Hey, I’m looking for advice on new tyres for my mountain bike.

Apologies if this is a frequently asked question on this board but my search didn’t return anything useful and I’m a total newbie where bikes are concerned. My bike is a Muddyfox Air (http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/muddyfox-air-front-suspension-bike-492130).

Anyway, this bike is very heavy and not particularly enjoyable for road riding and I’m going on a casual cycling trip around Netherlands next week and am looking for tyres to improve it. Currently I’m knackered after an hour-long bike ride in town using the knobbly tyres which came on the bike which offer 0 rolling resistance. I’ve been down my local independent bike shop and the guy said semi-slicks were the way to go, but also conveniently recommended the most expensive in the shop (45 quid!). Seen as I’m a casual rider and don’t often do any demanding rides I was hoping for something cheaper. So, I was wondering if anyone could help me out with recommendations?

Thanks
Ryan

Is there a decathlon near you http://www.decathlon.co.uk/geax-tr-easy-rider-26×195-id_8247566.html

10 quid. Does me for my XC training bike. Little stiff to get on and off the rim tho.

Edit: Corrected the link.

I’m in Newcastle and my closest one is 130 miles away in Sheffield 😐

May just take the hit of a £5.99 delivery charge! Thanks for your response 🙂

No worries. I think they come individual rather than a pair.

you bought a bike that cost 100 quid? 😐

i’ve used only one kind of semi slicks and then never bought anymore, continental travel contact. They go for abotu 20 quid and reckon they’re puncture proof and they come with a guarantee that if you puncture them with a year they’ll replace them. So buy em from Halfords and it’s no bother to go down there when they puncture and you can do so *cough* several times.

Get thee over to On One,

Schwalbe City Jet would be perfect for road and canal path riding. The 1.95 size can be got for less than £15 each eg £24 for a pair here

Do you have any other local bike shops? TBH – that LBS’s advice sounds a bit OTT for your needs.

You near a Halfords? (if so you can reserve online – even the “web exclusive” tyres and collect the next day – so you should be ok for next week).

BTW – are you going near any mud or off road? If not then slicks are probably slightly better.

Christ Jamie they offer them at 1.5, I’ve never seen anything that narrow, might that be narrower than the rim? lol

@jekyll – Nahhh, I paid more than that for it around three years ago (probably ripped off!). Thinking of getting a proper road bike after this trip as I’m getting more into using my bike for local commuting and this bike is horribly heavy compared to my friends’ bikes.

@jamie – I’ve read good things about the Schwalbe City Jets, it was them that I had in mind when I went to my local shop before he tried flogging me something more expensive!

@couldawouldshoulda – They’re my only local shop, but I do live near a large Halfords. I highly doubt I’ll be going near any mud or off road, so perhaps slicks are the way to go. I was just told that cornering in wet weather can be dodgy on fully slick tyres? Fingers crossed there’ll be no rain while I’m over there, but guaranteed rain most of the time in Newcastle!

Thanks everyone for suggestions so far!

@jamie – I’ve read good things about the Schwalbe City Jets, it was them that I had in mind when I went to my local shop before he tried flogging me something more expensive!

I run them on my rigid single speed commuter (with plenty of air in). Very happy with them and will be buying them again, which will be ages as they still look new. Not had a puncture on them yet over 6 months in

I was just told that cornering in wet weather can be dodgy on fully slick tyres?

I’ve now taken a dislike to your LBS.

Anyway think about / decide how comfy or how fast (easy pedalling) you want as that effects how big / wide a slick you should get.

As a guide, I started with a Schwalbe Big Apple (a big fat comfy slick) which was fine and my wife now uses it. Then Schwalbe Kojaks, then Sport Contacts (gradually smaller and a bit faster and firmer each time).

Other than Halfords the other thing I’ve found that’s pretty reliable time wise is NextDayTyres.co.uk if you’re at home to meet the postie.

I did get the impression my LBS were taking advantage of my non-existent knowledge of tyres to try and make me buy the more expensive option! I’m thinking because there’s going to be a lot more cycling than I usually do that the easier-pedalling the better.

Sounds like Schwalbe are the way to go in terms of brand, looking at their section on the Halfords website now. Apologies again for my ignorance, but which width would provide the easier-pedalling? The guy said something about having to buy a new inner tube if I went with the fully-slicks but not with semi?

Narrower is faster / easier but you’ll feel the bumps more. Maybe go for something like a 26 x 1.75. Sort of mid sized.

Pretty much all the tyres mentioned by everyone above are good at avoiding punctures which is important as you ride more. You dont need to buy a particular brand really, but something that says “puncture resistant” or something is a good idea.

These look good for a £13 near slick and apparently are available in stock in all my local stores:
http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_953029_langId_-1_categoryId_242553

What size tyres do you have currently? You’ll only need to change the tube if theres a big size difference.

+1 for CityJets..Halfords sell them.

Either that or something that will cope a bit better with gravel/canal paths/woodland paths etc. like Specialized Crossroads or Hemisphere. Bit more expensive, but work well.

Just had a look and my current tyres are 26 x 2.125, haven’t even seen any that wide on Halfords. Sounds like a slight difference, not sure what that means in terms of inner-tube?

The tyres you just recommended would be ideal in terms of price. They’re looking like winners to me!

edit – cheers stumpy!

Tubes have a size range for the tyres they’re for. Eg 1.6 -2.1. If you’re lucky the current tubes range will cover the new tyres. Or be close-which is probably fine.

Tube size is usually written on them in grey/white. If in doubt, halfords also do 1.6-2.1 tubes (that’ll suit your new tyres) for about £4 and its always a good idea to have a couple spare anyway.

Lastly, smaller tyres typically need more pressure in them than youre used to eg a road bike tyre might be at 100psi, a wide mtb tyre 35, a tractor 5psi.

Can pick up the tyres and inner tube for around 30 quid on Thursday.

Thanks a lot, I’d have been lost without your help! Cheers to everyone else who made suggestions too 🙂