Slicks

[Mr Panda]

I generally find that slicks, well the ones I use, are far superior to knobblies when cornering. I have a fast hill from my house into town with a roundabout at the bottom. Once did the trip on knobblies (very knobblies) after weeks of slicks :shock: :shock: :shock: :shock:

....Just managed to hold onto it when cornering at bottom of hill

Only time I lost it on a tarmac corner was at the junction of University Avenue and Kelvin Way in Glasgow, approx 1982 :roll: Went sliding round the traffic island on my ear, in front of a taxi

Puch Cavalier roadie

 

[lewis1641]

I too find slicks generally grippier in all road conditions that off road tyres, i'd imagine in the example above the rides would have hit the deck cornering on oil with off road tyres too. I am tempted by semi slicks, certainly in summer so you don't need to change tyres every 5 mins.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Tioga City Slickers, amber wall, 1.95.... only Retro one I remember.

Plus my mate used to ride everywhere using them, ice and snow. Beat the hell out of knobbly tires in the wet roads and street, cuts through ice if needed (melts it under braking, quick acceleration)... though you need to get used to it for that

Wider one is has a softer rubber than the narrow ones iirc.

 

[feetabix]

slicks are fine......just as much grip as full knoblies on a hard surface and more grip than a road bike if you ride one of them.......specialised fatboys for my choice.....

 

[DocBraunson]

im rocking the Spec "fatboys" too. i feel like i am dragging them along especially in the summer when it is warm out man the knobbies felt WAY faster!!! and now that it is cold i would say that they lock-up under breaking more easily than my 23c Vittorias on my road bike. When on a long road ride in the wet and cold on the road bike today and felt much more confident cornering on it than the commuter!!! i was looking into some gatorskins because i am unhappy with these.

 

[julesg007]

AT last a thread I can comment on.

I've used 3 different road tyres being, Tioga City Slickers, Specialized Fatboys and Conti Grand Prix.

I didn't have any issues with them and found them all very good rides and didn't get too many punctures.

I started off with City Slickers (1.95" & max 90psi), then moved to Fatboys (completely slick - 1.5" & 100 psi) and finally GP's (1" & 120psi). The only reason I changed (and done so before the tyre wore out) was to go narrower and higher pressure.

I am about to fit one of the latest generation of road based MTB sized tyres being the Specialized All Condition Pro II. It's 1", inflates to between 115 -125psi, folding, built in protection and 120tpi casing. I am hopeful that I'll be as happy with them as I was with the GP's. I picked a pair for £35 earlier this year (normally about £22.50 each).

There are plenty of options available from quite a few of the major brands so you may need to a fair bit of reasrch before finally deciding on your rubber.

Happy riding

Jules

 

[Geoff]

I've run the old 1" Conti GP and the new 1 1/8" Conti GP (2009 version) and whilst they are both good, I really like the compound on the new version. It grips really well. Time will tell on the wear, but at this stage I'm happy.

 

[BarneyRubble]

I run Panaracer Panasella's (26x1" and about 90 psi) - they are pretty good in all conditions, but can feel a bit sketchy on white lines etc in the wet. The biggest thing I have noticed was spinning, (just half a turn or so) the rear wheel when accelerating in the wet. Comes as a bit of a shock! So fast and light though, riding knobblies on the road now feels like driving a tractor!

 

[velomaniac]

I personally loved my Spesh Fatboys but always thought it a weird name for such skinny tyres. Very grippy with good puncture protection, great in the city. Also had Schwalbe Marathons 26 x 1.35 version, very tough but a little heavey, worst were by Hutchinson 1" wide very high psi but somewhat fragile, didn't last long. Nokian tyres were good budget tyre in 1.5"wide, but no puncture protection, rubber compound nicely grippy though.

 

[lou74]

i too am loving my 1.25" fatboys, why kill 30-40 quids worth of knobblies???
way bitd i used 1.5 slicks that i think came from freewheel when i was couriering. rode the same corners on ground controls & was amazed how much the knobbles 'walked'. the only time i came a cropper was on wet cobbles, but trying to corner flat out on wet cobbles on any tyres will see you on your ass. puncture wise, i used to find tiny, 1-2mm flints would work their way through, had the same thing happen with a bigger stone in a week old £180 bridgestone on 't motor bike.