tyre weights

[jax13]

I am slowly becoming more and more aware of how heavy components are & have made a bit of a U turn with my attitude towards weight savings, don't get me wrong, i'm far from the point of weenieing but I am hoping to drag my clockwork as light as possible without going OTT on cost or compromising on quality.

such thoughts have led me to buy the magnesium version of the pedals I wanted for the weight saving & small additional cost but I couldn't justify doubling the cost of my brake levers for the sake of a few grams.

Such thoughts now lead me on to tyre choices. currently, its wearing conti double fighters as it is seeing nothing but road & farm tracks for a month or two but my xc rubber is going to need replacing pretty soon (currently folding panaracer xc pro's).

with that said, what sort of weight savings are to be had with tyre choices? for example, are smoke & dart 'lite' really that much lighter than the standard ones? are folding tyres noticably lighter & worth the extra cash?

 

[zigzag]

Two things... 1. Don't forget light weight tubes - cost/saving ratio can be very worthwhile - I saved over 100g per wheel just by switching to maxxis flyweights. 2. Mythos XC Pro 1.95 Folding - stupid light for a retro tyre (491g versus 664g for a Panaracer XC Pro 1.8 wire).

 

[hamster]

A lot of the weight saving on tyres is by shallower knobs or by making them a little narrow.
Kevlar beads are worth it, beyond that it depends on whether the tyre works well.

 

[FluffyChicken]

Inner tubes of course, max I aim for is 150g, you can get lighter but they get more expensive and with hawthorns around here is just expense not needed. (though I do have some sub 100g tubes)

Wiggle just did it's Geax Ultralights for £2.50 each on offer, cheaper then their 10 bulk buy and they weigh in at ~145g for the larger and presta type.
Bargain. No idea what they are like though .
My maxxis flyweight now have about 6 puncture patches on each still sub 100g though.


Tyres, this weather to get light and mud tyre then Panaracers 1.8 Mud Pro are around 450g and work in the gloopy mud, sketcy on stony ground though.

Other than that the super light tyres lack thick carcasses (so bramble style thorns easily goes through them, again with very thin inner tubes it gets worse... see above )

Yes Smoke 'lites' are lighter but that because they are very thin, I've bee riding one since the peaks event. So far it hasn't taken kindly to fast rocky downhill steps. Is a bit uncomfortable and a bit squirmy in the thin mud. Thick mud it actually works really well and I find the Mythos XC slippery and slidey in the thin and thick mud. Great in the summer though.

Modern tyres you can get the weights down with wider tyres.

But in the current weather I would go for stronger tyres and puncture protection. I need to get some of them belt that go in if I can find any. Nothing worse than having to take a thick mud tyre off in the cold!

Come summer and warmer times, get some low tread light weight tyres fast rolling tyres. Still some are horrible.

But I will say the heavier Schwalbe Nics (S/skin Evo) at 580g in 2.25's are comfy, stronger, ride much nicer than any of the lighter tyres I have and to be honest probably use less energy in the end during a general 20mile ride then the thinner tyres lighter tyres. (modern ish and retro)

I need to get some thinner ones as they don't fit in most my frames


I hope you can pick the bits out of that patchy rambling above.
There are a few weights here
http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... highlight= it not been transferred to the Wiki yet. I do have more but cannot add them.

 

[suburbanreuben]

I've recently discovered how good Bontrager tyres are. I have two sets, MudX and a faster dry conditions XR 2(?). The mud X rolls quicker than a 10 yr old slick, and the dry tyres grip better than a 10 year old mudder! They're both around 500gms, run tubeless and are substantially cheaper than Schwalbes.

 

[Bear]

Good info that mate, nice one

 

[bm0p700f]

I agree with fluffy chicken about the use of lightweight tyres and tubes in winter especially in Suffolk with all the sharp flints about ready to puncture your tyres. I pulled about 20 shards out of the my rear road tyre this week after a ride. 1 went through. 19 ust burried themselves. There were more in the front! West Suffolks roads are terrible this time of year.

 

[We_are_Stevo]

Got these on my Explosif...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MAXXIS-MAXXLI ... 2313153d5e

...and this is a bargain price!

 

[Raging_Bulls]

There's more to tyres than their weight. True, weight is important. However so are the handling characteristics. It's no use to have a light tyre if it's so weak that it flexes whenever you try to brake or corner.

I second suburbanreuben. I used to have Schwalbe tyres, but like my Bontragers MUCH better.
Then again I'm into really wide slicks, so I'm not sure if that's relevant here. Most people here use either small slicks or wide knobbly tyres.