I am thinking of entering a charity road ride (360ks over 3 days). I dont have a road bike so was thinking of putting slicks on my Epic Carbon 29er. The rims are DT Swiss 450sl and I see the numbers 622x18.2. I understand 700 road tyres will fit on those rims. What tyres do you recommend I get? Info on how skinny and what pressure I could have would be helpful too. Only ever riden mtbikes and not very keen on punctures :/

Something 32c I wouldnt really go below 28c..

Most brands have something in that size, and if its just for commuting and the odd race/ride etc, wouldnt bother spending too much.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-con ... -tube-set/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/panaracer-crosstown-city-tyre/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-randon ... city-tyre/

Greyway wrote:I am thinking of entering a charity road ride (360ks over 3 days). I dont have a road bike so was thinking of putting slicks on my Epic Carbon 29er. The rims are DT Swiss 450sl and I see the numbers 622x18.2. I understand 700 road tyres will fit on those rims. What tyres do you recommend I get? Info on how skinny and what pressure I could have would be helpful too. Only ever riden mtbikes and not very keen on punctures :/

'normal' road rims are more like 15mm wide - so whilst you could put 23mm road tyres on them, they'd be a bit too narrow - and could be unhappy pumped up to the 100psi needed to prevent pinch flats (risk of blowing off). Apart from a slight weight increase there's no read disadvantage in going to a slightly bigger slick - something 28-32mm would be ideal, only hassle is finding something suitable in NZ (generally what's brought in in those sizes is either cheap/heavy, or expensive/heavy/aimed at touring).

something like the 700x28 conti ultra gator would be okay (looks like no 32mm in NZ) and not too dear

http://www.chainreaction.co.nz/Products ... in_ty.aspx

can also go up to the gp-4season 700x28 for only $20 more

http://www.chainreaction.co.nz/Products ... seaso.aspx

if you want cheaper the conti sport contact comes in 32mm and 37mm - not available in NZ though (not that that matters with wiggle doing free shipping) and they're a bit heavier and don't roll as nice though (a lot of armouring in them casing - priority was puncture resistance) - I've used them for commuting but not something I'd chose to do a lot of miles on (a bit harsh and slow - still miles faster than knobblies though)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-spo ... -tube-set/

other cheap option is the Maxxis detonator in 700x28 - but I'm not sure that size is brought into NZ - hopefully Percy Pig will spy this thread and let us know

I run these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-spo ... -tube-set/

hugely puncture resistant, but heavy. Awesome commuter tyre, and reasonably fast rolling. I run them at 90psi on delgardo cross rims, in a 32mm sizing.

grip is good, but nowhere near as good as 'proper' road tyre. last forever as well.

agree with thingone - 32mm is a good compromise size.

ThingOne wrote:Something 32c I wouldnt really go below 28c..

Most brands have something in that size, and if its just for commuting and the odd race/ride etc, wouldnt bother spending too much.

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-con ... -tube-set/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/panaracer-crosstown-city-tyre/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/vittoria-randon ... city-tyre/

all good options for commuting (add the kenda kwik trax reflect to the list too - I know these are available in NZ since slg is running the 32mm version on her casseroll - she got them via velo-ideale).

All suffer the usual weight issues though - 400g or more

other option would be a near slick cyclo-x tyre (cont cyclo-X speed maybe - smack on 400g and 35mm)

thorg wrote:grip is good, but nowhere near as good as 'proper' road tyre. last forever as well.

they certainly do - mate ran his set 'til the puncture bands showed thru, had ZERO punctures in the whole time, and got some mad total mileage out of them

of course given what a pig they are to get onto some rims it's probably just as well they don't puncture - if you rims doesn't have a relatively deep centre 'dip' they're a nightmare to get on/off

danose wrote:

thorg wrote:grip is good, but nowhere near as good as 'proper' road tyre. last forever as well.

they certainly do - mate ran his set 'til the puncture bands showed thru, had ZERO punctures in the whole time, and got some mad total mileage out of them

of course given what a pig they are to get onto some rims it's probably just as well they don't puncture - if you rims doesn't have a relatively deep centre 'dip' they're a nightmare to get on/off

I get about 20k from a rear, more for a front. And in about 4 years of running them have had 1 puncture - which was my fault not the tyres (I let the pressure get too low, and ran teh rear up a curb with heavy panniers on = pinch flat). They are ok to get onto rims, once you buy a set of full sized metal park workshop tyre levers

thorg wrote:They are ok to get onto rims, once you buy a set of full sized metal park workshop tyre levers

exactly - which is why I was glad the never punctured - it'd be a case of walking home to fix a flat.

