GrolarBear

I don't know if this is the right place to post this, but I've decided to take my trusty 1998 Gary Fisher Big Sur a little more road and a little less "any place I want to go." I'm realizing that it's been probably 15years since I've done any really serious mud/rocks and with having gotten my 7y/o twins bikes for their last birthday I'm spending even more time puttering around the neighborhood, and I feel like some more street oriented tires might be a good step.

Now me, I'm a 6'4", a little over 270# powerlifter that even on the road has a tendency to hop over, into and onto lots of things that I probably shouldn't. The bike came with relatively good parts/well built for someone my size (and for the late '90s), and I've broken relatively little the way it is when I used to ride much harder with only modifying the RockShox (don't remember the model) for my weight (at the time 290-300) mostly with custom springs and dampers. It's running WTB Velociraptor tires (Which were OE on this bike) VERY knobby front with a knobby rear almost paddle tread. AWESOME in the muck. Not great for the street, really fairly terrible. FWIW, they're labeled 26 x 2.1" wide and the front measures exactly that, the rear is slightly narrower.

I'm looking for something smooth rolling, preferably MUCH faster/lower resistance on the street (I want to put some real miles on this thing), but I don't want to give up any width/sidewall both because of my size and my tendency to do stupid things (my assumption is that a wider tire will take more bouncing around/off of things before I hurt it). What I'm finding is that a lot of stuff labeled in this size range 50-559 to 57-559 (roughly 26x2 - 2.25) with street tread tends to run very undersized.

Any suggestions for tires? I'd like to keep things fairly cheap for now since I'm not sure how well this is going to go. Am I wrong in wanting to stay with a fatter tire? FWIW, I don't know what the widest tire is you can mount on a standard rim but measuring the frame I don't see even a 2.5" wide tire hitting anything.

GrolarBear

I'd love to post some pics/links but I guess I'm too much of a noob

GrolarBear

FWIW, I've ordered in some "Schwinn Pavement/City Bike Tire (Black, 26 x 2-Inch)" which have a sidewall label of 54-559 (54mm = 2.126, that would be perfect), but that measures 1.74" mounted on the rear rim. It just looks tiny, it even puts the hub/axle height about 1/2-3/4" down lower than the stock tire. I've also gotten some "Goodyear Folding Bead Cruiser Bike Tire, 26 x 2.125, Black" which has a sidewall label of 55-559 which look to be bigger from bead to bead, but the sidewalls are REALLY thin, they feel thinner than an intertube and somewhat papery and they have a very hokey looking thread (it looks like they've been shipping with a new and an old tread and it looks like I got 2 old ones which have a deep curved v groove down the middle) so I haven't tried mounting it.

hokiefyd 

The ERTRO label (such as 54-559) is typically closer to the actual size than the "common" size they print (such as 26x2.0), but it's unfortunate to hear that you're finding the tires to run that much smaller. I'd wager that less expensive tires, especially ones listed with a size range (such as 26x1.75-2.25), will typically be on the small end, because they're being marketed to fit the entire size range. I don't know if that's what's going on with the Schwinn tires you've bought.

I can say that Schwalbe tires tend to run pretty close to size, and the Big Ben and Big Apple both are available in a 55-559 size. I would expect these to be pretty close to 55mm in width/height based on my experience with Schwalbe tires.

I have Little Big Bens in 38-622, and they're right at 39mm in size. And I have Hurricanes in 50-622 size and they inflate up to about 48-49mm wide. I would expect Big Bens or Big Apples to be close to nominal size.

Darth Lefty 

DorkDisk

I've a few 26ers and for streets I am currently running Maxxis DTHs. They are labeled 2.15 and are wide so your ride height and plush ride are not affected. These are pretty lightweight, which is a plus.


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GrolarBear

Sorry for the interruption, I thought as the new guy I could just get the minimum posts out of the way and post some pics, and then I got hit by the post limit/day and got cut off
:-/

GrolarBear

Anyone familiar with the "reverse" treaded MTN bike tires like the "Continental Town & Country Urban Bicycle Tire" - available in 26x2.1, but I can't find any pics of one installed or information how their sizing runs or a "Serfas Drifter" - available in 26x2, I don't see any reviews about how true to size they run but that is about the smallest that I think I'm willing to go in actual measured size, this one looks fairly beefy in pics, just based on appearances. In my head they look like like the design might be useful in an urban assault vehicle type bike, and both list that they are commonly used on police mountain bikes, which seems like they would have similar needs to mine.

suncruiser

the Serfas Drifter is a pretty common tire out here in Phoenix due to their handling on and off road and their puncture resistance. I'd give them a shot if they're inn budget

GrolarBear

How are they size wise? I was leaning Continental out of that style of tire just because it comes in a larger size.

