slick in say 42-47mm?

I’m building such a beast right now.

Go bigger. Big Apple Lite, 2.35″ Get the full benefit of fat wheels.

I have dicked around with this for years trying to get an effective fatter tyre in a road bike. Last year I built up one of my odd bikes and put BAs on it. I was amazed at how free rolling it was, especially on the less than perfect surfaces of most roads up here.

Then I spent a winter on my fatbike which has shown me the benefits of fat wheels – my 29er remains unridden since the ‘Puffer.

So I have taken a spare 29er frame I had bought for a belt drive experiment and built it for road use. At the rolling chassis stage right now, with a bit of luck, running by tomorrow.

Using a 29er frame, I have the option of dropping a tyre size if I end up not liking the BAs for general use.

Won’t go in a Pometamine, and don’t want a pure slick, as it’ll go off road.

mythos 29er XC

Halo twin rail?

http://www.halorims.com/products-details.php?id=TYHAT92

Halo twin rail…2.2″ and 890gm?

Neither it nor the Mythos are semi-slicks neither.

If the Pompetamine has the same spacing as the Pompino, the fattest I was able to get in was a 40mm Marathon Racer.

Cool…looks like there are a few choices, none cheap though!

Schwalbe Land Cruisers work well. Roll nicely on the road and have enough tread for off road. They are cheap too, but quite heavy. Available in a variety of sizes. I run the 35mm ones at the moment and would like something a little fatter for off road, but they are a good compromise.

I was really surprised how well they grip in mud too.

I’ve tried a few on my Fargo and by far the best are the Big Apples 2.35 which are ace tyres. Commuted in on mine today and love the way the tyres roll (not much slower than my road bike which is way lighter). I have the wire variety (cheap at the time) but the folding ones now sem to be pushing £50!! I bought a folding 2.0″ version from CRC (£25) earlier this week and am disappointed in it as it’s a completely different tyre to the 2.35″, i’d say the volume is around half that of its bigger brother.

Spesh ‘The Captain’ tyres are quite good but not exactly semi slick. WTB Weirwolf 2.55 (more like 2.3 in reality) are also pretty fast rolling and would be my choice if i went for treaded tyres. There’s a semi slick WTB tyre on the CRC site but it never seems to be in stock. Failing that look at the larger CX tryes or go with SB8’s?

I’ve also run Spesh Borough CX tyres (42c size) which were good for road but i’m not sure if i’d class them as semi slick again?

Ta all…looks like I am limited to 40mm, and I am specifically looking for a fast rolling tyre probably close to a semi-slick – Marathons, Boroughs etc are not what I am after!

Standard Schwalbe marathon in a 38 or 40 size would be semi slick with a little tread for off road. All depends what kind of off road you are meaning.

Is a 1.8 inch mountain bike tyre really the same size as a 45c road tyre?

It works out to be that, but would a 1.8 treaded/knobbly tyre be significantly taller?

Neither it nor the Mythos are semi-slicks neither.

the one in my shed is, says Mythos xc semi slick on it amd it has that cross hatched thread down the middle of it afaik,42c i think. you can have it for the postage….but of course if it doesn’t exist…

looks like this i think, but i’ll check when i get home, apologies if i’m wrong though

I was gonna suggest a Marathon Cross – but they only go up to a 38.

You can get conti fighter 2 42mm tyres in the back of the pompetamine. however, don’t bother with them as they will kill you if you ever go around corners with the bike banked over…
I’m currently running kenda small block 8 32mm which were a £10 bargain from CRC a while back and they are brilliant on and off road for that sort of bike.

Fair enough RD, I went on “mythos xc” as you said, not the semi-slick verson.

Ta otherwise, I’ll have a look at the bike tonight, I think I reckoned I could get a 47 in there. Just to make it a little more comfortable/capable off-road without losing any speed on road.

2.1 SmallBlock8’s at 40psi.
Annoyingly, they do a 26 x 1.75, but not a 29.

ive got 1.8 bonty jones xr 29er tyres on my crosscheck they are big but not too big if you get me

now with new stem less spacers and fixed wheel but still silly bar tape 😉

ive also got these halo ones on my other cx http://www.wiggle.co.uk/halo-twin-rail-700-road-tyre/ cheap and do the job

Specialized Borough CX. Used these on my Tinbred for touring and trails is Oregon.

EDIT – that was bigger than I thought

no probs, Al, just checked in the shed and they are as above, 42C, i think the front has a more agressive tread, i have the rear, they don’t look that wide looking at them off a rim

CX version of the Smallblock8 might fit the bill.

Hey don’t bother reading the thread guys 😀

Looks like 40mm is it

IMAG0427.jpg by alan cole, on Flickr

FS how wide do the Jones measure?

OT: You’re a bit of a modifier. Do you realise you could do a belt drive conversion on a Pompetamine? (assuming SS or hug gear use)

Nice flat dropouts, easy to modify.

I’ve still got the templates I made.

I like those small-block 8’s.
My Pompino had them for commuting duties, and my Gryphon has them now for … well, for just mucking about on I ‘spose.

My Peregrine had Jones CX tyres on for a bit, and whilst they gripped impressively well in mud, they felt hard work on anything hard, and warm summer tarmac was hard work.

Hey don’t bother reading the thread guys
Looks like 40mm is it

Run it with less pressure, that’ll spread it out a bit.
😛

epicyclo I am indeed, but this bike wants close ratio gears, its purpose does not suit single speed. . I’d love belt drive though and if I keep the fat bike I’ll get a Pugsley and do that to it.

My mate Shand does a lot of belt drive conversions.

Anyway I rode it in this morning, dunno why but there’s something about this bike, I like it a lot.

flickr.com/photos/7693620@N05/5600131868/

firestarter, what do the jones roll like on the road, looking for something like that for my peregrine build.

Looking at the tread, I’d venture “pretty guff”.

Al not sure on width and not got it with me to check.

ANd mrvear al is pretty much right they are hard work on road bits tbh that’s why I use the Halos I linked to with my pic post on my other cx as they roll well and still grip pretty good off road tho the Jones do have less tread in the middle. It’s not bad enough that I avoid the road bits tho but its defo more mtb than road