Tyre info for a newby......Please....

[Tiberius]

Hi all...

I’m fairly new to cycling having taken it up when I took early retirement a couple of years ago.

I don’t own a Thorn (yet) but I have been ‘lurking’ around this site for a while. You guys SEEM to know what you are talking about ( you can tell that I’m easily impressed .... ) and I wondered if I could have your input on a query regarding tyres.....I have had a look around this section but couldn’t find a straight forward answer.

I intend to fit a pair of Scwalbe Marathon Mondials to my bike. I can buy folding or wired versions and the wired versions are roughly half the price. I appreciate that the folding tyre will fold....dead handy on a tour, and I know that they are a touch lighter with possibly different puncture protection. I will NOT be going RTW anytime soon and these will be fitted in my ‘workshop’ (shed) I have fitted various folding and wired tyres in the past and haven’t had any problems fitting either type.

Question....In the ‘Real World’ is there any point in spending twice the price on the folding version? .......Please note, I am a Yorkshireman and I get REALLY twitchy if it is ever suggested that I need to spend more money than I have to..... .Then again, if I am missing something I would grateful for your input.

Thank you....

[jags]

nothing wrong with wired tyres nothing at all,you can always carry a spare folding tyre along with a couple tubes.if your heading away for a tour.go ahead and buy if they save you money.

when you do go for more expensive tyres folding  Schwalble Supreams are great but the daddy of them all  has to be Grand Bios hand made rubber CLASS.

hope this is of some help stay sake nomatter what tyres you use.


jags.

[Swislon]

Hi Tiberius,

Welcome to the Forum.
Wired tyres do the job and as you say are often a lot cheaper.
I am personally now a folding tyre convert. I find them easier to put on and take off and I can do it without tyre levers but still require levers on wired tyres.
I also find they are more supple and roll better and for me therefore more comfortable. My tyres of choice are Grand Bois which are expensive but I do love them.
Please note I am also a Yorkshireman!! I think tyres can make all the difference in the world to the ride quality and for me worth every penny.

However before i used folding Grand Bois tyres i knew no different and was blissful in my ignorance!

I have no experience with the tyres you are looking at and we all know not all tyres feel the same so you really need someone who has experience of that make and model of both wired and folding to get an insightful answer.

Steve

[Erudin]

Lightweight/low rolling resistance tyres do make a difference even on a touring bike.

Don't have more tread/puncture protection/heavy sidewalls than you need. The folding versions also often have higher TPI (a high TPI tire, 120 and up will be more supple and lighter weight) and better compound.

If you shop around you can find good deals on folding tyres, for example:

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vittoria-voyager-hyper-folding-tyre

[jags]

great link thanks for that

jags

[JimK]

The tires that came on my Nomad were wire-bead Marathon Supremes. They work fine! No doubt the Kevlar-beaded are a notch or two up the scale in more features than just the bead. But the Schwalbe Performance Line tires are very good too. The move to the high end of things always seems to bring small increments in performance with large increments in price. Life!

[martinf]

In general, wire bead tyres are heavier than folding. But this doesn't seem to be the case for Schwalbe Mondials: quoted weights in the 26" x 2.0" size are 720 g for wired and 740 for folding. The folding version has more sophisticated puncture protection and would seem to be a bit stronger/more resistant. If going for Mondials I would definitely choose the folding version, the extra 20 g isn't significant.

My experience with 26" tyres is with the 2.0" width, it might not apply to thinner tyres (I suspect that for a given model of tyre, the slimmer versions would be more fragile)

Personally, I prefer the lighter Schwalbe Marathon Supreme with semi-slick tread (quoted weight for 26" x 2.0" size 565g).

I notice easier rolling with Supremes compared to the discontinued Schwalbe Marathon Duremes that came on my Raven Tour. Dureme is a tad heavier than Supreme, and has a more pronounced tread, but has less tread and is lighter than Mondial. I swapped my Duremes to a bike I use for survey work, typically on tracks and paths where the tread might be a bit more useful, rarely more than 60 kms in a day, so the extra rolling resistance matters less.