thorg wrote:I run these

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-spo ... -tube-set/

except wiggle are saying discontinued on that link

CRC seem have the tyres http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=18830

danose wrote:

Greyway wrote:I am thinking of entering a charity road ride (360ks over 3 days). I dont have a road bike so was thinking of putting slicks on my Epic Carbon 29er. The rims are DT Swiss 450sl and I see the numbers 622x18.2. I understand 700 road tyres will fit on those rims. What tyres do you recommend I get? Info on how skinny and what pressure I could have would be helpful too. Only ever riden mtbikes and not very keen on punctures :/

'normal' road rims are more like 15mm wide - so whilst you could put 23mm road tyres on them, they'd be a bit too narrow - and could be unhappy pumped up to the 100psi needed to prevent pinch flats (risk of blowing off). Apart from a slight weight increase there's no read disadvantage in going to a slightly bigger slick - something 28-32mm would be ideal, only hassle is finding something suitable in NZ (generally what's brought in in those sizes is either cheap/heavy, or expensive/heavy/aimed at touring).

something like the 700x28 conti ultra gator would be okay (looks like no 32mm in NZ) and not too dear

http://www.chainreaction.co.nz/Products ... in_ty.aspx

can also go up to the gp-4season 700x28 for only $20 more

http://www.chainreaction.co.nz/Products ... seaso.aspx

if you want cheaper the conti sport contact comes in 32mm and 37mm - not available in NZ though (not that that matters with wiggle doing free shipping) and they're a bit heavier and don't roll as nice though (a lot of armouring in them casing - priority was puncture resistance) - I've used them for commuting but not something I'd chose to do a lot of miles on (a bit harsh and slow - still miles faster than knobblies though)

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/continental-spo ... -tube-set/

other cheap option is the Maxxis detonator in 700x28 - but I'm not sure that size is brought into NZ - hopefully Percy Pig will spy this thread and let us know

It is indeed available, only in a wire bead though so not the lightest option out there unfortunately, still not to bad at about 320g.
Another option if you really dont want a puncture is the Maxxis Overdrive Excel, 700x32c, once again only in a wire bead at 465g.

This real helpful guys, just the sort of thing I want to know. Have bought off Wiggle before.

A further question. I see your comments regarding how hard to get some of these tyres on the rims. My rims are set up for tubeless, is there a danger of damaging rims and tubeless not sealing?

Greyway wrote:A further question. I see your comments regarding how hard to get some of these tyres on the rims. My rims are set up for tubeless, is there a danger of damaging rims and tubeless not sealing?

definitely a risk using metal levers like the conti sport contacts require (though I did suceed using park's heavy duty plastic levers - took a lot of time and a lot of swearing - okay for a once only job, not at all feasible if you think you'll be switching knobblies/slicks regularly). Bang for buck I'd go the conti 28s or the maxxis overdrive 28s - should mount just fine on your rims using 'normal' methods.

what rims strips you running - easily removable? cos they'll have to come off to get the tubes for the slicks in

danose wrote:

Greyway wrote:A further question. I see your comments regarding how hard to get some of these tyres on the rims. My rims are set up for tubeless, is there a danger of damaging rims and tubeless not sealing?

definitely a risk using metal levers like the conti sport contacts require (though I did suceed using park's heavy duty plastic levers - took a lot of time and a lot of swearing - okay for a once only job, not at all feasible if you think you'll be switching knobblies/slicks regularly). Bang for buck I'd go the conti 28s or the maxxis overdrive 28s - should mount just fine on your rims using 'normal' methods.

what rims strips you running - easily removable? cos they'll have to come off to get the tubes for the slicks in

Pleased you told me rim strips would have to come off. As I will be changing back and forth a bit, just have to run tubes in my knobblies. Any recommendations as to tubes? Thanks for your help (all of you) by the way

Greyway wrote:Pleased you told me rim strips would have to come off. As I will be changing back and forth a bit, just have to run tubes in my knobblies. Any recommendations as to tubes? Thanks for your help (all of you) by the way

percy will tell you cst/maxxis - I prefer conti - both are fine. Wheras a lot of super cheap tubes (ala torpedo7) seem to develop spontaneous splits one seams I've found (not pinch flats, just poor quality)