Advice on dirt road tyres

[thinpin]

I'm looking for advice on clincher tyres for riding a mix of gravel, rough sand and bitumen roads for a 700c wheel. They are for a cross bike so clearance is not an issue. I was looking at something like the Vittoria Cross XN Pro Folding Tyre. But not sure. What do you guys ride on mixed dirt and bitumen?
Thanks in advance

[ericspin]

For my $ the Michelin Cross jet cannot be beat. I have many a mile both asphalt and dirt on mine.

[Birddog]

My experience is somewhat limited as I just got into this multi use business myself, but I had good success with my Ritchey SpeedMax 32's on a variety of surfaces. I logged about 50 miles off pavement on a mix of primitive county road, single track, and National Forest Service roads (some very bad) with good results. They seem to handle everything including packed clay/sand, loose sand, and scattered rocks, and gravel. The rocky sections (football sized) were the hardest, but others have suggested that a larger tire would have helped. I was also under geared (34/25) for the steep rocky sections I encountered. The tires were reasonable too, I think I paid about $25 a piece for them. No flats and I ran them at about 70 psi. I did one 90 mile ramble (25 off pavement) and they were great.

Birddog

[Pete Serotta]

Recommended as a good cross purpose tire. There are better on the dirt and there are better on the road - but these are a good compromise

For my $ the Michelin Cross jet cannot be beat. I have many a mile both asphalt and dirt on mine.

[William]

Club roost cross terra tires. Fairly smooth center with aggressive side wall. Smooth rolling for road and packed dirt, aggressive tread on sidewall for hard cornering. I ride these things for road and light duty off road. I have other tires with more aggressive tread for more knarily stuff.

They come in a few different sizes. I think Cyclocross World carries some of them now.

See them on the Effin Cross Bike here: http://forums.thepaceline.net/showthread.php?t=22929&highlight=Effin



William

[markie]

I had good success with my Ritchey SpeedMax 32's

Birddog


I like them, too.

I think they are a great all-rounder.

[Ken Robb]

If you can estimate a percentage of road vs. trail usage or whether you want to "push" your pace on one surface or the other we could help you more. I have the MIchelin cross tires and they are good on dirt and ok on pavement. I have 700x35 Paselas and they are good on pavement and ok on dirt.

[markie]

FWIW.

I find the ritchey speedmax much better on road and dirt then the 35mm Pasela.

I use the folding version of both and the ritchey is much lighter.

[vjp]

I really like my Ritchey Speedmax also but you have to be cautious when turning on pavement when you are new to them as the knobs on the side are a little squishy compared to the center running area.

I actually rode them on my rollers last year because I didn't want to ride any of my good tubulars and THAT was a mistake. The vibration and hum actually made me throw up after riding for about 40 minutes.... or maybe it was the car running in the garage to keep me warm???

[Ken Robb]

On tires this size (and most other sizes too) I'm more concerned about flat resistance than weight and I have only had one puncture ever on Paselas and that was a nail through the sidewall that would have done in any tire.

I forgot to mention Avocet Cross and Cross ll tires. I have a set on my 1989 MB3 in 26x1.5" and like them fine. The difference between the two models is the Cross ll has a more rounded profile so it corners better with some slight reduction in straight-ahead traction. Since it is a "negative" tread like car tires it has about the same rolling resistance as a slick but does dig into soft earth and sand better. I'm pretty sure they come in 700 sizes too.

[WadePatton]

Let me throw this into the mix. I've only ever found one off-road tire completely wrong for me and it's not in this category. What I have found is that with larger volume tires is that pressures can greatly affect the characteristics of the tire. Don't cuss a tire until you've monkeyed with a range of pressures.

I also like puncture resistance features.

[keevon]

Another vote for 700x35 Pasela TG's. While I have nothing to compare them to, I did find that running them at lower pressure allowed me to fool around off-road fairly successfully. Topped off, they roll very nicely on pavement.

[thinpin]

Thanks guys - all useful stuff. The hills close by are great for road riding but the loops tend to be big-ish >150kms. I don't always have time to ride a loop but can significantly increase my options for more time friendly rides by using the dirt roads that abound here. So the rides consist of 50/50 sealed & unsealed. Lots of ascending and long descents on both, the dirt being mostly hard pack. Mayby I'll try a set of knobblies for a while and then the smoother Vittorias and see whats what. :beer: