MTB Tyres for mostly road use

Hi,

For reasons I won’t bore you with I’m going to be using my mtb mostly on roads for the foreseeable. There will be a little off road but tracks/towpaths etc not trail riding.

Any recommendations for a good set of tyres to use (obviously they need to cater for winter conditions).

I’m wondering if something like this would suffice –

https://www.merlincycles.com/vittoria-barzo-rigid-mtb-tyre-275-216899.html

Thanks

Well that tyre would suffice, but personally
I’d be looking at something from Renee Herse.
I ride 4 miles to the trails and there really is a big compromise between a trail tyre and a road tyre. You seem to be in the gravel type of tyre.

29″ x 2.2″ (700C x 55) Fleecer Ridge TC Tire

I use a smaller tyre from the same Company on my gravel bike. Expensive but very good.

Vittoria terreno

I use Rock Razors front and rear on my 29HT for gravel / road / off-road. They seem to be a really good compromise, definitely over-tyred on the road but cope with most off-road except the squidgiest mud.

WTB Nano? Cane on my Vagabond, and was impressed by their offroad capabilities.

Schwalbe Hurricane look like a good compromise tyre, but I’ve not tried them yet.

That Barzo would work, but there are better choices. If you’re going to be mostly on road but with the option of getting across a wet field or tacking some tow path it sounds like you might want to be looking at Gravel tyres. Specialised Fast Trak come in good compounds for tarmac riding and maintain a mountain-bikey like profile whilst also being a bit okay off road. Oh, and they’re cheap too!

I really like Schwalbe Hurricanes; fast on the road and decent on hard pack/gravel trails

I’ve just bought some Schwalbe Black Jacks for similar usage – I wanted something that rolls well on road (ie continuous centre tread) but would cope with a bit of light off road too as there’s lots of bridleways and green lanes linked by country lanes round here. They are going onto 26″ wheels which limited the options a bit – but they are also cheap at £17 each!

Vittoria Mezcal would likely be faster on road than a Barzo.

My hardtail is set up for commuter duties at the moment, with mostly road but the odd bit of bridleway thrown in. I’ve got Kenda Small Block 8’s and they’re perfect for the job

Mezcals would work.

Continental Race King Protection. Proper tread but rolls amazingly.

I run conti travel contacts – a 75% road 25% off road sort of tyre.  almost as good as a road tyre onroad, okish on dry offroad

I have the Terreno 2.1″ on my 29er as I basically wanted it to be as close to a gravel bike as possible.

They’re really smooth and fast on roads and good tracks, I think on a 35min gravel climb near me I was only a couple of minutes slower on the 29er than on the gravel bike (which has 38mm Terrenos).

I got carried away and tried using them on a big (dry) day out in the Cairngorms and even there they were mostly excellent except for washing out on one skinny rubbly bit of singletrack where I wasn’t paying attention.

Basically Terrenos on the gravel bike and Terrenos on the MTB are making me re-evaluate what semi-slicks can do, everything except loose steep or muddy gnar it seems…

Thanks for the replies.

I’ll take a look at the suggestions and hopefully they’ll be a deal out there for an appropriate tyre.

I asked a similar question a while ago, and somebody suggested Halo Twin Rails. Jameso popped up saying he thought these were excellent – which is about as good a rec as you’re going to get.

Unfortunately at the time everything was out of stock everywhere, so I still haven’t got around to buying anything, but I’m going to give the twin rails a try. The other tyres that were possibilities were Nanos and Mezcals, both of which have good reputations.

I’ve a pair of Vittoria Peyote tyres that are fast rolling and good enough for light trail use. 27.5 x 2.3, both very light wear. Yours for £28 posted for the pair if you’re interested.

Like these …

https://www.hargrovescycles.co.uk/components/tyres-tubes/vittoria-peyote-g20-tnt-xc-mtb-tyre-in-black-and-grey__38055

Thanks but I’ll pass.

At the moment I’m thinking of getting the Schwalbe Hurricanes to try.

I’ve got Hurricanes on my road wheels which I use when out with a friend who has a road bike. I don’t use them off-road at all though as the only times I have, I have got punctures from twigs and thorns,  2 in 20 mins on one occasion. I don’t run them tubeless though*. On my off-road wheels I have Rocket Ron tubeless and I’ve not had a single puncture while riding exactly the same trails so I’d be cautious using the Hurricanes on anything other than very light trails with no twigs on….

*I haven’t looked but they might come in a thicker casing/tubeless version which might be better…

I also have a pair of hurricanes. They’ve had less than 100km of use as I had so many punctures I took them off and replaced them with Nanos (nanos are very good).

I think there are different types of hurricane, so if you go that way make sure you get some with puncture protection.

Ah ok. So I might park that and keep looking.

