Bigger tires for hybrid?
 

cc

If you are able to fit a 40mm touring tire currently, you should have no problem fitting a 40mm gravel tire. That's what it sounds like you're wanting to do - just to have a tire with more aggressive tread to do some light off-reading.

Thanks for the great details in your post, very helpful. I have to ask, what tire pressure do you run in your current tires? I ask, because I set my 700 x 45 gravel bike tires at about 35 psi and they work pretty well on unpaved surfaces while still providing decent rolling resistance on the road. Pending your answer, maybe tire pressure is a possible answer

I forgot to ask how much you weigh. I weigh about 155 pounds. If you are used to mountain biking, the narrower tires on your hybrid may feel unstable. I know that my gravel bike cannot compare to my mountain bike on technical trails no matter what tires I put on it. All that I do is proceed with caution knowing that many obstacles that my mountain bike can get over might not be doable on my gravel bike. I accept this, because the easier trail sections are so much more fun on the gravel bike

Maybe, at 130 pounds you should adjust your tire pressure a bit lower, at least off road. You really are a flyweight. I am a great believer in doing the best you can do with what you have before spending money on things that may not be needed

Of course, I can't see the conditions you ride in. The area where we mountain bike locally has some very difficult single track. There is one trail that we have named "rocky road", another that we have nicknamed the "Ho Chi Min trail". A few years ago a couple of my friends did a road trip out to Moab and spent a week riding there. I have been there myself so I know why that when they got back they couldn't handle our local trail network. These little local trails are very technical. About half of them are too difficult for me at 72 years of age to try on my gravel bike which probably is about equally capable to your hybrid

Here’s my take. I did a quick look at your hybrid city bike. The basic geometry is not that far off from a 10-12 year old 29er, except the chainstays are probably too long. I’m not saying it is comparable to a mtb, just looking at angles, wheelbase.

Since it is a flat bar bike and you sound like it will be a less technical replacement to your 26er, I’d approach it that way. Little more aggressive rear tire and a more rounded better rolling front tire.

You will probably be in the 400-500 gram weight for a folding tire. Obviously the more traction the slower rolling and the more grip the less durable… generally.

Also, the days of $20 folding tires are over. Even old 26” Fire XC Pros are running close to $50.

John

Edit added: You won’t have a problem with 22mm inside width rims. People were running over 2” on Mavic 217’s.

If you go to 42mm make sure you have frame clearance.

Here's a place to start: Bike Tires Direct: Gravel Tires 700 x 40

I like a fish-scale or 'file' tread for an all-arounder, like the Schwalbe G-one, but if you ride a lot of really loose surfaces, then you could go to something aggressive like the WTB Nano, or any of the dozens in between.
Unless you're doing full sends on your hybrid, even a little bit of tread I'd going to be far better than the slicks you've got on there now

Continental 700x40 Terra Speed and Terra Trail are two good options

both roll fairly well - especially the Terra Speed - and they weigh under 500 gms ...

(our 700x40 Terra Speed weighed around 460 gms and Terra Trail
weighed around 475 gms)

I don't do 40 mm, but like the panaracer gravel kings in 28..... I would look at the Gravel King SK or SS in 38

The BiekForumz answer would be NO, but that's because MTBs were only invented in 2010.

Seriously, though, the pretty standard setup for XC race bikes in the 1990s was 48-52mm (1.95"-2.1") on 17-19mm rims. (Bigger tires and narrower rims)
One of my vintage rigs is still set up that way, and I've got almost 100# on you. You're fine with 42s

Make sure the brakes open wide enough too.

It's a disc brake bike.

But do check the clearance between the tire and the fork unicrown. From the illustration in rei.com, it looks like you might be able to go 2 mm fatter.
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...bfc15ca2fe.png
As you can see, there's no room for MTB tire, unless you want to replace your wheels and fork.

And to get better traction and ride, your tires will have a more purposeful tread pattern and a more supple casing, so be prepared to spend more.

I'm most familiar with Trek and Bontrager products. Here's their price-point gravel tire: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...olorCode=black

And this one gets you more ride and traction: https://www.trekbikes.com/us/en_US/e...olorCode=black

For better cornering out of muddy or sandy corners, look for bigger lugs on the tread shoulders. For example, here are two comparably priced Bontrager gravel tires:

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...d22468aa23.png
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...3d031dc749.png
The deeper, more widely spaced lugs on the bottom tire make it better suited for rough, muddy, or sandy conditions, at the expense of speed and handling on hard, smooth surfaces. I can't tell you what to buy. All I can tell you is that a fat MTB tire won't fit in your frame. FYI, an inch equals 25.4 millimeters, so a 2" MTB tire is about 51 mm. Unless your current tires leave a gap of over 1/2" to the frame all around, they won't fit.

What has happened a dozen plus times now , I log in and post a reply - when I hit "post" I find myself being logged back in and clipboard has been cleared. ( had copied the info to the clipboard). When right click and "paste" nothing there. Gets exhausting rewriting over and over again . Happening to others ?


Anyways , I am still wondering about puncture resistance of the tires I mentions and there is a "SG2" on one make. Goatheads are an issue.
I can see the wider spaced lug tires making room for goatheads to sit in there .

Of course your rims aren't tubeless ready. This bike is a price-point hybrid. Two more mm of tire width isn't going to make a bit of difference on your rims. And here's the tire marked down at biketiresdirect.com. https://www.biketiresdirect.com/prod...vel-tire?fltr=
This is a standup company, I've used them before, and I recommend them even if they might be a couple bucks more than your Amazon seller. But suit yourself.