Road tyres for my 29er

blacksp20

blacksp20

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I'm planning on doing an 80km charity ride next year on my 29 carbon hardtail and I need some suggestions on tyres. I'm running Stans Arch EX rims. Just after something that's going to offer some comfort but not give me the feeling of riding in wet concrete.

Thanks in advance.
 
Schwalbe marathon supremes roll pretty well. semi-slick tread. I ran mine tubed. I have a couple of lightly used ones you could have cheap.
When are you doing the ride?
 
ForkinGreat said:
Schwalbe marathon supremes roll pretty well. semi-slick tread. I ran mine tubed. I have a couple of lightly used ones you could have cheap.
When are you doing the ride?
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Not til May next year. Just planning ahead.

Edit: seems I exceed their maximum load :( Yes I'm a clyde.
 
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No need for road tyres. Semi slick 2.0 wide tyres will see off 80 km no worries at 40 psi. You certainly go quick enough to out run your gearing on many occasions...
 
28C with puncture protection. Fast as. No need to run a 2inch tyre for the road. I've run 28C tyres for years on arches. Just buy some cheap wire beads if it's only for occasional use.
 
blacksp20 said:
Any in particular you could suggest?
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Best to get whatever suits your part of the world if you do fancy using them off road. I mostly use this size as a rear tyre so I've run a few different ones and have just taken up with a Maxxis Treadlite that Pushys are seemingly off loading for $30 from memory.

Failing that...my dirtroadie bike likes its 700x38 Challenge Gravel Grinder tyres but good luck getting them for $30.
 
I was running some 38c on the hardtail 29er commuter they were pretty fast rolling. Not using them anymore. Welcome to try them if you like.
 
creaky said:
28C with puncture protection. Fast as. No need to run a 2inch tyre for the road. I've run 28C tyres for years on arches. Just buy some cheap wire beads if it's only for occasional use.
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This. 28C is all you need. Schwalbe Durano Plus are good but will still puncture. I'm trying Hutchinson Fusion 5 tubeless at the moment on Mavic XM719 rims.
 
Thanks for all the advice so far. So any road tyre in 700x28 and up will fit? What about running them tubeless? I know very little about road tyres.

I'll only be running them on road for this event, never offroad. Puncture protection is probably a big factor for me and being able to support my 120kg of girth.

The event is in the Barossa region of SA. I've never been before so I have no idea how good or bad the roads are out there.

Edit: just remembered my dad is a roadie and is always banging on about Conti gatorskins. Any reports on them?
 
I'd run the 700x28c's with a tube. Road tyre tubeless fit is far more finicky & critical than MTB tyres.

I run 700x32c Gatorskins on my Niner commuter...which is rolling on Sun Ringle MTB rims:

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The wider the tyre you run the lower the pressure you can run. The lower the pressure you can run the more comfortable it will be and to a point the less likely you will be to get a flat. From 16 years of commuting on 26 and 29 I tried 1.0, 1.5, &2.0. I eventually settled on 2.0 for my 26 and 29 inch commuters. Rarely a flat, reasonably efficient and comfortable. I weigh around 80kgs.

A roadie like set up will be more efficient but you'll be more likely to get flats. Likelihood of getting flats might be quite low for a one off 80km ride though. Just don't be at the front and let the riders ahead of you clear the debris.

I wouldn't bother with tubeless for what will be a one off 4 hour ride. If you're going tubeless because of pinch flats effort to benefit ratio would suggest betting a wider tyre :) unless you're going through a shit load of bindy patches in witch case I'd go wider and tubeless.
 
Don't go tubeless. Road tyres run at considerably higher pressure than MTB, so are much more critical in everything being properly tubeless compatible to work safely.

What's the bullshit about load rating? Never seen any tyres with a load limit in over a decade of professional mechanicing!

Gators are good, I've been using them (in 23mm flavour) on my roadies for years. Not as fast as lightweight racing tyres, but faster, more supple and a lot less like riding through glue than the Schwalbe equivalents & other heavy touring-type tyres, but still bloody tough.
 
Been running road tubeless for quite a while now, Schwalbe Pro 1 Tubeless tyres, 25c at 85psi... great tyres but pricey if you are only going to use them occasionally.

And... you wont get away with non tubeless gear on a roadie, the high pressure blows air clean through those flimsy walls. You also need the protection of a decent casing. The PRO1's are only 240g so only a 40g penalty over the other top road tyres. 20ml of sealant and you have halved the weight of a tube by going tubeless.
 
Be careful reading tyre load limits...remember you have two tyres on your bike, and maybe something like a 30:70 weight split f:r, so the highest static load on the rear wheel and could be estimated as 0.7*120=85kg, this is roughly the actual load on the tyre.

Schwalbe website does stat "Maximum load" for their tyres: https://www.schwalbe.com/en/tour-reader/marathon-supreme.html, 700c versions of Marathon Supreme seem to vary from 85kg to 110kg with increasing casing width.

Roadies seem to be all about "bigger is better" at the moment, largely fuelled by Jan Heine's research/reporting and all these endurance/adventure/gravel/bikepacking bikes. After ~15,000km on various 700x40c tyres on my gravel bike I'd say I have no problems with that extra girth over a road tyre, and the extra grip and comfort is much more valuable than a few hundred grams in mass.

All that said, I'd say for a one off use any slick 700x28 to 40ish tyre should work a treat, but there's also heaps of really nice 700x40ish to 29x2.0 slick or lightly treaded options now which are heaps capable on and off road!
 
Cheers all. Was definitely thinking of a wider tyre for added comfort. My hardtail is very firm for a carbon. Will just use tubes and something 700x35 or larger.

I like the idea of the Conti gatorskins for extra puncture resistance but they only go to 32mm. The search continues.
 
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