DorkDisk

They roll well and have no squirmy, buzzy knobs but more importantly for me it spins up quickly-useful for starts and climbing. Its just as fast as 1.75-1.95 semi slicks but much cushier. The compound is very soft and squishy so traction is great

26ers accelerate fast, and a light tire helps a good 26er do what it does best - be nimble.

A commuter/multi-use tire will be heavier due to its harder rubber, steel wire bead, and flat protections but might be a better choice someone who desires robustness and durability.

GrolarBear

Huh... thanks. It's funny, I always feel like I'm the normal guy but realize that when I try to fit in a category I don't. I'm realizing that is the case here also. I'm not a commuter (I doubt that I'll put on any significant miles going in a specific direction, though I would like to get more exercise on a bike), I'm not a real MTB'er/trail rider anymore. Heavy use? Well, I'm probably heavier than 99% of you (>270#), does that count? Is it possible to be nible and care about weight at 270#? ;-)

Doc told me today that I broke 2 ribs and tore the cartilage between the ribs, I guess I'll be slow moving for a bit :-/

GrolarBear

So here is my current short list. I'm kind of trying to order it in some way that makes sense but not really:

• https://www.maxxis.com/catalog/tire-320-137-dth# Maxxis DTH 26x2.15. This would be a done deal if they were $10 or so cheaper a tire (don't know why $20 is bothering me so much)
• Maxxis DTH in 26x2.3- I found them on sale for $19/tire less than the 2.15's... huh? I'm nervous that the 2.3's will be too wide for hopping around mostly on pavement
• Big Apple https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_t...ires/big_apple 26x2.15 - the only reason that this one comes before the Big Ben is that it's lighter at the same cost and dimensions
• Big Ben Plus https://www.schwalbetires.com/node/2417 This looks to have all the best of the big apple, slightly better looks, more durability but it's heavier (I couldn't find a good deal on the standard big ben)
• Serfas Drifter https://www.amazon.com/Serfas-Drifte...-39&th=1&psc=1 - it's not closer to the top because it costs almost as much as the DTH, and is the absolute smallest tire I would consider seriously right now.
• Continental Town and Country https://www.amazon.com/Continental-T...8-4&th=1&psc=1 In a lot of ways this is the Drifter in the width that I want and a more reasonable price. OTOH, it's this far down because people complain about its weight and it looks like a year or 2 ago they were falling apart left and right (though newer reviews don't seem to have the same complaints)
• Wild card: Table Top https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/bmx/table_top it seems like BMX style tires fit what I'm looking for and this one caught my eye. I'm worried the tread might be too knobby... who knows?

Reasons why you would pick one over the others? Good candidates I left out?

DorkDisk

Categories are for marketers and politicians. Bicycles reflect individuality like few machines can. FYI I'm 5-10@150lbs but I'm not very nimble due to a tremendous amount of injuries I have racked up. Everyone likes snappy acceleration, even my beat up body can appreciate that.

308jerry

I bought the Schwalbe Hurricanes, not sure if they have the size you're looking for. Great tread for going down the road. Stable on sand and gravel.. And they measure width wise what they say they are

Darth Lefty 

A while ago I bought Schwalbe Kojaks for my tandem. They are okay. You have a ton of options.

suncruiser

So, got to check out a set of drifters on another bike at work and measured it for shizangiggles. He has the 26x2 and it measured in at 1.989 with the calipers. Close enough I'd give it true to size. The police out here also use that tire exclusively on their bikes, so I imagine they are pretty durable.

Also worth noting in there, though they are a tad pricey, is the Schwalbe Marathon GT Tour. I'm running it on my Vaya and it's proving to be pretty versatile. As any street style tread, it doesnt do particularly great in slop and mud, but dry/semi wet trails haven't proven much challenge, and they seem to handle better off pavement than the WTB Nano tires that came on the bike. 100% can recommend this tire

tyrion

Schwalbe Mondial would be faster than your Velociraptors on pavement, but still not exactly a fast tire. I like them because they're very rugged and provide a little bite off road. Expensive but last a lot of miles.

