Winter and Cyclocross tyres / tires

Weirwolf 29 x 2.55s ftw!

I'm fecked if I'm taking my weirwolfs out, its nasty up here :(

Those Kenda Nevegals that came with mine are awesome for riding through snow/mud, the Weirwolfs aren't as good in shit conditions though.

I just spent an hour shoveling gunky snow (technical term honest) off our driveway. This allowed me to reverse the car diagonally up the driveway and nearly through the fence. I wish it'd get colder TBH. Studded tyres or hiking boots for me.

Currently my bike is sporting a pair of Vredestein Volante Race tyres, 25-622's. Which are lovely in the summer. Only during the wet days of winter I am finding them near suicidal under braking.

Do people have any recommendations for folding tyres of 25mm or less, that actually work well in the wet?

Thanks

J

Randonneur 700x25

does anyone have suggestions for cyclocross tyres?

am off to stratford on avon, other half has an mtb, so looking to go offroad this weekend

taking the fixed road bike so need to grab a pair of 25 or larger tyres to fit on before riding out tomorrow (my pro race 3 on the rear is utterly worn out anyway)

pref a common brand as will probably just be passing an evans cycles or cyclesurgery on my way to the station

Paging Andyp and konijn....

I'd check what clearances you have on the Serotta before buying CX tyres, which are generally between 32 and 34 mm wide.

How offroad are you going, i.e. gravel paths, singletrack, rock strewn paths with big dropoffs?

Challenge Grifo 32mm clinchers.

Or the old, all green Michelin Wildgripped Sprinter / Mud in case you can still get these somewhere (out of production since 2002 or so).

From Evans or Cycle Surgery? I wish.

all that evans have is

conti speedkings or cylco cross

or vittoria cross xg

am not sure about clearances, this could be interesting/ or me on 23mm tyres faceplanting

am sure more of you will vote for the DJ faceplant

gf has said there is a cyclepath near her, she and i have a similar lack of off road vocab so i have no idea of what it will be like

Vittoria XGs are a good all rounder. I'll be racing on the tubular version this winter.

I've got these (Continental Cyclo X Speed Tyre) at the moment. So far I've only ridden them on the road though, no idea what they're like off tarmac yet. I've got the 32s, they are massive, like the same width as my 26 x 1.75" mtb tyres, you'll need big clearances. No idea what you can get on the high street, mine were from CRC, and bought maninly because they were cheap and not too nobbly (higly technical I know).

damn, just spoke w cyclefit, probably the biggest i can get on there will be a 27, so no cyclocross tyres for me

You don't really need cross tyres. I used Marathon Plus 25c off road for a few months!

Cross tyres are not exactly like MTB tyres and the tiny little knobs don't really do that much, especially at this time of year. Just get some tough, slightly grippy touring tyres.

Awesome timing for a thread!

Just started searching for 28c that I could use for off road - Kerley how would you rate the Marathons?

Also is it safe to use anything above 28c on standard road rims?

Vee and I used Vittoria Randonneur Cross City 32c when we went to The New Forest erlier this year. Worked well on the gravel paths. They are a pain to get on/off though. Would search for the epic thread, but can't be arsed.

She is currently running Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elite 32c on her road rat. They are easier to get on, but she described them as "slippy" when she went she went "off road" avoiding a ped when crossing the common. :)

So no help then.

Evans do stock the Specialized Borough CX Armadillo Elites if you get desperate.

these James,
but if you arent doing that far just ride well, I maintain that you can ride anything anywhere if you got the spirit for it, (he said after being in the woods on trails again the other day on the Coppi....without flatting)

http://www.fawkes-cycles.co.uk/7686/products/Continental_Twister_Tyre_700x32_All_BK.aspx?utm_source=Froogle&utm_medium=PriceComp&utm_term=Froogle&utm_content=None&utm_campaign=PriceComp1
scrub that, theyre all sold out bastards

am thinking a wider tyre for winter - lower pressure less chance of puncture flats, may be a good idea

as noted above my current rear tyre is balding even faster than my head

(thankfully it has done good service on the road bike before being transferred to the fixed and has still lasted about 10 times longer in on my fixed bike than my pisspoor rando did)

Awesome timing for a thread!

Just started searching for 28c that I could use for off road - Kerley how would you rate the Marathons?

Also is it safe to use anything above 28c on standard road rims?

The Marathons were fine, as were Rando's (although the Randos were 35c). Not great if it is muddy/wet but then what 25c tyre would be?

Wouldn't like to be responsible for an accident but I happily run 35c tyres on standard road rims.

Cheers. (although maybe edit your typo ;)

A quick bit of other research showed some other Schwalbe Marathon's

Bikeradar seems to give the Extreme good reviews, and suggested an Extreme on the front / XR on the rear for slightly more road stuff.

The only thing is the price, esp. if those Vittoria's are only £20.

Armadillo do some 23/25s which I used on my road bike without any clearance problems and they resisted punctures quite well during winter. I'm not sure why they were 23/25, I think it was something to do with 23 ground contact but 25 roll over architecture.

Anyway, I took them off road on tracks, towpaths and gravelled sections and they were fine. You can't blast along at max speed on the twitchy stuff but are fine for a decent day out.

if you need something narrow check Schwalbe CX Pro. raced on them last year, seemed pretty reliable. they worked pretty well in snow as well.