biggest tires for a crosstrail?
 

2014 crosstrail disc. After reading a couple articles linked here or general cycling I've learned skinnier tire doesn't necessarily = faster. I think it'd look cool and maybe have some safety advantages to be like a 29er when I ride, lunch every day I drive to work or also riding to/from work once or twice a week, 95% pavement. How big can I go? A couple bikes I was looking at before I bought this said they could take 29er tires. (Moto elite adventure and trek 8.3) Bike has both wheels off and in my trunk conveniently now that I've had some drinks and had this thought, don't want to get it out, assemble and measure stuff right now.

What good/bad would it do for me going bigger than 700*38 if it's possible? If possible what are some big fast rolling tires that would be good?

On my 29er, biggest I can go are 29 X 2.0 and they're plenty big.

My Crosstrail came with 700X45

Not many fast wide tires out there. Wide tires are usually designed primary for comfort or off-road traction. The only ones I can think of are Marathon Supremes.

I've used both 700x50 Schwalbe Marathon Supreme and a 700x40 Vittoria Voyager Hyper.

The 700x40 tire is far better on pavement. Smooth riding, tough and fast. Tires bigger than 700x40 are not needed on pavement.

I run Marathon Supremes on my Crosstrail. 700X40 rear, and700X35 front. Fast and comfy.

Unless you ride on DC roads,have CT,and the bike has an alloy fork.

I saw this guy: Pics of My new Specialized Crosstrail 29er

Has a 2010 model with 29x2 I wonder if I could do that? I looked up specs of a 2010 and it came stock with 700x45 like yours where mine came with 38.

bump, in case any one in the future has the same question, I just bought some Geax 29x1.9 tires and put them on. I took the gamble knowing they'd *probably* fit and were much cheaper than I was imagining spending, they do fit!

http://i.imgur.com/EBr6vef.jpg

I've only rode through my bumpy/rooted yard last night and 10 miles on some flat bike trails today and I'm not noticing any decrease in performance even though tires are fatter, 26 tpi instead of 60 and 50 psi instead of 75. They do soak up the bumps and I feel sorta safer with them with their being as fat as what I've always been accustomed to.

Bike looks like it could handle wider but I'm not sure if wider on a 29er tire = larger diameter too. The diameter is pretty close, it's about a quarter inch or less from a crossmember behind the bb between the chainstays.

http://i.imgur.com/59QYs2v.jpg

Edit: I'm an idiot who can't read dates on posts :crash:
Are your Geax on the stock rims?

Yep stock rims.

This is the 1st time I've pulled a tire off since I was a kid, I couldn't get it and had to drive to walmart to get tire levers. Glad I didn't have a flat before that. I guess there's a trick to getting them off without levers.

How safe is a thin-tyred bike like the Crosstrail
 

It's one of those, "well you would say that, wouldn't you" posts because I've just come off my new Crosstrail Sport Disc, damaged my knee, which is now swollen, grazed fingers and elbow etc. Alright, it was damp, it had been raining, but I was amazed to find myself hitting the tarmac hard and now, as I write this, my bandaged fingers making it a little difficult, I'm wondering about the bike. Fair enough, this might even be a case of 'a bad workman always blames his tools' but I'm wondering whether, had I bought a mountain bike (my usual steed even if it is inappropriate for the riding I do) with nice and thick, bulbous tyres (like my old Kona Scrap) would I have come off? And now I'm thinking, I'll put the Crosstrail on ebay for £425 (a good price for a brand new bike, it's only six weeks old and has been riden about eight times) and buy a new mountain bike instead. I think I will do that, but...then I thought: what about bigger tyres for the Crosstrail. Any thoughts?:thumb:

Could you give some more detail about the fall you had from your bike.

What surface were you riding on at the time?

What brand of tyre was on your bike?

Was it wet or dry conditions?

What were you doing just before your crash/fall, right up to the moment it happened?

I've found bigger tires are more forgiving on both my hybrids than the skinny tires I used on my road bike decades ago. I started with 700x35 and 700x38 tires but went to 700x40 on one bike and just ordered a set of 700x42 for the other, both most-terrain tires (mixed pavement, moderate gravel, no serious offroad riding).

Main advantage comes from using lower tire pressure than the maximum. Experiment to find a compromise between riding comfort and stability, perceived speed (I judge by expended effort, not speed), while avoiding pinch flats.

