Tubes Tires 101

[MotorbikeMike]

Hi all, the first thing that I like to tell new owners is, "get rid of those Knobby MTB tires!" One of my customers mounted a set of Knobby Kevlar tires on his Whizzer, as he was tired of getting flats. Well, after he turned a corner a couple weeks later and the knobs were all between him and the asphault, pretty soon it was Asphalt "1" boy on bike "0"!

He of course picked up himself, and the Green Whizzer, and upon returning home, circular filed the Kevlar MTB knobbies.

As far as reasonable tires? I have used, and enjoyed Cheng Shin "Goodyear" type Cruiser tires, also the "City Travelor" they make. Duro's "Street Slick" is nice, and low priced, and modern tread except Knobby might work well for you.

Specialized "Armadillos" are a bit pricey but very nice also, they are Kevlar based, and very much more "round" than a cheap tire.

I do NOT like the Carlisle type "oval knobbed" tires very much, especially on the front.

Who else?

Mike

 

[KilroyCD]

I have the Chen Shing "Goodyear" type on two of my motorized bikes, and several balloon tire bikes I've restored also wear those tires. I have the red 26" on my '46 Columbia, while my Whizzer NE-5 is shod with the 24" white walls. They have performed quite admirably, and I plan to continue using those tires on upcoming restorations and / or motoredbike creations.

 

[loquin]

Sheldon Brown discussed bicycle tires and tread patterns here. His conclusion? knobbies are useful only for off-road use. In fact, for on-road use, ANY tread reduces traction. Why do you think that race cars use slicks?

Squirm

Knobby treads actually give worse traction on hard surfaces! This is because the knobs can bend under side loads, while a smooth tread cannot.
The bending of knobs can cause discontinuities in handling; the tire grips OK for mild cornering, but as cornering force exceeds some critical value, the knobs start to bend and the traction suddenly goes to **** in a handbasket.​

And, it is impossible to hydroplane on a bicycle, unless you're running at about 10 PSI tire pressure. (tires at 10 PSI would hydroplane at about 30 MPH)

I can recommend the Innova swiftor. Thry're inexpensive, plus they offer a near slick design, with inverted tread. Not expensive, either. The lack of tread makes for a very smooth ride. Keep in mind though, that the rubber used in the Swiftor is relatively soft. This makes for excellent traction and cornering, but, if you lock up the rear wheel, the road will grind away the tire quickly. I would suspect that it's more susceptible to road damage, than a tire with harder rubber, too. Be sure to put a liner inside.

BTW. Bell makes a Kevlar belted cruiser tire, which I put on the front wheel of my bike. So far, so good.

 

[alex]

What would you guys recommend for crazy road gripping power, I don't ride in the rain or on ice just on hot asphalt, so I don't need any of that fancy stuff.

 

[Irish John]

What would you guys recommend for crazy road gripping power, I don't ride in the rain or on ice just on hot asphalt, so I don't need any of that fancy stuff.

I have found the Schwinn Typhoon ballon tyres very good for grip in the dry but they are expensive.
Cetainly the best of the ballons although I've not tried the Quikbrick that come on Felt cruisers - they are probably excellent too. The Spezialised Armadillo kevlar with pink walls is very good also but wears out faster than the Typhoon ballons. On a 2-stroke the tyres wear out faster because they have better accelleration I guess. The Armadillos aren't as comfy a ride as the Typhoons and they inflate to about 80 psi whereas the Typhoons max at 35 psi. If the pressure drops on the Typhoons the tyre can roll sideways on the rim on corners. In the wet I just slow down because no tyre is that safe. I've seen a cut slick on a Cannondale and I tried riding on it - it was the comfiest ride I've ever had by a long shot.
Valentino Rossi blamed his tyres last year for his lack of performance against Casey Stoner but now they are both on Bridgestones he'll have to find something else to blame.
I think those cut slicks are probably the best tyre available for a motored bike even if they wear out fast. They are quiet and good at speed.

 

[loquin]

What would you guys recommend for crazy road gripping power, I don't ride in the rain or on ice just on hot asphalt, so I don't need any of that fancy stuff.

For a first go, try the Innova. They really grip well.

 

[uncle_punk13]

I ran a pair of slick sticky tires years ago, the kind that trials riders use in Moab; they grip the road well, but the problem came when I kept having flats because they picked up more **** off the road than normal tires as well. I've had great experience with the cheng shin "goodyear" style, the middleweight "tractor" style tread (shaped like little diamonds), and the cheng shin middleweight street tread (I don't know how to describe it, it is like the tread on my Bridgestones for my Nighthawk 550).
I know there are companies making 4-ply 26" bicycle tires, but I'd say unless you are doing an extended across the country adventure, save your money and go with something cheaper...

I'm gonna look into the bell kevlar street treads...

 

[Irish John]

For a first go, try the Innova. They really grip well.

Any particular Innova in mind? They make a very big range of tyres from very knobbly to very smooth and not all would be good for a motored bicycle.

 

[loquin]

John: Above, in the third post of this thread, I talked about it - the Innova Swiftor. I posted a link to where I bought a pair of 'em, as well as a photo of the 'tread.'

I was really happy with that tire until I had an emergency stop on my old cruiser & locked up the rear tire. The asphalt ground away the rubber, all the way to the fabric... But, they grip like crazy, & have a very nice ride. (I bought the 26x2.0" (57-559 ISO)) They also added about a full MPH to my top end with a friction drive. The roller wasn't slipping at all on the Swiftor, like it did a bit with the standard cruiser tire. (On the original tire, I believe the roller was 'slipping' just a tiny bit whenever the 'teeth' on the roller went over the recess in the tread.) You could see that the edges of the tread were getting rounded off).

 

[Irish John]

I see now Loquin. That Swiftor looks identical to the best tyre I've ever ridden on. If it is soft wearing it could be a bit expensive given that we do more miles than push bikes and that we have more accellleration plus you have added wear from the friction roller. I wonder if the Swiftor would have kept my bike upright when I pulled on the front V-brake when I was rounding a downhill corner and the bike went down. It was wet and maybe greasy and maybe no tyre would have stayed upright when the brake was applied. Might not have happened if I'd had a rear V-brake instead of a coaster I couldn't use because I needed to position the pedals for the corner. Slicks are brilliant in the dry but can be very bad in the wet.