Tyres for on road and off road commute

Thoughts appreciated on the best 700c tyres for my new Roadrat for an 18 mile commute half on road and half off road/canal paths? Specialized Nimbus or Schwalbe Marathon Pluses so far. I’m thinking 32 to 38 width.

Not tried the two you mention, but my Continental Cyclocross Speeds are working well over similar terrain.

Bontrager LT2 Plus? Not the lightest but do have puncture protection

Small block 8’s

Marathon Plus would be OK, and very puncture proof, though they are rather heavy. The standard Marathons are a fair bit lighter, and still pretty strong. They do have a bit of tread, so OK on canal paths etc.
Or Panaracer Pasela PT is a similar thing, I often use these on easy paths etc.

Land Cruisers.

standard Swalbe marathons 28mm here on loose gravel / tarmac and would buy again
dropped down from 32mm as that was what was available seemed sketchy at first but Ok after a couple of rides but then again couldn’t notice any difference in av speed compared to 32mm which seemed better in odd muddy puddle and will probably go back to 32mm

i have 28c small block 8’s on my cx bike and they seem the best compromise I have found so far

The marathons are alright. They’re not puncture proof though.

remoterob – I quite fancy these tyres for my winter commute, but I note they do not seem to have any puncture protection.

Have you found them prone to punctures?

I use Schwalbe Smart Sams in 700×32. They’re quite knobbly but don’t seem to be too draggy on tarmac. (Or not so draggy that I can be arsed to chnge tyres for tarmac only rides).

I went for the schwalbe cx pro over the land cruisers as I can do a 75% off road commute. They are both fairly cheap.I took me a couple of rides to get used to the squishy puncture protection though.
I now see it as “suspension” 🙂 .Two punctures in 6 months riding.

My commute is 25 miles each way, 50% on road 50% bridleway, rough farm track, towpath, broken road.

Been using Schwalbe Marathon Greenguard 35mm on my Kaffenback. They’ve been really tough, no ahem….”thingies”…… in 10 months of twice a week commutes.

But they are heavy and draggy. I’ve been running them on Mavic A119 rims. I would consider 32mm or even 28mm. A bit sketchier on the pebbly/gravelly bits, but faster on the smooth.

I have tried Continental Grand Prix 4 Seasons, they were definitely faster, took 10 minutes off the commute, but started to suffer pinch flats (see one of my previous posts). They clearly didn’t suit the wider rim of the A119.

I’m now building up some Mavic Open Pro rims (15mm wide) to run the GP4Ss and see how that goes.

So, Marathon Greenguard totally reliable but a touch heavy. GP4S is an ongoing experiment.

Your choice might depend on your rim width (ooer missis).

Continental Cyclocross Speeds

speedride 42c has puncture protection

tomthumb – the ones I think we are talking about are these ones

I currently run Specialized nimbus armadillo for my commute. 50% cyclepaths and 50% road.

Very puncture resistant but heavy. Really heavy.

Looking to move to the Continental Cyclocross speed or similar as I use the commute bike to take my daughter in her trailer on gentle off road trails. Nimbus cope ok, but they are not really meant for such conditions.

A couple of reviews I have read on the Continental Cyclocross speed have been glowing, so I am tempted. Tread wise, they look ideal for the sort of riding we are discussing here. Just curious about how they would stand up to punctures.

I note Genesis are speccing the Continental cyclocross speed as standard on the new Croix de Fer.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Schwalbe Blizzards (25c kevlar ones). I do ~20 miles a day on them on mixed surfaces (road, bit of BW, footpath etc etc), 1345 miles “incident” free miles on them up to now. Pretty comfy too.

The marathons that were on it before only managed about 800 miles before I slashed the front through the belt and punctured. That was probably unlucky, but they were also heavy so swapping to the (much!) lighter blizzards has made the bike a little more sprightly too.

i use halo twin rails for a similar commute, quite cheap from winstanleys

tomthumb – the ones I think we are talking about are these ones

Yep sorry my post wasn’t at all clear. They used to do cycloscross speed in 35 & 42. The 42 has changed name to speedride and now has punture protection.

http://www.conti-online.com/www/bicycle_de_en/themes/city/CrossTrekking/speedride_en.html

thomthumb – thanks. Every day is a school day!

I haven’t had a puncture yet but that may not be a fair test as I’ve put Stan’s sealant in the inner tubes. I run them on Crests so I can’t risk a puncture as I’ll never get them off.

I use folding 35C Small Block 8s (also on Crests) and have found them fine for my 28 miles 70/30 road/offroad commute.

The draggy thing is strange. I’ve some Schwalbe Duremes on my 29er. Got them cheapish and impressed with how they roll and how well they grip. Just been touring round the Netherlands on them and very impressed. Before them I’d tried some 35c smart sams which seemed to roll even better but were a bit harsh on rough surfaces. Now I’ve put the sams on my cx bike, wondering if they’ll do for the Three Peake but found them incredibly sluggish. It may be context or comparison with what you’ve become used to but it’s hard to be definitive about rolling resistance and perception of it. IME of course.

I recommend some Michelin City tyres £10 each from CRC used them on my 20 mile commute on road/rough forest track. Also used them off road (in the dry). Nice reflective strips on the sidewall. Of course may not be expensive enough for this place 🙂

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/does-anyone-know-a-secret-place-where-tyres-are-cheap-at-the-mo-cx-and-road

Been using my continental cyclocross race tyres that came as standard on my genesis day one. Done just under 1000 miles on it and have had 3 punctures. I like them.

3 punctures in less than 1000 miles?

maybe i’m just in a grumpy mood, but is that meant to be impressive?

(it isn’t)

😕

I use Vittoria Cross XN Pro’s for my 15 mile commute across the Quantocks they’re good on the road and fine for all but the muddiest conditions (not something the Quantocks is known for) offroad.

If agree. Sorry but 3 punctures in a thousand miles isn’t great although I assume that’s across both tyres. Even so. I’d expect maybe one puncture every couple of thousand miles on my commuter.

Fair enough. I thought it was Ok. Put firmly in my place.

Not a problem. I think cyclists in general have been sold a broken dream. Tyre manufacturers and the associated media tell us that THE MOST IMPORTANT thing about a tyre is how well it grips. Nothing else is important. GRIP GRIP GRIP.

That might be the case if you’re Steve Peat but the rest of us simply aren’t that fast. What’s far more important to the rest of us is longetivity and puncture resistance. A puncture will knock ten minutes off your descent, way more than a little loss of grip. For a commuter the gap is even wider, there is nothing else more important to a commuter than puncture resistance. The tyres can be like ice on ice for grip but it doesn’t matter, you can work with that, but a puncture is a massive pain. Get more than one on a ride and you’re fuming.

It takes a while to change perspective and expect a couple of k between punctures and 4k between tyre changes.

Another vote for Vittoria’s as an alternative brand. I’ve had a pair of these on the commuter for 8 months or so, done 1000 miles and no punctures front or rear as of yet. Feel fast rolling but nothing to compare against really, and don’t seem to have worn badly at all. Only issue I’ve had is minimal grip on claggy stuff, but don’t think my nobblies would have faired much better.

Yeah, fair point, although I should have probably mentioned that 2 of the three happened while playing in the woods rather than commuting, so I did probably expect them a bit more as I was riding in a manner I’m unlikely to do on my commute.

lol @ the broken dream.

Using 700 x 40c Marathon Plus Tours on my Roadrat – very happy so far, with no punctures in several hundred miles. Spaced the rear wheel back about 10mm in the slots to stop the tyre from catching the front mech (XT M771), but otherwise plenty of clearance.