Road tires for my mt. bike?
 

I've been riding my mountain bike more on the roads lately and wondering if I should try getting road tires for it?
Is it worth it or not? I have an extra set of wheels for it, just need to get extra tires if it's worth doing.
My wheels are 27.5 41mm width. My LBS tried on a 27.5 x 2.5 tire and it seems good. BUT, road tires seem
hard to find in that size. I do see some tires called 27.5 650. I don't know if these would fit though.
Maybe just pump up my MT. tires to the max 30 psi and ride the road. Right now I run them at 15 psi for woods.

If you have an extra wheel set for that, then yes, I'd say it's totally worth it.

650b is synonymous with 27.5", it's just another system of measurement, they both have rim diameter of 584 mm. So yes, those tires should fit your rims.

Tire width is not going to make as big a difference (if any) as tread - look for smooth treaded tires or slicks, if you want to lower the rolling resistance. Tires with smooth tread in the center and knobs on the sides offer low rolling resistance on road while maintaining some cornering grip off road (less cornering grip on road though).

I've run Vittoria Voyager Hypers (recently discontinued) on my 29er last summer and now have Continental Speed rides on it, others you could look at that are more road orientated are Schwalbe Marathon Supremes and Panaracer Paselas

I'm sure others will have some suggestions as well.

I saw a set of Michelin Wild Run'rs on a MTB and they looked like they'd be worth looking at.
https://www.amazon.com/Michelin-Wild.../dp/B003EAKR9M

schwalbe marathon plus

Unless you do serious single track riding, road tires are definitely worth having even if you have only one wheel set. I think you will immediately appreciate the difference. With a spare pair of rims, it's a no brainer.

What kind of brakes do you have? If you have rim brakes, check the rim widths of your two wheel sets at the brake track. If there is very much difference, you may need to make a brake adjustment when you swap wheels.

From many years of commuting, I determined that anything under 1.75" in width made the bike too squirrelly to handle. I felt downright unsafe with 1.25" tires. I am currently rolling on these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000OERSNY/ having had great luck with the discontinued Vittoria Adventure series. So far so good, although I have only a couple hundred miles on them. I run them at 70 psi, which is the maximum rated pressure. They stick very well in the corners, and the bike handles very well for a 1997 vintage 26" model. Here is a recent picture:
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d6197e4e33.jpg

I have heard nothing but good things about Schwalbe tires, but I have no personal experience with them. I use Contis exclusively on my road bikes, but the Conti street tires I had on this bike flatted constantly from small bits of glass. I had similar issues with the equally expensive Michelins I tried. No such problems with the Vittorias. I see some negativity around the net because of rolling resistance, but when you use your bike to get to work, flat resistance is everything. I'm retired now, but I still ride this bike a lot. I never worry about it.

As said above, 27.5" is aka 650B a long made in france wheel dimension.. their standard..

Like nice things? Compass Bike , now https://www.renehersecycles.com/ has high end 650B tires ...


I have Schwalbe tires in several sizes , just don't own a 650B wheeled bike..

Marathon Plus is their Heavy Duty tire with a puncture resistant outer edge.. tread..





....

If you have 41mm width rims, be aware that there is probably a minimum recommended tire width. It sounds like you might have a 27.5+ bike with rims that wide?

Double check that rim width, but I wouldn't run a normal 2.0-2.4" width tire on a rim that wide...it would create a really flat profile with odd handling characteristics.

Not many options for smooth 27.5+ tires, but Schwalbe has 2 you could check out:
- G-One AllAround 27.5x2.8
- Super Moto-X 27.5x2.8

I have nothing to add to the above suggestions, but having another set of wheels definitely makes it worth investing in a decent pair of road type tires. It is so simple and quick to change whenever the need arises.I do pretty much the same thing, just in reverse, on my 700 C commuter/errands bike. I have mounted up to 37 mm's on it and think 42s would work. I have shallow knobbies for gravel/light trail, a deeper tread tire for snow/ slush, and nice road 28s for pavement.

I always used Specialized Fatboy slicks, before switching to a (iirc) Nashbar clone. I think they were 1.25", I pumped them to 100psi. Never had any issues, did thousands and thousands of miles on them.

I can't see going narrower than a 2.8 on a 41mm int/ 46mm ext wheelset. Soooo,

Schwalbe G-One All-Around, 27.5 x 2.8

or

Vee Speedster Plus Size, 27.5 x 3.0

methinks this is a possible N+1 opportunity! :D

A lot of commuters switched to slicks and noticed a big improvement for on pavement use.

I just picked up a gravel bike and got a second wheelset with 28mm GP5Ks for the road. Still keeping my road bike of course, but it'll be nice to have the gravel bike on the road when I want some more comfort or the weather is bad.

WTB Horizons are pretty great road tires for 650b/27.5 bikes. I really, really like my set but took them off so I could fit full fenders. Every once in a while I think about taking the fenders off and putting the larger tires back on just for fun. Then it rains.