My daughter is riding her mtb to school every day, and I’d like to make it a bit easier on the road. I’ve got a spare set of wheels and would like to put some proper road tyres on. Need to be reasonably hard wearing, but fairly speedy – I want her to keep enjoying her bike. Any recommendations?

Nimbus 1.5s

I got on well with Schwalbe Kojaks- they’re relatively fat so probably not a “proper” road tyre but they’re quick, sensibly light, look less silly on an mtb (which matters to me 😉 And often does to kids too) and have a reasonable level of puncture protection.

I trashed that 26 inch bike so swapped to 700c kojaks… If I had time right now I’d try and sell you the 26s 😉

Not proper road tyres, but canal path mtb tyres. Schwalbe City Jet are cheap (~£11-15) and hard-wearing. Sixe 1.75 or 1.5. Have them on my commuter. Put plenty of air in though

Problem with fitting skinny slicks is that while it might be faster, there is an increased chance of pinch punctures unless pumped up quite hard and then they are uncomfortable.
I would want a decent volume of tyre still and maybe a bit of tread so they aren’t limited to Tarmac and can cope with cycle paths or parks or towpaths. So I would look at a Schwalbe Marathon touring tyre maybe? Or what about some Halo Twin Rails? I’ve got some skinwall ones and they look great, are tough enough to off road a bit and roll well too. Lots of other tyres in the 2″ range depending on budget.
For a kid I wouldn’t want to go with the super light/slick/skinny tyres.

Some good advice above. I’d avoid skinny slicks on an MTB unless doing really long road rides. You’ll be forever switching wheels / tyres.

In a similar vein to above suggestions I run 2.35 Big Apples on my 1×1. They’re huge but roll really well, are tough as old boots, fine for gentle offroad, look cool and and are massive fun.

Thanks people. Northwind, are you sure you haven’t got time to sell me your Kojacks?

I have a set of 2.0×26″ Kojak’s to sell if NW doesn’t 😉

Schwalbe City Jet’s are great. Cheap as chips. I ran the fat 1.9’s on my single speed commuter for years. They’re impossible to puncture and last for ever.

Or you could go for the happy medium of Kenda Small Block 8’s. Really fast rolling, but you can still venture off road

Big Apples!

bol – Member

Thanks people. Northwind, are you sure you haven’t got time to sell me your Kojacks?

I won’t be able to post them til, oh, forever basically! (but that means you know the recommendation’s good, not just astroturfing 😉 )

I’ve been dead impressed with these, very speedy, nice and cheap and very comfy, and still big enough without being massive

Michelin Wild Run’r jobbies