Tires/Tyres

* I always put new tires and tubes on the bikes I buy on craigslist. Myself, I think that is thee most important thing on the bike as far as safety. My favorite tire for the money is the Michelin Country Rock. It is an all purpose tire made mainly for hard surface use. They run almost perfectly true, and are a very durable tire. You can usually find them for under $20 a piece,* Now if you want to spend a little more money I would definitly say the Maxxis Hookwork! They have tremendous traction and are almost bullitt proof. They will run you around $30 a piece for a 26 X 2.0.* John

i'm runnin Kenda Kommuter tires, and they work great, low rolling resistance, good traction. dunno how they work in the rain, because it never rains here. the only thing is they're 26x2.0, and i want a wider tire. (first pic)

so i ordered some Kenda Kiniption, 26x2.3s. these tires look scary-awesome, with a tread pattern that goes from bead to bead. (second pic)

no prob. i forgot to mention that two different sized tires is fine. (to a point, you don't want a clown bike).

in the early days of BMX, everyone ran a 20x1.75 in the rear, and a 20x2.125 in the front.

i use cheap mountain bike knobbies and they work the best i have gone through 3 rears and no front tires in 6000 km+

Better look at Servas Survivor Drifters too, 4 layers of flat protection, inverse tread, great traction, wire beads, no vibration, wear like iron. Best bike tires I ever had. $40/ea.



Serfas 2009

They really are great. No rolling vibration, good cornering traction. It took about 200 miles just to wear off the center molding seams. I have had zero problems or complains with them.

carpediemi24 said:

Hello all, been reading a lot on here

I am researching 26" tires for my cruiser build. I will be riding on them almost daily. I am trying to get all these in one tire!? Low rolling resistance/grip in rain/slush/riding 90% on pavement...

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If you live where it snows, you might want to consider getting two pairs of tires, one for snowy season and the other for summer. Smooth tires ride much better on dry pavement than knobbies do, but smooth-tread tires are much worse than knobbies in snow, ice and mud.

Other than that, just pick one that is wide enough, but that doesn't cause chain interference. The main factors influencing how "hard" a tire will feel is your rim width and the tire's inflation pressure (a wider rim lets you run lower pressures, for a more comfortable ride). There are differences in rolling resistance of various tires, but you're not going to notice the difference under motor power--it's only when pedaling that you can feel it, and even then not all the time.

Puncture protection is another factor to consider. The tires that have the least rolling resistance tend to be the thinnest and the lightest, but also tend to have the most problems with punctures. The tire with probably the best puncture-resistance is the Schwalbe Marathon Plus, but it only comes in a 1.75-inch width. That's a bit narrow for a bike with no rear suspension and a solidly-mounted seat.

...And it's just my opinion, but if you're building a motorized bicycle that will end up going over 30 MPH much, you should be using a full-suspension frame anyway. Cruiser bicycles are mostly ridden at <15 mph so that means hitting bumps at 30 MPH is putting ~4X the usual stress on the frame and fork. If you use a motor big enough to push things up to around 50 MPH, then you're reaching around 10 times the usual stress on the frame and fork when you hit bumps.... I am constantly amazed at the people who will drag an antique rusting hulk out of a trash bin and bolt a 5HP engine to it.
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