Paesano

Been waiting to purchase a hybrid, but just acquired a Giant Iguana MTB from my father. Bad news - it's a 1994 model; Good news - it's in excellent shape. On my way home, I dropped the bike off at my LBS for a tune up. It had been hanging in his garage for years, and the rear wheel needed trued, and of course the entire bike needed a good once over as it's not been on the road for I'm guessing 15 years or so.

I should be getting it back next week, and I'm looking to make it more of a hybrid bike. I'm guessing the first order of business is a new set of tires. According to BikePedia, the stock tires are 26" X 1.95". How narrow can I go? Can anyone offer some suggestions to a good hybrid-style tire for road & light trail (paved/packed gravel/dirt), perhaps something slick in the middle, and a bit of side tread?

GeorgeBMac

My friend has an Iguana which I have ridden and also had it to my LBS. I liked the bike and the LBS guys spoke very highly of it. It was surprisingly comforable to ride despite not having a suspension front fork.

My LBS is a Trek dealer who only sells Bontrager. They have a nice online site that describes each of their tires fairly well at https://bontrager.com/products/components/tires

You might be interested in the H series (H2, H4, H5) or the cyclo cross XR series...

I would not get the cheapest 30tpi tires without any flat protection. But my LBS actually recommended against getting the other extreme, the "hardcase" tires because they are too hard to change. Some people go with a cheaper tire and add liners to protect against flats.

In any case, you may want to consider new tubes as well. I did the same: started riding a 20 year old bike that had sat for long time. I replaced the tires but found out the hard way that I should have replaced the tubes as well. You may also want to consider a spare tube and a portable pump that could mount on your bike (and a set of plastic tire irons).

I'm not technical enough to know what will fit on your bike -- but if nobody here has any ideas, I would check with the LBS or go the 'bicycle mechanics" forum.

PatrickGSR94

Check out what I've done with my late 90's KHS Alite 1000 MTB (link in sig).

I like it, but really itching to get a road bike or something much more road oriented, including drop bars.

waynesworld

Nothing at all wrong with mid-90's mountain bikes. They are some of the best bikes for around-town and multipurpose riding, IMHO. Yours probably has a rigid front fork, which I believe is a good thing. Not to mention that Giant Iguana is the best bike name ever.

As far as tires go, there are many that fit the description you mentioned, though I have no experience with that type. Here is what I put on my mid 90's rigid MTB (Trek 850): Serfas Drifter Amazon options

I have the Survivor Drifters with reflective stripe, in 26x1.5. The Survivor model may be overkill for my use, and the others are cheaper, but I do like them. Good luck.

clarkbre

There’s nothing wrong with riding an older bike. A couple weeks ago I bought a mint 1995 GiantInnova hybrid with a few accessories and absolutely love it. With the adjustments/modifications planned, Iwill still only be about 30% of what a new hybrid costs. Keep and rock that old bike!

As far as tires goes, I have used the Michelin City tires on my old MTB. They are 26x1.4 and ride very nice. They max out at 87psi so they have verylittle rolling resistance; yet, they still feel strong enough to ride hardpacked paths. For bringing an old bikeback to life, they are good tires to roll around on.

Good luck with the old Giant. Post a picture or two if you have any.

giantcfr1

I found that if you are in the city or flat areas you probably don`t need the inner chain ring. I`d suggest dumping the inner chain ring and convert the cassette to road along with the rear derailleur.

Paesano

Thank you all for the helpful replies. I'm still not 100% certain as to the model year, but referencing bikepedia, I've narrowed it down to either a '93 or '94. I know it's from the '90's, and it has the Rapid Fire shifters opposed to the Grip Shift (thankfully).

GeorgeBMac - Good call on the tube replacement. Only makes sense if I'm replacing the tires, but it might've been something I would've overlooked.

PatrickGSR94 - I was perusing through your "...MTB More Road Friendly" thread last night, and I will revisit it today now that I have more time. Sounds like it's right up my alley, and there's a a lot of information there.

waynesworld - It does indeed have a rigid fork, and no suspension frame.

clarkbre - That's my philisophy right now... I had been prepared to spend $500+ on a new hybrid, so putting a little $ into this bike is still savings all the way around. I'll follow up with pics once I get the bike back from the LBS. I haven't even brought it home yet... took it from my fathers garage, and dropped it off at the LBS on the way home.

PatrickGSR94

I have the same Serfas Drifter FPS tires in 26x1.5 that were mentioned above. Great tires and not a single flat yet in 350 miles so far *knock on wood*

I think the things I'm most dissatisfied about my bike right now are the small rims/tires, and the gearing. That's why I'm hoping to get something more modern/road oriented in the not too distance future. Plus the look. My rigid front forks are length-corrected to replace suspension forks, and they're very wide to accommodate huge tires. I prefer the "tight" look of road bikes with very little space between the down tube and front tire, fork just barely larger than the tire itself, etc. But that's just my personal tastes.

frankcli

I picked up an old Giant Iguana for $68 dollars at an estate sale, cleaned it, had a back rack and pannier bags, the bags were worth the $68 dollars. Anyway, the springs are shot in the suspension fork and I want to replace it with a rigid one. Any suggestions?

hokiefyd 

What is the axle-to-crown distance of the suspension fork, fully extended? That's the most salient metric -- you generally want a fork near or even slightly below that measurement to keep the same handling and front end geometry.

headwind15

You could go as narrow as 1.25"

fietsbob

1.5" or 559-40 or No narrower than your rim width.. I like schwalbe marathon green guard..