35 knobbies vs 28 slicks for summer roads

[kat_h]

I'm wondering if it's worth changing my tires for the summer.

Currently I have 700x35 knobby cyclocross tires, which have been great through winter and spring, and for gravel roads. Next month I'll be doing the MS Tour (180k over 2 days) and in July I'll probably be doing a couple of short, unsupported 3-6 day tours. Am I going to notice a huge difference if I run slicks for those? Some days I still like to go down gravel roads or even join in with the mountainbikers so I'll still have to change back to my knobby tires once a week or so. Is it worth the hassle to run slicks for the longer road rides?

I just realised I put this in the wrong area. If a mod notices it could you please move it for me? Thanks.

[Veronica]

I take my bike with 23s on gravel and dirt roads. You might not need to change 'em. There is a big difference between knobbys and slicks.

V.

[bounceswoosh]

Can you get a spare set of wheels so that you just keep slicks on one set and knobbies on the other? That way it would be a lot less of a pain to switch to whatever makes best sense that day.

[kat_h]

That would be my first choice but it's just not in the budget for this year. Default is to stay with the knobbies, but if it's worth it to use slicks for the long road rides then I will swap them. I'm just wondering how much of a difference they would really make.

[sundial]

Kat, I use Kenda small block eight tires and it's pretty smooth (and quick!) rolling on both pavement and dirt roads. Course I'm ridin' a mtb so that would slow me down considerably if I were to ride a MS 150 on it.

If you can't snag an extra set of rims with slicks on it for a quick change, maybe see what Kenda has to offer for your riding pleasure. I dunno, maybe something in the cyclo cross tire?
PS, tire prices are going up too.

[Becky]

I take my bike with 23s on gravel and dirt roads. You might not need to change 'em. There is a big difference between knobbys and slicks.

V.

Ditto. Hubby and I checked out a bridge that was under repair yesterday on our road bikes. Nothing but dirt and gravel...and boy was it fun on the 23s- a great way to practice bike handling! The road was closed to cars, so that was an added bonus

[Grog]

Oh, yeah!

I just switched from 35s to 25s on my commuter and it made a world of difference to me. Acceleration is significantly faster, and overall it's just less tiring to ride it...

[kat_h]

Oh, yeah!

I just switched from 35s to 25s on my commuter and it made a world of difference to me. Acceleration is significantly faster, and overall it's just less tiring to ride it...

Cool, I'll do it then.

It's mostly my camping mini-tour I'm thinking about. I've never done anything like this before and I'm aiming for a campground that's 99 kms from home on the first day. I know that I can do it, but I'd like to do it a little more easily.

I'm looking at these Continental Ultra Sport 700 x 28 Wire Tire

[Grog]

I'm looking at these Continental Ultra Sport 700 x 28 Wire Tire

That's exactly what I have. They were really easy to put on, too...

[Geonz]

The switch is really, really nice. I got 2 mph with that change. (But what's this doing in the non-cycling thread? what other kind of knobby or slick could you mean... oh, dear me... )

[lauraelmore1033]

Man, oh man, does it ever make a difference! I just switched from 32s to 25s and it not only made me faster, but it seemed to "flatten" out the hills quite a bit.