Tom Roberts
Active Member
All other things being equal, do you roll significantly faster with 700 tires as opposed to the 26 inch tires that come with the bike? What adjustments need to be made to switch to the 700 tires?
Tom
Tom
Tire Size
- Thread starter Doug Burton
- Start date
Doug Burton
Zen MBB Master
Hi Tom,
You can achieve a great deal with low rolling resistance tires and 26" wheels. The 100psi Kendas that come on the bike work really well.
If you want long distance efficiency or absolute lowest rolling resistance, 700c wheels and high-pressure tires will help. You will need to change to very long reach V-brakes or a road caliper brake front and rear, and you'll need to replace the brake levers with flat bar levers matching cantelever or road caliper brakes. If you don't change the levers your braking will suffer because of lack of mechanical advantage.
I have a 700c kit bike and a Sofrider on which I've mounted 26 x 1.0 120 psi tires. The two bikes are very similar in rolling resistance in the real world.
Be well,
Doug
You can achieve a great deal with low rolling resistance tires and 26" wheels. The 100psi Kendas that come on the bike work really well.
If you want long distance efficiency or absolute lowest rolling resistance, 700c wheels and high-pressure tires will help. You will need to change to very long reach V-brakes or a road caliper brake front and rear, and you'll need to replace the brake levers with flat bar levers matching cantelever or road caliper brakes. If you don't change the levers your braking will suffer because of lack of mechanical advantage.
I have a 700c kit bike and a Sofrider on which I've mounted 26 x 1.0 120 psi tires. The two bikes are very similar in rolling resistance in the real world.
Be well,
Doug
Tom Roberts
Active Member
Thanks for the info. I may just stay with the 26" and switch from the 1.5 to the 1.0. Is there a particular brand tire you would recommend?
Tom
Tom
Doug Burton
Zen MBB Master
Tom,
The tires on there now are Primo Racers. I bought them mainly because they're a good, inexpensive tire I am familiar with, and they were bought for a bike I was developing for my son, where the fork clearance was very tight.
The Kendas on the V2's are great tires, and roll really well in the 1.5" width.
If you go to a 559X1.0, you really can't beat the Schwalbe Stelvio for rolling resistance, in my experience.
Be well,
Doug
The tires on there now are Primo Racers. I bought them mainly because they're a good, inexpensive tire I am familiar with, and they were bought for a bike I was developing for my son, where the fork clearance was very tight.
The Kendas on the V2's are great tires, and roll really well in the 1.5" width.
If you go to a 559X1.0, you really can't beat the Schwalbe Stelvio for rolling resistance, in my experience.
Be well,
Doug
Tom Roberts
Active Member
Thanks for the advice.
Mark B
Zen MBB Master
Actually, being drilled for Schraders isn't such a bad thing. If you are touring, sometimes Schrader is all you can find in small town podunk. There are machined goodies you can get to reduce the hole to Presta, or a rubber grommet will work, too. So, run Prestas with the adapter, but if you have to, pop them out and run Schrader.
Mark
