What tyres should I get?

[Sammo123]

Hi,

My fiancé and I want to start going cycling with our Daughter but it will be mostly around parks and woods etc. I have a 2005 Specialized Hardrock but I have road tyres on it. They don't stand up well to rough ground so I want to put some knobbly tyres back on. It's been a few years since I have done anything bikey so I'm a little out of touch. What tyres do people recommend that aren't going to cost me an arm and a leg?

Cheers,

Sammo

[ndg]

Assuming you have 26" wheels, On One Smorgasborgs are excellent tyres for not a lot of money.

http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYOOSM26X225/on-one-sm...

You want to pick Enduro, Folding, 60a - £20 an end.

[Sammo123]

Yes it has 26' wheels. The original tyres had a wire bead if that makes any difference?

[richardxjr]

No difference. Wire bead is just cheaper, heavier & tougher to get on or off the rim. Those smorgs are made by Maxxis, good all rounder, but they are often discounted to £10 or £15.

Flatout cycles do good used mtb kit. They have 2 x Kenda Nevegals on there for under £30 the pair delivered with 2 free tubes. (each tyre listed separately). I bought the same from there, brilliant all rounder tyres, lighter than Smorgs, better on road sections. I rode the SDW on them last Sunday, 100 miles of slop to slidy to dusty, coped brilliantly.

Edited by richardxjr on Monday 2nd June 13:28

[Sammo123]

richardxjr said:

No difference. Wire bead is just cheaper, heavier & tougher to get on or off the rim. Those smorgs are made by Maxxis, good all rounder, but they are often discounted to £10 or £15.

Flatout cycles do good used mtb kit. They have 2 x Kenda Nevegals on there for under £30 the pair delivered with 2 free tubes. (each tyre listed separately). I bought the same from there, brilliant all rounder tyres, lighter than Smorgs, better on road sections. I rode the SDW on them last Sunday, 100 miles of slop to slidy to dusty, coped brilliantly.

Might have to look at those then

[yellowjack]

If it's the Kenda Nevegal you're going to 'take a look at' then I'll second that. I've used them for the last 4 years on my GT Avalanche. They are pretty good on a whole range of surfaces, from sandy heathland to gravel and forest floor. Their biggest drawback is that they are very soft, and seem to wear quite quickly, especially if you run them on tarmac roads. Other than that, a pretty good tyre overall.

[Sammo123]

yellowjack said:

If it's the Kenda Nevegal you're going to 'take a look at' then I'll second that. I've used them for the last 4 years on my GT Avalanche. They are pretty good on a whole range of surfaces, from sandy heathland to gravel and forest floor. Their biggest drawback is that they are very soft, and seem to wear quite quickly, especially if you run them on tarmac roads. Other than that, a pretty good tyre overall.

Sounds good to me. I will order a couple of those tonight then!

[matt-ITR]

Are you looking to do "proper" mountain biking, ie. singletrack and trail centres or just off-road, such as fireroads, family trails, towpaths, etc?
If you are not doing really heavy off-road, then you don't need those on-one or Kenda tyres. A pair of semi-slick tyres would be more appropriate.