I’ve used various 35mm Schwalbe Land Cruisers on my cx bike for a few years now and they’re good all-rounders.

The cx bike is now being used almost exclusively for commuting 3 times a week. The route is 15+ miles each way, and mostly tarmac with only a mile of rough track.

100miles of road a week is wearing down the centre strip of the Land Cruisers fairly quickly. Of course, I can keep them until they’ve become slicks.

When do I come to change them, though, I’d like to try something else.

More road-orientated (and possibly a bit ‘faster rolling’) would be good, but I would also like a bit of tread, reasonable volume to brisk aid use on Sustrans, dirt/gravel farm tracks, tow paths, hard-pack singletrack etc. and similarly-good puncture resistance to Land cruisers, without being hugely heavy(á la Marathon Plus).

Any ideas? “Fast touring tyres” of some sort?

Schwalbe Sammy Slick maybe?

I’ve always got on well with the Schwalbe tyres on my CX (again the bike is mostly used for commuting along towpath and old railway line). Got the Smart Sams on mine, bit more tread.

Cheers, but I’m thinking more road-orientated.

Stick to land cruisers, you may want to sneak off road at some point. Last I heard it was the ultimate tyre choice for the 3 Peaks Cyclocross Race this weekend. Tough tyres that roll fast enough. and cheap.

continental contact 42c
swapped from schwalbes last week, roll loads better.

Ive got some Michelin City tyres, £12 each from CRC.

20 mile each way commute with about 1 1/2 miles on rough forestry track. Ive been very impressed with them in the 6 months or so ive had them.

They have reflective sidewalls too which really do work!

Spent a year doing similar, 12 miles of country roads and about a mile on gravel/dirt track. Continental Touring Plus tyres, they were fine, and puncture free. ditto reflective sidewalls.

Vittoria Randonneurs? Had some before and they were hard as nails, took them on bridle ways and thousands of road miles, just a bit on the heavy side, for road tyres anyway.

Thanks for the suggestions.

The Land Cruisers are cheap and I know maybe tempted to go off-road, but it would only be locally, which, at the north end of Cheshire, means flat, on gravel, hard-pack or broken-up tarmac.

Those Conti Travel Contact appear to have potential. 37mm seems to be the narrowest available, though. That might be fine on the back, but I think I’d go for something narrower on the front.

Conti Contacts.
Minimal tread but with a narrow tyre that not an issue, even in mud.

mattsccm – Member

Conti Contacts.
Minimal tread but with a narrow tyre that not an issue, even in mud
Which of the ‘Contacts’?

Contact II Reflex?

Continental GP4 Season 28mm.
Good grip, reasonably fast rolling, good puncture protection, and pretty long lasting.

I bought these for a change http://www.schwalbe.co.uk/active-line/silento/

very similar to landcrusers but the center strip is wider – probably better for 70%road 30%trails.

back on landcrusers now though (only due to a big nail in the silento’s)

actually I ran a landcruser on my font and the silento on the rear

There are some good ideas there. I’ll check them out.

Thanks.

+1 for Vittoria Randonneurs – bit heavy, but fairly cheap, roll well and are tough enough for some serious canal path bashing [next years niche]

How about schwalbe marathons? The tread is a similar pattern to the land cruiser but much faster rolling. I run a pair on my cross check for the sort of terrain you describe. Surprisingly capable and fine for farm gravel tracks (even with a child seat) I use the 32c green guard, but with hindsight would probably have gone for bigger volume

Which of the ‘Contacts’?
There are more than 1?
Dunno
That’s all it says on the tyre.
38mm, slight wiggle/straight pattern , came OEM on my wife’s Ridgeback in 2008
Useless aren’t I?

Well, as a complete alternative, I fitted a set of 23mm Conti GP4000s that I’ve not used in a few years, pumped them up to 110psi and rode to work.

They felt a bit faster, rolled very well when free-wheeling, appeared to accelerate more quickly and the bike’s handling felt more nimble. Of course, I felt every stone and tiny bump.

I didn’t suffer any flats on the dirt road section….

I’ll see how they go for the next couple of weeks. If they cope fine I’ll just use them.

I may invest in a set of slightly fatter Ultra Gatorskins or some narrow-ish variant of Schwalbe Marathon, Conti Contact or a similar kevlar puncture-resistant tyre.

Conti Sport Contacts, 32mm width does me – 12 miles each way, various surfaces from tarmac to gravel – get a bit skittish in mud, mind.

Another vote for Conti GP 4 Season 28c tyres – I use them on my CX commuter and they’ve been fine on gravel tracks.

The rear in particular has survived the last 1,500 miles with only one puncture despite literally dozens of clear nicks to the tyre where glass / stones have made an impact.

As a follow-up to my original post:

Having used the Conti GP4000s for a bit, now that we’re heading towards winter, commuting in the dark is now the norm. Avoiding stones, tarmac ripples and potholes has become difficult. The other day I suffered a pinch-flat on the stone sets of the High St and the ride isn’t very comfortable either.

I’ve now reverted to the fairly worn-out Land Cruisers.

For my needs they really are far, far better than the 23mm slicks. Much more comfortable (even at 70-80psi) and resilient. The tread is handy on the dirt.

They’re not even noticeably slower.

I reckon I’ll probably just replace them with the same after all.

I don’t think Silentos roll any better than Landcruisers, even pumped up hard. I think I’ve got 35s on and the odd time I’ve been on the mud the side grip doesn’t seem to do much and the central smooth bit just slides.
Smart Sams are good for grip I think but not as resistant to pinch flats as LCs.

As you were 🙂