Mountain Bike Tires in City
 

Here in Guatemala, mountain bikes are ihe majority, and they all seem to have lugged tires. I went to the biggest parts store for 26x 2.00 (more or less) tires, all they had were deeply lugged or less deeply lugged tires. Went to a big bike store and all they had were lugged bikes.
In Chicago I put Serfas FPS on a Trek Antelope that had old lugged tires, boy the ride improved.
My steel framed26 inch Guatemalan bike rides like a tank even with " small" lugs.
Nobody here can explain lugged tires in the city, any ideas?
Thanks
GM
o

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People are under the myth that knobby tires give more traction but what they don't realize is those knobs only work on loose surfaces hard pavement cannot be dug into with rubber. They see a slick tire and get scared they think a bad road or riding on some light gravel or grass or something is going to be a detriment with those tires but with knobs they are confident. Plus they think mountain bikes are armored and handle their "rough riding" better than a hybrid or other bike designed for the road.

If they knew the only contact with the road on MTB tires was just the knobs and they are slower and less stable they would probably switch.

In the USA most MTB's have knobby tires too even though most riders stay on paved surfaces. I think many folks are just used to seeing knobby tires on MTB's & assume they're the proper tire. Also, I think knobby tires help absorb bumps which casual riders might like despite the slight speed penalty.

Can you send us somes pics thanks