Best tyres for Mongoose Randonneur...........

[Joseph Wiesner]

Hi, while saving my pennies and waiting for my Mongoose Randonneur to make it's appearance, I've had time to think about upgrades, my main thought was in tyres, my intended riding will be bike paths and tarred good quality roads, I'm not sure what make are on the Mongoose at the moment, but are there such huge differences in rolling resistance and speed, is it worth while thinking about the change or leave well enough alone, I suppose it's like any thing else, when you have so much time to think about things and how you can improve them, they can become very expensive, interesting to read other's thoughts on the matter..........

...........Cheers..............Joe...........

[europa]

Wear out the tyres she comes with first, then make you decision. The type of tyre will depend on the sort of riding your doing, what you actually want the tyre to do and what's on special at the time. For general purpose riding though, tyres aren't a big issue despite the fuss some people make about them.

I personally value toughness - the ability to resist punctures. Others here have mentioned Gatorskins (might have that name slightly wrong) wth affection in this area. I ride on the road, gravel tracks and dirt but a normal road slick is all I need - don't need knobblies.

My Trek came with Bontrager Racelites. The are a slick tyre and supposed to have a hard casing. Well, glass just loves them - soft rubber I guess. But they roll well, hang on well, and look as though they are going to wear very well - 900km and the mould release line (very thin strip of rubber where the mould halves joined) still hasn't worn off.

Richard

[heavymetal]

The Mongoose comes with Hutchinson Acrobat Urban tyres in size 700 X 37c. These are a good tyre for what you want, however their puncture resistance is useless. This is mainly the inner tube's fault.

On delivery of the bike, rip out the cheap inner tubes and put a good quality tube in or a "Thorn Resistant" tube.

I prefer a much tougher tyre, so on my Mongoose Randonneur, I removed the tyres and tubes and fitted heavy duty "Thorn Resistant" tubes and Continental Travel Contact touring tyres in 700 X 37c.

From previous experience with these Conti tyres they are very puncture resistant when it comes to the large thorns we have here.

As Richard suggested, I'd leave the Hutchinson tyres on and wear them out first, but change the inner tubes at the first puncture. The Hutchinson tyres will be suitable for your type of riding.

Once you have ridden the bike a bit, you can then change the tyre and even go to a thinner tyre.

Kev.

[Joseph Wiesner]

Hi Richard and Kev, thanks to both of you for your answers, it makes up my mind very quickly for me, it is absolute torment for me waiting for the M/R to turn up, although one benefit of the whole thing is I suppose that my increase in fitness progress is more by riding the MTB than it would be with the M/R, I am given quite good starts (up to and about 2-3 kms.), by both my mates, (they both ride Apollo Fiamme flat bar road bikes), to my surprise it's not that long before they have caught and passed me, I must say the hills are quite a big factor that slows me down, both of you may not know the area in Sydney, on Saturdays we ride from the Prestons end of the M7 bike path to the Elisabeth Dr., overpass and return, this in total ends up to being 26 kms., I'll put it on www.bikely.com , I suppose all I can do is persevere and improve the best way I can .................

........Cheers and Thanks to you both ..........Joe.....

[europa]

This business of mountain bikes and hills intrigues me. I'd have thought mtbs would go up hills better than road bikes thanks to their lower gearing and the more upright position but it doesn't appear to be so. For example, at the Willunga stage of the Tour Down Under, I found a spot on Willunga Hill (a real sod of a climb) and watched the spectators stream past me. Sure, a lot of road riders were suffering - you'd expect that with the varying levels of fitness and ability, but quite a few made it look easy. EVERY mtb rider I saw was making hard work of the climb and at least some of those had good gear and looked as though they knew what they were doing.

So, are mtbs harder work up hills? If so, why?

Richard

[heavymetal]

So, are mtbs harder work up hills? If so, why?

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think MTBs were originally designed for going downhill.

Having toured a lot on an MTB and now on a proper tourer, with drop bars, I found on the MTB that the upright position is not good for hill climbing. On my MTB I found that if I leaned forward and rested my elbows on the handlebars I could climb better.

The other thing I noticed is that the MTB weighs a fair bit more than a road/touring bike. I also suspect that having front suspension inhibits hill climbing ability.

With the extremely low gearing fitted on some MTBs, some people at the bottom of a hill immediately drop to the lowest chain ring and start pedalling instead of working down through the gears.

[Mulger bill]

So, are mtbs harder work up hills? If so, why?

Ummm, yes and no. I think weight is the killer here. What's a typical midrange roadie weigh? My Princess tips the scales at 14.7kg with the saddlebag and usual accessories. Thats not bad for a non racing hardtail with what I stuff into the saddlebag, a dually trail bike weighs at least that much dry.

The lowest gear I'll pedal up any hill is usually 20-24ish, that leaves another three ratios down the block which IMO can't be safely spun up any hill that isn't a wall I use them after the crest as a way of keeping rolling while working hard to keep the lungs inside the chest.

Horses for courses, I'd back Mikes OCR against Princess up Spavin drive on the pave, but put us on the dirt track alongside, (loose rocks, steps, tree roots and washed out in places) I think I could get there first.

Shaun





Well, I bloody hope so anyway.

[Mulger bill]

I also suspect that having front suspension inhibits hill climbing ability.

Not wrong there, many of the lightweight XC racing forks can be locked out as a way of countering the bobbing, as can some rear shocks.
Using barends will get your weight further forward on the bike, making climbing easier.

[mikesbytes]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think MTBs were originally designed for going downhill

MTB suspension was origionally designed to permit MTBs to qo quicker down hill

Have a nice day
training log

[Bnej]

The weight definitely makes a huge difference.

MTB you can climb a difficult hill that you can't just power up in a straight line, and you can maintain control on really rough, uneven, nasty surfaces. And you don't get your arms pounded off every time you go over a rock. And you can do it even if you're already pretty tired.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think MTBs were originally designed for going downhill.

Originally the demand was created by people riding downhill, but I think the first commercial designs were for general off road (stronger road style frame with smaller wheels, fatter tyres, and flat handlebars)

[pugsly]

Well, if MTBs are the hardest to ride up a hill, watch out when I finally get fit and can rocket up a hill on the boulder. I'll switch to a roadie and do an E.T off the crest!

[timbo]

The M7 cycleway from Prestons to Elizabeth Drive is mainly uphill, gradual but noticable. You shouldn't have to worry about punctures too much along the cycleway, but if you venture off it and onto the M5 like I do, then punctures become an issue, as do a lot of tollway breakdown lanes as the are full of debris like smashed beer bottles and bits of truck treads with their little bits of wire sticking out just waiting for a bicycle tyre to run over them and deflate not only the tube, but the spirits of the bike rider.