[Closed] Can a tyre kill a bike .slow rolling content

Swap the front wheels and see.

Yes it will kill it slowly. 🙂

Sorry but .....Why would you want to judge a tyre like that on how it rolls on tarmac?

This tyre is maybe a blast when going downhill?

Fork is locked when going on tarmac?

does the wheel spin freely when you spin it? if not it's the bearings. if it does spin freely probably the tyre.

Make sure tyre pressure are similar in you comparison btw.

Got to be the tyre.

I did a cross-country "social" ride once with some lads I'd never met but my wife had given me a bit of a build-up "oooh yeh, rides loads" etc

Had those ded soft swampthings on it, front & back - turned out the ride was almost half on road

Tyres didn't kill the bike but they bloody near killed me

The wheel is as new and will spin forever  no catching rotors just very easy ,  I mentioned the tarmac as part of my local routes involve road/tarmac and the difference is shocking. looks like a tyre change to see

Yeah, I once spent a week with a super tacky High Roller on the front of a bike in Spain. Brilliantly grippy on the trails, like a sheet anchor on tarmac. You could pretty much hear each individual knob grudgingly relinquishing its grip like as you rolled ever so slowly along. Like peeling a baby chimps fingers away from a banana. Or something like that. Prior to that I thought pretty much all rolling resistance came from the rear tyre; I was wrong.

Funny, I was about to ask for tyre recommendations because my current set are killing my new Soda - it's the MaxxGrip compound - it's taking about 25% out of my average speed based on a similar bike.

Remember those octopus things as a kid that you used to throw at the window before they rolled down it?  They're like that!  I am so surprised (I thought the difference would be marginal).

I don't think you should be making comparisons of those tyres on tarmac, very far removed from their design envelope.

Assuming it's the Magi-X compound, yes it'll be slower on tarmac, but Jesus wept it's worth it on the downs. That tyre is one of the best I've ever used when it's pushed hard. Stick with it!

It's not just on tarmac it's draggy there in lies the problem,it's annoying me I just can't put my finger on it

It may not even be the tyres. I once went for a ride at cwmcarn and found the rough technical ups as hard as I always do, the downs as much fun as usual, but on a fairly level piece of fireroad it just felt like I was pedalling through treacle. In the end I had to stop and see if there was an issue. Wheel both span freely and brakes not binding... tried turning the cranks... stiff AF. Dropped chain and they span freely. So not the BB then. Eventually traced it to one of the jockey wheels which was almost completely seized.

So check everything. And then blame the tyres

My bikes feel like that when I put the Shorty 2.5 up front. And even worse when the Shorty 2.3 goes on the back as well.

Actually, switching from the Minion SS 2.3 rear to the DHR2 2.4 isnt much fun either, on tarmac the 2.4 is quite a bit slower than the exact same tyre in a 2.3 - fine on the trails though.

Basically tarmac hates proper MTB tyres.

Mountain biker realises that fat. soft, knobbly tyres roll slowly on tarmac - shock!

When we used to do Polaris mountain marathons we experimented with all kind of tyres; Panaracer Fire XC pros in 1.6 were pretty fast as all-rounders but the best tyres for mixed tarmac and off road were simply cheapo commuter tyres with a central ridge, in about 1.6 width. They don't look very butch but they make a few minutes difference flogging back to the event centre on the road, hoping not to be penalised for being late.

Mountain biker realises that fat. soft, knobbly tyres roll slowly on tarmac – shock!

Tbf, I think it's less intuitive that a front tyre is going to feel quite so draggy. You expect it from the rear, but the difference between a sticky and non-sticky front tyre with the same tread, volume, pressure etc, is a bit of an eye-opener if you've not experienced it before.

the best tyres for mixed tarmac and off road were simply cheapo commuter tyres with a central ridge, in about 1.6 width.

Polaris rider realises that tyres designed mostly for road use are faster on roads - shock! 😉

I know that complaining as it were about a gravity focused tyre  being slow on the road is a real third world problem but its just seems slow everywhere unless pointed downhill. A hardtail slower than a 160mm travel bike .. this  must be a question for scholars..

real third world problem

A real first world problem is people using eggcorns.

Anyway, yes if it's a really slow tyre it will suck the life out of the bike, even if the energy sapped isn't enough to slow you that much, the enthusiasm it takes out on the flat bits can be - I put in more effort on a faster bike!

Do check it's not the brake though, as whilst Schwalbe are good for what they are, the MM SG has to be one of the slower rolling ones. I once had quite a hard time on a club ride before realising the rear brake was very very draggy (don't worry about the odd bit of rub - this was constantly on. If you can spin the wheel so it turns a couple of times you don't have this level of binding.)

Could also be a headwind if it was just a one off.

Had those ded soft swampthings on it, front & back – turned out the ride was almost half on road

Great tyres on steep stuff in the woods though, eh?

Mountain biker realises that fat. soft, knobbly tyres roll slowly on tarmac – shock!

Not just tarmac but any surface that isn't pointing down. Personal preference I know, but 80%+ of my riding time isn't gravity assisted. I happily swap a bit of grip for a bike that doesn't suck the life out of all the not down bits.

Smoother narrower tyres work fine in almost all conditions except perhaps deep mud. In shallow mud and snow thanks to higher ground pressure they dig down and find grip. Fat knobbly tyres roll OK on compact gravel presumably because the small stones actually allow the tread to squirm more easily - that buzzing noise you hear on tarmac is the grips squirming, so it's the sound of your energy being wasted.  The major disadvantage of a narrow tyre is the lack of cushioning, which made 7 hours on a full-rigid quite tiring.

The major disadvantage of a narrow tyre is the lack of cushioning, which made 7 hours on a full-rigid quite tiring.

That and the bit where you try and ride over big rocky things fast...

After a quick check over , the rotors run free with no contact at all (I should hope so they are less than 150 miles old ) The jockey wheels run free as do the cranks and wheels. The only other things that differ are the tyre up front (which buzzes like mad) and the chain which is a Whipperman as apposed to a Sram ...   New tyre ordered  lets see what tomorrow brings

What new tyre you ordered?

Not just tarmac but any surface that isn’t pointing down. Personal preference I know, but 80%+ of my riding time isn’t gravity assisted. I happily swap a bit of grip for a bike that doesn’t suck the life out of all the not down bits.

This for me too. I've got a Conti Baron/Kaiser on some spare wheels that stick like shit to a blanket but are awful anywhere other than pointing down. I'm happy with XC mincey tyres for XC mincing 😀

I've gone with what I know and bought a Mary ..tbh I've used them on all bikes over the last two years so don't see a reason why to change that now ..It's the only thing left to check