GrolarBear

Sorry I've gone AWOL for a while, between my injury recovery (not bike related, powerlifting related. I had 315# on the bench press and on the 6th rep somehow it slipped out of my hands at the top of the rep landing on my chest. Ended up breaking some ribs, tearing some cartilage between my ribs and tearing a muscle) and life just getting ahead of me I just got sidetracked for a few days. In the meantime I'm no longer a noob according to the forum so I'll post a pic of the old girl, nothing special but I like the bike:

GrolarBear

This tire ended up making my short list, decent price, came at the sizing I wanted, and great reviews...

LOL, I considered a few tires that had little or no tread... then realized that was just likely my tendency to take things way too far the other way when I decide to change things...

That and the continental town and country seem to be the top 2 tires for police bikes. Both a similar, inverted tread design and I'm guessing that the way they use their bikes they need reliable and go anywhere... kind of what i was looking for so they were both in my short list. I managed to weed them out simply because the Drifter was at the bottom of my size range and a little above what I wanted to spend, and the continental was right there on everything but it appears to have gone through a redesign a few years ago and started getting crappy reviews and it wasn't clear if they'd fixed the problems.

Both these tires are from their Marathon line... looking at them they looked lot like what I was looking for but I found that most of the line was on the $$$, didn't come in my size or out of stock... I literally didn't find one tire that I could get :-/

GrolarBear

A few more pics for you guys, this is the Schwinn tire that I mentioned up top. For a road going pattern, it looks quite at home on a mountain bike frame, looks like it would work well for what I want, seems pretty durable (some HEAVY sidewalls yet it's not super heavy) and It's listed as a 54-559, but mounted it's TINY, it measures just under 1.737" with calipers and the axle height ends up almost an inch lower than on the Velociraptors:


Surprisingly it looks even more ridiculously small on the bike


This is the Goodyear tire that I mentioned. In the online pictures it's shown as having one of 2 treads, one that looks like a slightly less knobby version of the Schwinn which I would have been happy with and then this one. I wasn't even going to try this one when it came but I ended up measuring it bead to bead and found it was significantly bigger than the Schwinn, >3/4" with very thin sidewalls so I decided to see, maybe it would be OK. This one is listed as a 55-559 or a 2.125x26... Mounted it's wider but still tiny and the tread looks ridiculous, i'm not sure what it would look right on, I can't even picture this on a boardwalk/beach bike. It measured 1.88":

To me the sidewall and the bead just did not inspire confidence.

GrolarBear

So what did I end up going with???

Well, you know how sometimes you just see something and have that 'I need that' reaction? That's what happened when DorkDisk posted pics of his bikes with the Maxis DTH. I SERIOUSLY considered getting them in 2.30", mostly because they were MUCH cheaper and I'm sure I'd LOVE the look, I measured out the bike frame and I'm pretty sure I'd clear everywhere (the closest spot might be the top of the tread by the front derailer), but then the voice of reason stepped in and I decided that even though even the big fat ones are light it might be too much of a good thing for what I want and that I should go with the 2.15" ones instead.

I found the best price, it turned out to be a shop about 30min from me that sold them on eBay, added an eBay coupon and I got some additional cash back through my PayPal business account.

Great, right?

Well, not so great.

It turns out that it took them 5 days to ship and when they did they did it FedEx which for some reason instead of sending them to the local hub which is 2 miles from my house they sent them to a hub 2 states over, no idea why. Right now I'm hoping to see them by the end of the week.

GrolarBear

In the mean time this whole broken ribs/not getting around much has me going stir crazy which has turned into "I really want a folding bike stand to work on the bike on..."

What do you think of this for a base (a PA speaker stand rated for 100#, at full height it's about my height? For now I'm just going to cut out a wooden saddle for the top of it and use a strap to keep it from falling off, but in the long run I want to make some sort of rotating clamp for it, I might design the parts and 3D print them:


Folds up pretty small, under 4' tall and pretty small around, under 6"


Folded up the whole thing fits in the box on the hood of the car behind it, and there would still be room for the clamp head. Fully extended it's taller than I am (6'4") and the tubing is 1.385" OD steel.

GrolarBear

Please excuse the mess, such is the garage of someone who builds things (the funny thing is that behind that stack of welders and bus transmission is a 2400# Bridgeport mill, and you can't even see it :-0 ). I still need to make some sort of a clamp for it, but I'm going to like having this:

GrolarBear

And while i was messing with that, look what turned up :-)