Question about getting thinner tires for a hybrid

[nightrider]

I'm turning my '07 Marin Kentfield Hybrid into a more efficient commuting machine and I have a question about tires. (Any other tips/suggestions welcome!)

She's served me well these last few years, and of course as soon as I decide I have outgrown it and start looking at bona-fide road/cx bikes my car's motor decides to die on me. Long story short, I'm keeping the Marin and needing it to commute while I save up to sort out the car situation.

I have already placed an order to replace my handlebars for the sake of comfort and more positions (decided on the Soma Junebug bar and Planet Bike tape if anyone is interested) and the next step I think would be to get some thinner tires. I currently have the stock Kenda 700x35c tires on there, and I can't help but feel that buying some thinner 700x25 or 28 tires would significantly reduce drag and add a little speed.

The commute is easy, +/- 6 miles to anywhere I need to go in town. The only potential issue I could see is that the final 1/2 mile or so on my way to work is on a gravel path.

Are there any thinner not-knobby tires that anyone can recommend that wouldn't just disintegrate on that small stretch of gravel?

[KnottedYet]

I have Vittoria Randonneurs on two of my bikes (both are cyclocross) one with 32mm and one with 28mm.

I'm an airhead when I ride, and like a magpie I will swoop in upon anything shiney or glittery... so far both sets of tires have survived riding over a variety of sharp shiney things. Both have ridden on a fair bit of gravel, the 32mm more than the 28mm.

Handling on gravel feels the same to me 32mm vs 28mm, though I can tell on one of my other bikes that the 23mm tires on that bike make the handling a bit more squirrelly in gravel. (though the 23 mm are not so squirrelly that a couple hours on gravel isn't just fine).

I don't think you can really go wrong with either width of tire. If it were me riding your Marin and choosing between 25mm and 28mm, I'd go for the 28mm. Mostly because I know aluminum drives me nuts and I'd want the juicier tires.

ETA: I'm curious to know how you are going to put the Junebug into a 25.4 mm stem, and what you are doing with the levers and shifters. If you are switching out levers and shifters and bars and stem and getting travel agents for the brakes... would it be better to hang onto the money and just change out the tires for now? Tires alone will make a big difference, and you could save a good bit of money for your new bike that way. At one point I wanted to convert my Kona Dew to drop bars, but the cost of all the bits added up was nearly what I paid for the bike in the first place. And was about 1/3 the price of the cx bike I bought next.

[Thorn]

Panaracer Urban Max -- 28's

We put these on our city bikes on the advice of the LBS. The original tires (Conti Sport) turned into gummy erasers after the first year and started to flat. Since we ride these bikes well into winter we wanted some sturdy, bullet proof tires that would take gravel and would not flat.

We've now got a couple of thousand miles on the tires. No flats over some pretty cruddy roads. Ride is OK--obviously not racing tires, but they don't drag us down more than 1-1.5 mph over our gofast bikes.

[OakLeaf]

23 mm are not so squirrelly that a couple hours on gravel isn't just fine.

Whooo, you're bolder than I am! I can handle a couple of miles of flat, straight, shallow gravel on 700x23s. That's about my limit...

I've gotten to where my 1/2 mile lane doesn't terrify me (although I still paddle down the initial descent from the house, which is over 10%, rutted and curved). But that's because a lot of the stone has settled ... I don't doubt we'll need another load of stone within the year, and I'll be back to walking my bike to and from the road when I ride from home.



I know, I know, I need a mountain bike and some singletrack time to improve my skills. I ain't doing it clipped in though. Nonononononononono.

[KnottedYet]

Whooo, you're bolder than I am! I can handle a couple of miles of flat, straight, shallow gravel on 700x23s. That's about my limit...

I wasn't going fast, and I would have preferred my 32mm, but it wasn't bad. It was a wild hair day... I was wearing cowboy boots and a miniskirt... what can I say?

(It was a great looping, wandering, lets-go-THAT-way ride with Trek420. She was on her mtb. I did ask her to slow down a couple times, there were bits where I needed a break.)

[nightrider]

ETA: I'm curious to know how you are going to put the Junebug into a 25.4 mm stem...

By emailing Soma and asking them to change my order from the Junebug to the Sparrow then hoping they get my email before my order is processed and shipped.

I am very happy you caught that! I was looking at several handlebars and must have gotten mixed up when I finally made a decision. On-One's Midge handlebar is 25.4 and almost identical to the Junebug, maybe that's what I was thinking.

I really do love the Marin, and I think now that I've come to terms with the fact that I won't be getting another bike until next summer at least I'm really looking forward to sprucing her up a bit and giving her new life. The only thing I've ever really disliked are the handlebars/grips. Even "dislike" is a really harsh word... maybe it's purely mental and I just want a sexy curvy handlebar. Plus I love the feeling of bar tape and would choose it over mushy rubber grips any day of the week.

Thanks for the tire recommendations too!

[Becky]

+1 for the Panaracer Urban Max. I'm rolling on the 32s on some pretty chopped-up pavement , and I'm very happy with them.

[Zen]

Your question is now number six in search results for "soma junebug bar"

[Groundhog]

I have the same bike and am also looking to make it faster. I too want a faste bike but don't have the $$$. Thanks for the tire recommendations.