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At the moment nearly all of the miles I do on my HT are on the road and this isn't likely to change over winter, so I want to swap out the Nobby Nics for something more suitable.
I would go for a full-on road tyre, except I do have the occasional offroad excursion and need some grip - tonight it'll be interval training up a steep grassy mound (some slippage last week with the Nics), next week it could be a lap of the Monkey...that sort of stuff. Mile-for-mile though, probably [i]well over[/i] 90% on tarmac.
So I'm after something with low rolling resistance and good grip on wet tarmac, reasonably light, no more prone to puncture than the Nics (which have been fine) tubeless ready (American Classic rims & Stans jizz).
I've been considering Kenda SB8 and the Maxxis Larsen TT...anyone with experience of these care to comment? What else should I be looking at?
Ta,
R
Both those aren't too bad on-road but still a big compromise over a slick. You're never going to find a tyre that works well on-road but lets you interval train up a steep grassy mound...
I've got Schwalbe Smart Sam's on my mtb that I use to get in to work on tarmac and for the occasional jaunt on some fire roads/ single track.
They roll really well on the tarmac when pumped up to a decent pressure, and cope well enough offroad.
I was going to replace them and try something different when the rear was showing a bit of wear but they are so cheap that after looking around for a bit I just could not justify spending up to £30 on a single tyre on a bit of a punt when I can get two Sams for the same price.
There may well be better tyres for your needs at a higher price point but for £30 a pair these are a good choice for me.
Kenda SB8 should be ok, the Larsens will have too much rolling resistance. What you need is Conti Double Fighters, perfect if you re doing 90/10 road/off-road.
Marathons? Big Apples? depends how 'off' you 10% offroad bits are..
Conti Double Fighter for £11.6 at Parker International is a compelling/winning offer.
PaulD
Specialized Crossroads or Hemisphere although they'd be well out of their depth on the Monkey trail...
Cheap set of 2nd wheels is a better option.
Schwalbe cx pro.
Small block 8s on my commuter which does 90/10 on/off road.
Roll well, very good on both dry/wet roads, ace on dry trails, but hilarious offroad in the wet.
Racing Ralphs here. Not sure how long they'd last vis. high road mileage, if you were really pushing on round the corners, but they roll well, and grip almost as well as the Nic's off road (perhaps better in some muddy conditions simply because they clear better). Very grippy on the road.
One of the german sites had the Gatestar compound (softer edges)on a while back for about £27 - they're tubeless ready (running mine on Crest rims). Not tried the Pacestar or Trailstar compounds.
Schwable Hurricanes FTW
I tried the Conti Double Fighters when they first came out, they were OK on the road until you leant over too far and got onto the side knobs, suddenly you're a lot closer to the tarmac than you wanted to be. I gave mine away.
My commuter has a Maxxis Icon on the back - works really well for a mix of tarmac and dirt. Used Specialized Fastraks in the past too and they were pretty good too - nice and cheap at the time.
Thanks folks...I'll check out the recomendations later.