My own opinion is that the Mondials would only be worth the extra weight/rolling resistance if doing a lot of serious off-road riding, a really long trip in excess of 6,000 kms, or an expedition-type trip far from bike shops where reliability is paramount (deserts, third world countries, etc). On my 3,300 km Spain trip I used Supremes on some fairly rough tracks, with a full load in front and rear panniers.

I don't worry about the relatively high price of the Supremes, so far the front has done over 8,000 kms, the 2 rears 3,400 and 4,700 kms. As a precaution I fitted a new rear tyre before my Spain trip, and risked not carrying a spare, reckoning I could find a 26" tyre fairly easily if needed.

All 3 tyres show little wear. Excluding accidental damage, always possible, and more likely with a light tyre, I reckon Supremes should be good for at least 8,000 kms on the rear, much more on the front.

[doug]

From late last year, I'm a convert to folding tyres because:

- they don't always appear much more expensive, especially when you consider a little extra upfront cost over several thousand miles
- they are lighter.  Being lighter is like having a lighter pair of wheels and they contribute towards a faster ride
- and obviously easier to carry as a spare

[jags]

Doug did you do any tours on that audax if so did you camp and what kinda weigh wgere you carrying ,just curius dont want to overload my older 853 audax.
thanks sorry dont mean to hijack the thread Joe.


jags.

[Tiberius]

G’d morning all.

Just to say a big ‘Thank You’ to everyone who has replied to this thread.

It seems (to me) that although there are differences between the two types of tyre, the differences are marginal and not enough to almost double the cost............MAYBE !!!

Trust me, I am sucking up all your good advice and learning so much, I really do appreciate it.

Thank You.

[triaesthete]

  Tiberius, remember we are coming up to autumn sale time.  Nowt wrong with bein' "careful" wi' t' money lad!

Why bother with Mondials at all?  I'd second MartinF on the Supremes. Mine have done lots of off road and stood up to it really well. The deep grooves give far more grip than I ever expected. If you do off road sections as part of longer rides without car assistance they are an excellent compromise in terms of durability, efficiency and pleasure.

As for folding beads, remember most weight savings in the tyre/rim assembly are the most useful weight reductions you can make on a bike but usually involve some horrific expense/durability/reliability trade offs. This one doesn't. No practical downside whatsoever.

Enjoy all that free time
Ian

[Tiberius]

Don’t know why I am moaning about the price of tyres....I have just been to sort out my eldest daughters’ wedding !!!

A brand new Thorn with Rohloff plus EVERY conceivable mega expensive extra, fades into complete insignificance compared to the cost of this wedding.

I’m sure you all sense my pain......          

[mickeg]

A couple years ago I bought some non-Schwalbe tires in part because on-line reviews raved about how easy rolling the tires were.  The tires I found to be terrible, almost feel like I have brakes dragging.  I eventually figured out that the on-line reviews were for the folding tire, my wired versions had much less supple casing with much lower TPI data.

Bottom line, if the casing material is the same, I would buy the cheaper one.  But if the folding one has a more supple casing, I would buy that.

I find it easier to mount non-folding tires, the folding ones seem to fall off the rim before I can get air into them.

I have read some negative comments on Marathon Extremes, but the folding Extremes I have bought I thought rolled pretty well, but were very noisy on pavement.

[doug]

Doug did you do any tours on that audax if so did you camp and what kinda weigh wgere you carrying ,just curius dont want to overload my older 853 audax.
thanks sorry dont mean to hijack the thread Joe.


jags.

Jags - only one camping trip which also involved canal towpaths.  Not too sure of the weight but I did travel fairly light.  Sometimes I do the Sainsbury's run, loading the panniers up with so much I can barely lift the bike.  Nothing untoward has happened and undoubtedly beyond anything Thorn would recommend.  The cyclist's weight is important, not just the weight in the bags.  I weigh <11 stone.
And apologies from me too for going off topic.

[jags]

cheers doug good to know the bike wont fall apart with a bit of extra weight.


jags.