Trying to get my wife more involved in cycling as a first step to triathlon. She currently has and rides a Gary Fischer Mountain bike. Knobby tires that are 26 x 2.2. But we never ride off pavement, let alone truly off road. She is not ready to make the jump into a road bike. So I would like to convert her MTB into more of a hybrid by getting rid of the knobby tires and reducing the width. Figure it will make it alot easier and smoother for her to ride on pavement.
But as a bike idiot, I’m not sure how. Can I just switch out the tires or am I looking at tires and wheels? Can you go from riding on a 26 inch wheel to riding on a 700c wheel on the same bike? How narrow a tire should I look to get her?
See I have an idea but not the know how to implement it. And I would rather admit my ignorance here than in front of the guys at the LBS.
BB
You should be able to find a pair of 26" narrow tires with a smooth tread or even slicks, that will fit her wheels just fine. I have two sets of wheels for my mountain bike, one with slicks and one with knobbies so I can just switch them out and go. A decent shop should be able to fix you up. Narrow tires will roll easier, especially if you can get some that will take upwards of 85 PSI or so.
Have fun,
Neil
yep… i would go for a better suited road tyre… although i wouldn’t advise the fatboys. they are great but if your wife is new cycling then the fatboy can be a bit scarey narrow to look down onto to begin with.
i would recommend a Schwalbe Big Apple 26x2.00"
it is pretty darn fast even though it is big, very comfortable and not so narrow that it looks weird.
Can I just switch out the tires or am I looking at tires and wheels? Can you go from riding on a 26 inch wheel to riding on a 700c wheel on the same bike? How narrow a tire should I look to get her?
Narrow isn’t that important. Pattern/knobbiness is much more of an issue in terms of rolling resistance. (If you get narrow tires, though, also make sure you get tubes with a smaller diameter.)
If you have disc brakes, you can run 700c wheels on a standard mountain bike, but I wouldn’t recommend it. Wheel diameter isn’t important. (Speed is all about fit.) With regular v-brakes, the brakes will hit the spokes if you just swap the wheel. Rear axle length might also be an issue.
You might also consider getting a rigid fork. Again, it doesn’t matter much speedwise, but it does contribute to “snappiness” on the road.
Good luck. Personally, I do most of my riding (pavement, fire roads) on a rigid mountainbike with semi-slick tires (Maxxis FlyWeight 330). I also did a local sprint tri on this bike earlier this year. (And it must be admitted, passing people on tri bikes is rather pleasant when you’re riding a commuter/training bike with fenders and all sorts of non-aero junk.)
Like others say, no need to change out the wheel, just put slicks on. I did this on my MTB commuter and it works great. One problem I had was that I originally went with a set of Ritchey Tom Slicks that were 26x1.25 I think. They worked fine but just looked completly ridiculous on the bike. I swapped them out for a set of MAXXIS Hookworms that are 26x2.5 and it looks way better and is just as smooth/quick as the skinny slicks.
So basically there seems to be a very wide range of tire widths that you can use for any given wheel. Had no idea. Figured there was some range but didn’t know it was that large.
Just saw you were from DFW… go to Richardson Bike Mart and tell them what you want and they’ll set you up. The place is HUGE and except for Schwalbe they’ll probably carry all the tires mentioned (and more) so you can see for yourself what works best for you. I wouldn’t worry about what they “look” like because I’ve helped several women friends get into triathlon by putting the Fatboys on their mountain bikes and they all were amazed at how much easier the bike was to ride on the pavement and not once did anyone comment on how they looked.