My 700x40 Michelins recommend 75 psi for my weight, with a range of approx 35-85 psi. At 85 psi the ride was much too harsh, and was still uncomfortable at 75 psi. The tires would also rebound like Superballs off tricky stuff like train tracks at angles (several in my area), ledges between the paved and unpaved trail on the local MUP, potholes and damaged pavement, etc.

A few months ago I fell a couple of times in one week on the local MUP, riding as I always do. Often I'll go around families with toddlers wandering the paved path. Usually no problem. But twice back in the spring I fell at slow speed re-entering the paved path from the adjacent grass or gravel trail. The front tire clipped the pavement ledge and bounced like a Superball. Turned out I'd forgotten to reduce the tire pressure. Once I set the pressure to the sweet spot, no more problems.

I found the sweet spot was 50-55 psi for the front, 60-65 for the rear. I'll go lower when I anticipate rough terrain. The ride is comfortable, secure, and no pinch flats -- I could probably go even lower. My overall average is 12 mph, regardless of bike or terrain. If I ride 20-60 miles, I always average 12 mph. So I judge ride satisfaction by perceived expended effort rather than speed. If I'm not exhausted after a ride, it's good.

Right now my second hybrid (a 1990s era mountain bike that I use only for town riding) wears 700x38 tires rated for 85-100 psi. It's harsh and uncomfortable even at 85 psi, and I'm wary of going any lower with these tires. So I ordered a set of Continental Speed Ride Urban tires, nominally 700x42, which reportedly can safely be ridden at lower pressure. We'll see how that goes.

I could go even wider on both bikes, but I'd need wider rims. I'd hesitate to go wider than 700x45 on my 622-20 rims. Supposedly handling can get squirrelly, especially on cornering, and sidewalls may be compromised by stuffing tires that are too wide for the rims.

The OEM triggers work very well on slippery terrain. They have some disadvantages in very high speed turns and rolling resistance, but those kinds of tires have slippery condition disadvantages. You would probably have taken a tumble regardless, although the geometry of a mountain bike may have given you a little more leverage to work with (or may have dumped you quicker). When riding a mountain bike, there always seems to be an expectation of slippery conditions so one may be more prepared for the unexpected.

I get the feeling I would have held it together on a mountain bike, but yes, take your point, it may have dumped me quicker. I was engaged in a long and wide arc, turning to the left, something I didn't have to do; so I kind of swept into the area, bearing left, almost doing three quarters of a circle to end up at a covered bus stop. The stupid thing is that I could have simply riden up to it and stopped. Thanks for the advice.

What surface were you riding on at the time? Gravel surface damp from overnight rain.

1. What brand of tyre was on your bike? The default brand that come with the Crosstrail Sport Disc.

2. Was it wet or dry conditions? It had been raining overnight so the tarmac was damp.

3. What were you doing just before your crash/fall, right up to the moment it happened? I was engaged in making a long arc turn to the left on a clear road (otherwise I wouldn't have done it) sweeping round towards a bus stop that was on the left hand side of the road. My arc turn, about a three-quarter circle, started over on the right hand side of the road. I've done it many times before on a mountain bike with no problems.

So if you imagine you're riding along conventionally, you're approaching a left turn and instead of going directly into it you drift on to the right hand side and make a sweeping turn over to the correct side of the road, that's what I was doing, the turn took me off the bike. As mentioned above, it was a clear road, early on a Saturday morning, the bike was new, no tyre wear, I'm assuming I was going too fast, but, as I say, I wouldn't have done it had there been any traffic.

I've got a Crosstrail Disc because I daily use it on paved and unpaved trails (there are a lot of potholes in Rome), but during the weekend some of my friends go on dirt tracks so I have bought two Michelin Wild Grip'r 29x2.1 :D maybe a little bit wide but seem fitting.

Marathon Plus MTBs 29x2.1 fit!
 

I stumbled across this thread as a 2014 Sport Disc owner. I can confirm for future readers that 29x2.1" Schwalbe Marathon Plus MTBs just fit.

Photos on Imgur but I don't have enough posts to add it properly
imgur[dot]com[slash]a[slash]uhTLulF

Link assist: https://imgur.com/a/uhTLulF

Thanks hokiefyd