Commuting wear on MTB tyres??

[Bushranger]

20k return commute to work, mostly on smooth bitumum bike path.

Not keen on buying a second set of wheels or swapping tyres all the time if I can avoid it - do MTB tyres wear quicker than slicks anyway when ridden on bitumum.

in other words, even if I buy a second set of wheels and that results in those tyres wearing and needing replacing just as much as I would have to replace the MTB tyres so no overall gain.

I am not interested in going faster in my commute and would actually prefer to be slower because that way I am safer for pedestrians and others on the path whilst still getting a bit of a workout myself. can't stand people who basically race on shared bike paths.

The bike path is next to a MTB area, and if the surf is rubbish would like to be able to take the long way home through the bush on occasions.

Thoughts anyone?

 

[user name]

Most run of the mill MTB tyres are fairly hard compunds and should be fine for extended use on the tarmac. they will probably wear a bit quicker but its most likely from the overall use on a regular basis. Not that ive ever run slicks on a mtb, a mtb tyre sure has alot more tread depth than a slick so i think it would give more milage even if its slower milage...

 

[wilddemon]

I haven't been riding long but I'd have to say yes it makes a big difference. I'm running schwalbe and I noticed wear on a 30 road ride. Did 20 on trails today, appin, lots of rock, did more wear than on road. Looking at getting harder compound, and a cheap roadie. At 60 bucks a pop and that wear, it makes sense to me. Not to mention the wear on drivetrain and brakes.

 

[frensham]

I can get 3000km on a road/commuting tyre. On a MTB tyre used as a commuter and regular off road rides I would be lucky to get a third of that. The answer to your question is yes, MTB tyres wear quicker than road tyres. The main question though is economies of scale. The cost of buying a cheap roadie (as mentioned earlier) would take years to break even from using your one MTB bike for commuting and MTB stuff with regular replacement of tyres. You won't wear your drivetrain any quicker than a roadie whilst commuting. Most of the drivetrain wear on a MTB is from off road use. As far a wear on tyres is concerned, if you purchase the base model of a tyre, eg Maxxis Crossmark wire bead ($30) you will get a much harder compound than the kevlar bead, triple compound, ultra thin sidewall, ultra light version. Unless you are racing you will not really notice the difference in performance off road but they will last a whole lot longer if used as a commuter.

 

[akashra]

I'm pretty meticulous in tracking component life. Crossmarks for me would get somewhere in the realm of 2,000-3,000km for a rear, 3,000-4,000 for a front; halve that for a Crossmark eXCeption.
I used to commute 100km round trip and race crits on them, so the majority of the wear was on bitumin.

Main thing I can recommend is don't use knobby tyres, and don't use soft compound tyres.

I'm currently looking for a very high durameter Cyclocross tyre fore the same reason (in the 80A region is preferable).

 

[struggles]

I'm pretty meticulous in tracking component life. Crossmarks for me would get somewhere in the realm of 2,000-3,000km for a rear, 3,000-4,000 for a front; halve that for a Crossmark eXCeption.
I used to commute 100km round trip and race crits on them, so the majority of the wear was on bitumin.

Main thing I can recommend is don't use knobby tyres, and don't use soft compound tyres.

I'm currently looking for a very high durameter Cyclocross tyre fore the same reason (in the 80A region is preferable).

Don't get a Schawlbe Marathon Cross thinking they will last as long as other marathons.

Just over 2000kms and nearly gone.

 

[John U]

I commuted with crossmarks for a short while. I found that the commute quickly took the sharp edge off the knobs which seemed to reduce the tyres off road performance significantly. I retained the edges on the knobs for much longer when only using these tyres off road. This was about 5 years ago though.

If you have a second set of wheels you really should swap your cassette between the wheels when changing them unless doing it on a regular basis to keep the wear synched between alll the drivetrain parts.

I started dicking around changing tyres, then getting a 2nd set of wheels and changing wheels, yadda, yadda, yadda. Eventually that 2nd set of wheels with a few extra parts and a heap spare shit I had lying around turned into a commuter. Problem solved.

Oh yes, I commute on Scwalbe Kojak 2.0s now. Couldn't recommend them more highly. They aren't much chop off road but keep me on my toes and possibly improve my skills. I love them because they're comfortable, not too slow, and don't get flats (touching wood for the commute tomorrow).

 

[flamin'trek]

+1 for cheapies.

I run wire bead crossmarks for general riding and occasional commuting for my off rd bike. They are OK on road and off. When it's time for an event/race I have enough time to do a tyre swap to some good tyres, then back afterwards. I usually commute on slicks (other bike) except when in 'training' when I up the km's and try to get some dirt time as well so the off rd bike gets a bit of time commuting.