I did notice these on offer but I think they might be a good and touch for mostly road…..even though I’m a sucker for a deal!

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/ground-control-control-2bliss-ready/p/173636?color=272243-173636&searchText=00120-5074&gclid=Cj0KCQiAq7COBhC2ARIsANsPATEsZ4vWPbGbIXlkybwFD9I4yir7AuuZivDukUwxTGih7Ajw2eH_MvoaAuRBEALw_wcB

Surprised how aggressive some of the suggestions are. I use tyres with less tread for riding over mountains. For the suggested use I’d be looking at a slick or semi-slick tyre at most. Something like a Schwalbe Hurricane or Specialized pathfinder is a good middle ground if you occasionally want to go off road, but still overkill for towpaths.

I fitted a 35mm on the front and a 40mm on the rear of https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-folding-touring-tyre-700c-163234.html last night to my commuter hybrid, today’s commute felt fast for moderate effort!

You would have plenty of room for the 2″ version https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-marathon-supreme-folding-touring-tyre-28-233093.html

Thunder Burts. Run em tubeless though. Faster than you would believe on road, still gives you some level of grip off road which the tyres with slick tread in the middle won’t.

Or just fit some Gravel tyres… 700x50c G-One Bites would serve you well.

Also, look here before automatically assuming that a gravel and/or slicker tyre will roll quicker.

I use Conti Double Fighters for what you’ve described. I tried Race Kings for a change, after my second set of DFs, but didn’t get on with them as well and am now (happily) back to Double Fighters.

I use Schwalbe Land cruiser Plus on my hybrid/shopping/trail bike – it would have been a gravel bike but as the frame is about 25 years old gravel hadn’t been invented then.. I also have fitted them to police fleets, although they look perhaps a bit draggy, when inflated correctly they roll just like a road tyre but with the advantage that they grip superbly on loose and soft surfaces, make sure you get the “plus” version as it’s puncture protection level is five as compared to the ordinary that is three. Reflective stripe too as an added safety feature when on the road. Hope this helps, direct message if you need any more info.

Race kings roll well, and will
Keep you upright on wet grass etc.
For my commute I always looked to Planet X, had some crazy bargains, for some obscure tyre. TBH for commuting you can look at the tread and know if it’s okay, then just try and keep the weight down. You really notice a heavy tyre.

Edit just checked px, can’t see anything useful, this looks too knobbly…
https://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVITSAG/vittoria-saguaro-folding-tyre

Surprised how aggressive some of the suggestions are. I use tyres with less tread for riding over mountains. For the suggested use I’d be looking at a slick or semi-slick tyre at most.

Just what I was thinking. Suggested use of mostly roads with the odd towpath say slick but large volume tyre to me.

Something like a WTB Exposure 36c would make the bike fly

The OP says tracks and towpaths. They can both be pretty muddy depending on where you are. Muddy enough to need a bit of tread.

I bought a pair of spesh crossroads for my old 26″ hardtail and find them pretty good for a mix of road and Cannock chase

The OP says tracks and towpaths. They can both be pretty muddy depending on where you are. Muddy enough to need a bit of tread.

But mostly road so get the tyre for the biggest use and just have a bit of fun on a towpath on those few occasions it happens to be muddy enough to cause any grips problems.

Riding mostly road with a knobbly tyre is a poor choice.

The roads up my end aren’t much fun on a road bike in winter, and when the trails are too sloppy I use my 29er as a winter road bike on the same tyres I use all year round on it: Schwalbe Thundeburt rear and Racing Ralph front both in 2.1 run tubeless. These are fast enough to not irritate on the road, and even fast enough to seriously annoy full-on roadbikerists when encountered…and then when it dries out they work fine offroad too as long as you treat them like a limited grip skill honing device. The only downside is the ‘burt on the rear does wear out a tad too fast, I too have contemplated going gravelly G-One in 48-50mm on the back which might last a bit longer.

But mostly road so get the tyre for the biggest use

Opposite way round I’d say. A lightly treaded tyre e.g. Ralphs are only slightly slower than a semi slick on road so you don’t lose much, but given a sloppy track they could be the difference between falling off and staying on, or pushing a climb. Like I say it depends where you are.

I run conti travel contacts – a 75% road 25% off road sort of tyre. almost as good as a road tyre onroad, okish on dry offroad

Funnily enough, I’m just swapping these out for some cheap Michelin things. They are brilliant on the road and dry off-road as you say. Coming off the downs in the wet on them was…slightly nerve-wracking 🤣

Tried Hurricanes and Nanos and Big Apples and Marathon Racer all on MTBs.

For road and offroad equal mix – Nanos

For mostly road – (smooth paved, hardly any offroad) Marathon Racer

For mostly rough road – (Hurricanes/Big Apples depending on amount of offroad/potholes respectively)