Wheels & Tyres

Wheels

A wheel has 3 – the rim, the spokes and the hub. Again the quality of wheel will increase with the higher priced bikes. They are generally made from aluminium, or may have carbon fibre rims on very expensive bikes. Better quality wheels will be lighter, stronger and due to better bearings in the hub they will be smoother when spinning. MTB and hybrid wheels are made to be stronger with weight a secondary factor, while road wheels are made to be light and aerodynamic, whilst also being strong enough to be fit for their purpose.

Tyres

Broadly speaking road bikes will have narrow, smoother tyres and MTBs will have fatter knobbly tyres. Narrow/smoother is noticeably more efficient riding on roads, knobbly tyres for softer/muddy/loose surfaces but are harder work on smooth tarmac than smooth tyres. Hybrid bikes … you guessed it … will be bewteen the two.

Your new bike will come with tyres ideally matched to the type of bike, so there isn’t usually much to be decided at this stage. However, after riding the bike for a while you may find that for your typical use a different tyre would suit better. That’s easy to do and there will be a number of options. Again, our experts can help you decide.

Slicks, Knobblies or Semi-Slicks?

When deciding on the correct type of tyre to use on your bike, your main consideration should be the surface or surfaces that you ride on.

Slicks

If all of your cycling is done on tarmac, then a slick tyre is simply the best type you can use. They will give far more speed and require less effort at the pedals due to a lower level of rolling resistance.
They come in varying widths, depending on what size of wheel rim your bike has. For example, a 700c rim can use a slim 700 x 18c tyre, which is mainly used for road racing. On a 26″ rim, slicks range from 1″- 1.5″. Up to 1.95″ are available, but do remember that the extra width takes away from the advantages that a slick tyre offers!

Knobblies

At the other end of the scale, you have ‘knobbly’ tyres – chunky mountain bike tyres for off road riding that range in width from 1.75″ to 2.35″. These come with various tread patterns which are chosen for use depending upon how muddy the ground is.

It’s really quite a specialist area, but most people just use a good “all-round” tread pattern to provide grip on loose or slippy surfaces, such as stoney paths, mud, grass, etc.

Knobbly tyres, unlike slick tyres, have a high level of rolling resistance, making them slow on tarmac and requiring quite a bit of effort to push. However, there is an alternative…….

Semi-Slicks

In the last few years a hybrid tyre has been created, called a ‘semi-slick’. This is essentially just what it is called, partly ‘slick’ tyre, and partly ‘knobbly’ tyre. The slick part of the tyre, runs round the centre of the tread pattern, with ‘knobbles’ on the edge. The purpose of this tyre is to provide a tyre with a balance of both the attributes of a ‘slick’ tyre (low rolling resistance on tarmac) and ‘knobbly’ tyres (grip on loose and slippy terrain). Although this type of tyre does not give the extreme advantage of either tyre in their sole environment, it does provide an excellent balance of the two and is extremely useful for people who use their bike regularly on all types of surface.