Oxbowfarm

My wife and I are relatively new to the tandem world but have really enjoyed the last year or so on a Cannondale road tandem. The bike is great but we live on and have access to miles of dirt roads that the cannondale feels a bit unstable on. I tried switching the gatorskins (700x28s) for SCHWALBE Marathon Mondial HS 428 (700x35) and that helped a bit on gravel but it cost us a bit when we ride on paved roads. My solution was to pick up a very gently used Santana Cilantro SE as our daily driver around the house and to put the gators back on the cannondale and use that when we go out on pavement rides. The Santana currently has 26 x 2.1" Ritchey Z-Max Knobbies on it. This bike handles the gravel really well but makes excessive road noise and requires a lot more effort to move than the cannondale on pavement.


That said, I am looking for 26" tire brand/style/size recommendations that will provide decent performance on paved roads while still allowing us a secure ride on gravel. Thanks in advance for your recommendations!

IPassGas

Unfortunately, your choices for 26" (559) are very thin these days. We tour/camp long distances on road and trails with Schwalbe Duremes (or Marathons or Mondials). Schwalbe makes great tires, but the Duremes are no longer available. I have been pushing Schwalbe to do another batch of Duremes, they are a great multi-surface tire, possibly SJS cycles (UK) will commission another batch. If you are interested, email a request....another voice. The other Schwalbes are Supremes which are slick and not good off pavement, and Mondials which are expedition tires and an overkill on pavement. So the Marathons then, which are very durable against flats, but heavy. We use Marathons when touring in goathead country.

scycheng

We use Schwalbe Kojak 26x2 on our (touring) tandem. It's a slick and still in the Schwalbe catalog. On hardpack and dirt roads, it works fine. Not good for loose stuff since there is no tread but I don't take our tandem on loose stuff. Too much excitement upsets the rear admiral.

Tread life is decent and we haven't had any punctures though I do avoid riding in the city and ride mostly on country roads.

unikid

Maybe try something like this?

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/he...=228787-156177

fooferdoggie 

we got these they did had some drag but had a softer feel at the same psi over the marathons. but we have not gone offroad with them yet.
https://www.schwalbetires.com/bike_t...urricane_hs499

DangerousDanR

Also, Continental has several tires that they list as available for a 26" rim. Availability may be a different story...

https://www.continental-tires.com/bicycle

kaz1807

We use

• Schwalbe Kojak 26x2.0" for CoMotion Periscope Trident Convertible
• Schwalbe Kojak 26x1.35" for Santana Fusion

Both are very smooth and good grip even in wet condition.
We ride on gravel road with care as the sidewalls are thin.

due ruote 

We have 26 x 1.75 Paselas on our Ibis. They are decent but I wish they came in a 2” width.
Take a look at the Maxxis DTH tire. They are popular for mixed surface. I have them on my rigid Stumpjumper and like them a lot.

(edit) also see this thread from the C&V forum:

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-v...el-thread.html

Oxbowfarm

This gave me a lot to consider and think about for I was originally looking at going with a 1.9" tire or so. You all are right about the lack of stock especially on the larger widths. I ended up going with a Michelin Protek Cross 1.6" they should be here by Friday. I will give a review after we use them for a bit. I hope I did not make too much of a mistake, but if I did they were only $20 so I will not cost me too much. I took the bike out on our dirt road for the first time yesterday. The knobby tires have to go. Not sure how they could have put these on this bike (these are OEM). The front wheel kept picking up small rocks and lodging them in the forks and then spitting them out like popcorn. That can't be good for the chrome or for anyone riding next to us!

72andsunny

We have Serfas Drifters on our long bike. 26x1.5, but they make a 2”. Haven’t intentionally off-roaded them, but overall I’m happy with them.

RE the stock tires on your bike: I suspect most people who bought those “lower end” Santana mountain bikes didn’t ride them very much.

lichtgrau

Our "Soulmate" runs on Schwalbe Marathon Plus Performance 26x1,75 and this tire selection for us was probably one of the best decisions made when I built up the bike (besides the Rohloff-hub and the Magura double piston brakes of course ;-)). I still remember my wheelbuilder frowning when I told him what I was going to put on his nice little handwork: He knew about the advantages of the tire but doubted to have any fun with it because of the rolling resistance. Now -after three years and nearly 10000 kilometers on those wheels- I'm still and even more than ever exited about the tire performance. They are rolling astonishingly well and fast and seem to be undestroyable. We see some weaknesses on loose ground what we try to prevent anyway but apart from this they are just rolling and rolling and I'm really afraid that I will never put their successors on which are waiting in my cellar for nearly two years by now ;-)