cbike

I've been reading past post about tire size but I'm still have a hard time to get a hang on how much difference a wider tire makes on paved asphalt/concrete roads.

In the past I've been riding a mountain bike with the standard knobby tires. Now I have a complete LHT with the 1.5 Conti tires on 26" rims. I plan on riding mostly paved roads but there will be times on limestone and gravel. In fact this year my plan is to ride part of the Katy trail in Missouri with my family.

I rode the 1.5 Conti on a local gravel path that was wet. The ride certainly wasn't optimal as the gravel gave way to the tires. So for the Katy trail a wider tire certainly would be nice.

Now my questions are:
- Does going to a 1.75 tire make a big enough difference?
- How would the ride be much difference between a 2.0 tire and 1.5 tire on pavement?

robow

I'm surprised that you had difficulty with the 26" 1.5" tire, as I've ridden the Katy and countless other rail-to-trails using that combination. Conti's often tend to actually measure a little smaller than stated but surely a 1.75" should be no problem since many will use a much smaller tire than a 1.5" with success. Either way, you have a bunch of nice tires in the 1.75" size to choose from .

ploeg

Second question first: the 2.0 tire would likely be 20% heavier than the 1.5 tire, which means more angular momentum, which means that you will be slower to accelerate, which will be particularly noticeable on pavement. You'll be fine once you're up to speed. If you see this as a problem, you might want to consider folding tires, which weigh less on average. I've had good luck with Panaracer T-serv tires.

For the first question, it depends on how suboptimal your ride with the 1.5 tire was and whether you're going to switch back and forth from gravel to paved without the opportunity to swap tires. If you're getting bogged down with the 1.5 tire on a wet trail, and you think that you can swap tires often, then you might want to go with the 2.0 tire. If you're just being slowed down with the 1.5 tire, and you don't have much opportunity to swap tires, the 1.75 tire might be a good compromise.

ploeg

Speaking personally, the trail needs to get really bog-like before I start having trouble with that size of tire, but as always, your mileage may vary.

Recycle

My LHT has 26 x 1.75 Conti Travel Contacts and rides fine on crushed stone paths, dirt roads, or gravel roads. The one exception is on a freshly graded gravel road, which would be difficult with 2 inch tires as well.

Travel Contacts are semi slicks with side knobs, which may contribute to how they work on soft surfaces.

LeeG

-depends on the specific tire
-for the most part slower but it depends on the specific tire

I'm guessing the gravel part was the biggest problem, not the 1.5" tire size. Tires that will be good on gravel will have a wider footprint on the ground which won't be best for fast rolling on pavement.

The 1.75" travel contacts are not fast tires but they are durable and they do feel secure on dirt/gravel. If you want fat and fast for pavement check out the 1.75" Pasela T-Serv or Pasela TG. I've got the T-servs and they roll more easily than the Conti Travel Contacts. They weigh about 200g less per tire.

zeppinger

I switched out the stock 1.5 contis on my LHT after a few weeks in favor of a 1.75 Marathon. I didnt notice much difference in speed or acceleration but I am not a racer either. The tire did ride a bit better and was very durable.

fuzz2050

generally speaking, I think 28mm tires (1.1 inches) is great for roads, moving up to 32mm (1.25 inches )for rougher roads, and 35mm ( 1.4 inch) tires for just about everything else. I'm perfectly comfortable on gravel, fire roads, thick mud and even light single track with my 35mm tires, it just requires going a little slower and being more careful choosing your line.

Newspaperguy

On good pavement, 28mm tires will do well, but that's the narrowest tire I'd run. I prefer 32mm because the roads in town include some rough pavement and because there are some great loose surface roads around here. The 32mm tires have performed admirably. For extremely rough roads, I'd like to go to something in the range of a 40mm tire, just to be safe. That's close to the width of a 1.5-inch tire.

Tourist in MSN

You did not say if you would be loaded or not for the Katy Trail (or other trails like it). That is a big factor on tire selection.

I did a 200 mile tour on a rails to trails route in 2009 with 700X37mm tires which is roughly the same width as a 26X1.5 tire. Loaded (panniers front and rear) the bike did not roll as well as the bike that a friend used with 26X2.0 tires. My tires felt like they were digging into the gravel where his tires appeared to be rolling over it better.

After that trip I built up another touring bike with 26 inch wheels. I used that for the full length of the Katy Trail last fall with Schwalbe 26X2.0 Extreme rear and Dureme front. (See photo below.) I am sold on the 2.0 width tires for rails to trails for loaded touring. The Dureme would have worked fine front and rear, but in event of rain I wanted more grip on the rear tire, thus the Extreme on the rear.

But, if you are doing day trips unladen, the 1.5 width will work fine. I ride with a group of bikers that rides on local rail to trail routes one day a week, rides average 20 to 30 miles. Some in the group ride with tires as narrow as 28mm without any problem - but we don't ride on rainy days. I often ride the bike with 26X2.0 tires unladen on pavement for 5 to 10 miles on the way to and from the weekly group trail rides, those tires ride just fine on or off pavement.

I would not consider buying 1.75 tires if you already have 1.5. If your bike will take 2.0, I would recommend those tires. The 1.75 is not much of a change and you might not even notice that change.

cbike

The ride on the Katy Trail will be loaded. Probably with one of us taking a trail-a-bike and the other a Burley trailer for the kids. So I'm sure a wider tire would be nice for that. Its a question of if it's a must for that trip and if the wider tires will be useful for future rides. I'm not one who likes to switch tires all the time. I'm not a speed freak and as mentioned I probably will do most riding on roads.

BTW, the difficulty I had wasn't on the Katy trail but on a local trail after snow melt. Maybe the base of that trail is worse (i.e. softer) than the Kathy trail.

arctos

I have found 1.75 inch wide tires to be a fine compromise size for road and off road use even on the Divide Ride except for the softest and sandiest parts. More revolving weight but float and durability on gravel and single track while touring fully loaded was excellent 95% of the time. While on road with higher tire pressure, rolling resistance was minimal.

Tourist in MSN

It is not a must, but it might be nice to have a wider tire. I weigh about 200 pounds and with about 60 pounds of gear on my bike, the 2.0 width was nice but not mandatory compared to a 1.5 width tire.

Much of the Katy Trail is very well packed (as of Oct/Nov 2010) so the narrower tire should do well. Softer ground is where the width becomes more important.

It never rained on my Katy trip, I can't comment on how the trail holds up in the rain.