I have recently fitted a 29×2.25 Nobby Nic on the rear, and 2.4 Wicked Will on the front of my hardtail. Really enjoying how well it rides and impressed with the overall speed on roads, I’m commuting daily to work (5 miles each way on Tarmac). Just wondering if regular Tarmac use is going to wear them down very quickly ? if so would you swap out for something like a Raing Ralph ? or are knobbly tyres more resistant to road wear than they look ?

Rear will wear much much quicker than the front on roads, but this will also depend on how much you like accelerating hard and braking hard and/or skidding during your commutes ;-). Also depends what compounds. I had nobby nics once, I don’t think they were particularly soft compound so will be better than some on roads. Semi-slicks are a firm favourite for hardtail commutes if off-road sections are a regular part of your commute.

I’d be more worried about cornering on damp roads. Contact patch is low due to knobbles. A soft compound with better grip will grip better but wear faster. If you have another set of wheels, use those. If not, get a set. Changing tyres is a pain. Changing wheels is trivial.

Worth getting a set of wheels with more suited tyres. My old MTB is my current commuter, and my route is a mix of gravel, tarmac and canal tow path. I fitted Schwalbe Landcruisers. They have a central tread area and knobbles nearer the sides, so still work on gravel and in mud, but roll OK on tarmac – not as well as slicks, but it’s a half way house.

I use Maxis Ardents on my HT. 12 mile road commute as that’s faster, then back the off road way, hence the HT.
They have lasted ages, still slower than the ss road bike through.
Other tyres I’ve had have not lasted anywhere near as long on tarmac, anyone remember Tioga Factory XC Mud? Wrecked a pair of those in one ride🙈
So depends on the tyre OP

I was surprised how slowly the rear Jumbo Jim 4″ wore on my old fatbike during commutes, albeit I usually had it inflated to near max of 30PSI, but also how much more effort I had to put in to get anywhere on the flat and uphill.

These days I commute ~9 miles each work day with ~440 feet of climbing on a 13Kg Voodoo Marasa, takes less than 45mins total without making it a training session either way on 35/40mm Marathon Supremes.

Supremes have always been quite pricey at RRP (~£60), but Merlin have been doing them at ~£31 for almost a year, they still have the 2″ version in stock. https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-folding-touring-tyre-28-1-233093.html

Worth getting a set of wheels

plus frame, brakes and gears: 5 miles is a job for a cheap commuter/pub bike.

Not everyone has space for a second bike though.
As others have said, it depends on the tyre(s) in question and would affect the rear far more than the front.
Has nobody invented a commuting sheath for mtb tyres yet?

Has nobody invented a commuting sheath for mtb tyres yet?

With an inverted negative tread so it just slot’s into the mtb tyre tread, and then some velcro straps around the rim to hold it in place!!

Just wondering if regular Tarmac use is going to wear them down very quickly ?

Yes it will. How much are the tyres? £40 each or so ?

Work out in your mind if you can justify a whole new cheap wheel set up that will roll much faster on the road, or whether its cheaper to just replace the tyre more often and use more energy / leave the house earlier to get to work.

Maybe just buy one cheap £10 slick rear, stick it on and see how much quicker and nicer it feels?

Not everyone has space for a second bike though.

for sure. I used slicks when I had a similar distance commute from a flat in London (eons ago). Makes a huge difference and they last forever (to answer the OP) and a great round town commuter for seeing over cars etc. Bit of a 10-20 min ball ache swapping tyres but then I rarely made it out of town so didn’t do it that often.

It depends on the compound and how good you are at not locking up your rear brake. I’ve been doing a mixed tarmac / off-road commute for years, it’s only 3 miles. That ebike has also been my main MTB. I think I got about 3000 miles out of my front tyre (still had quite a lot of tread height, just rounded off) and not much less on the rear (though the centre knob height was worn down more). That’s Specialized Gripton tyres, Hillbilly and Eliminator, so v knobbly and middling stickiness.

I run them at 30-35 psi for commuting and 20-25 for proper MTBing.

As tired said,once you do a couple of speedway drifts on wet/damp roads you will be looking for a change of rubber 😀 .A fast gravel tyre might be a good compromise.

Scwalbe Black Jack were always my go to commuter tyres for my old spesh HT. At £10-12 each I could cope with them wearing down after a 2 year period 🙂 (not brilliant at anything but not really awful either)

TiRed

I’d be more worried about cornering on damp roads.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

cornering, stopping, not dying…
Wish me luck at the orthopaedic clinic today.. and it wasn’t even damp just dusty.

“I’d be more worried about cornering on damp roads.”

It’s really not that much of an issue. I don’t ride road bikes but big MTB tyres have plenty of cornering grip if you’re sensible, more than my old Brompton on near slicks. And when it comes to stopping I bet I can stop quicker than any road bike before the rider goes over the bars – long wheelbase and dropper post benefits.

“I’d be more worried about cornering on damp roads.”

It’s really not that much of an issue.

It’s not an issue at all. Plenty of people ride knobblies on tarmac without killing themselves on corners. It’s not exactly a new thing.

My tyres of choice for my commute are currently a Magic Mary Súper Gravity soft 2.6 up front, with a 2.4 DHR2 maxterra rear. They are just what use for proper rides. I just am not going to spend too much time worrying about a little bit of extra wear for the lack of faff swapping wheels/tyres. Plus I can do decent off-road detours.

Thanks for the replies. The rear tyre is a 29×2.25 Nobby Nic Addix Speed Compound, the front is a 29×2.4 Wicked Will Super Ground Addix Speed, both tyres were around the £55 mark each. I have no problems with grip on that set up, quite the opposite really, cornering on wet roads they are super grippy. It’s a daily 10mile round trip through Central London. I cycled today in a light rain and was surprised to see how much fine grit/crap/road oil dried out on the bike after, totally get the line about commuting killing drive sets and bearings.

“totally get the line about commuting killing drive sets and bearings”

I’ve never noticed that on normal MTBs, here on the south coast anyway – I can imagine road salt could cause issues further north.

Commuting on electric MTBs does eat chains and cassettes because you’re always on the smallest sprockets and the total torque is so high.

I’ve been on one bike for a while now. Last one was a Stooge Dirtbomb with 3” tyres and current is Titus Fireline with a 2.6” MM. on front and NN 2.4” speed grip out back. Only a few minutes slower on the commute than other, more appropriate, bikes I’ve owned in the past. More fun on the way home too!

I have a commuter bike, infact I have two depending on the length of the commute, so do as I say not as I do…..

Unless they’re the £50+ super soft versions you’ll never payback the cost of a wheelset let alone a full commuter bike. Even if you got through 4 rears a year that’s only £100 more than you would have normally just swapping it for summer/winter.

Dynamos and mudguards though, those are good reasons to have a dedicated commuter bike.

Has nobody invented a commuting sheath for mtb tyres yet?

😁

https://gearjunkie.com/biking/retyre-zip-on-bike-tires

Off road sheath!

Note to self, google first then comment. [/facepalm]