Cyclocross tires for touring

[Ike]

Would anyone be willing to recommend a brand and model of cyclocross tires that are durable enough to handle touring?  I ride a Cannondale T800 with 700 rims, so I won't be looking to any real rough roads or trails with these tires, but I would like to get off of the beaten path a little more.  The dirt roads of the Southwest seem pretty enticing.  Thanks.

Ike

[RussellSeaton]

I think any touring style tires you have on your T800 will work just fine for off road riding.  And likewise any skinny road tires on a racing bike will work just fine off road too.  I've never had any problems riding on non pavement roads with any tires on any bike.  The idea you need big gnarly vicious knobs on your tires to ride off pavement is nonsense.  Those knobs only work if the soil is loose, such as sandy or dusty or muddy soil.  For solid soil, your bike does not tear up the soil to propel you forward.  You don't need knobs and paddles and such on your tires for solid soil.

About the only thing that will improve handling is to have wider tires.  Skinny racing tires work.  But wider, say 35-38-40 or so mm wide tires, do help stability.  So get the widest road touring tires you can find and ride off road all you want.  Or just use the ones you have now and ride off road.

[cyclesafe]

If the road or trail surface is loose, it is beneficial to have some tread on the front (for turning) and on the back (for traction especially going uphill).  There is something sickening about being clipped in, standing on your pedals struggling up a very steep dirt or gravel hill, to only lose traction in the rear and fall down.  Ouch.

But Russell is right, you don't need or want aggressive knobbies.  The Marathon XR gives you enough tread for any "packed" surface and you get the durabilty and width advantages of a touring tire over a cyclocross tire.

[valygrl]

I've been reasonably happy with my Conti TravelContacts - 35mm, smooth in the middle, knobby on the edges.  Used them for about 1200 miles in Australia, mostly paved, but spent a couple of days on dirt roads, and they were fine, definitely better than the 28mm top tourings i had before.

[Ike]

Thanks for the input.  The unpaved roads in my area (I'm living in Death Valley for the winter) offer a wide range of surfaces, so I'll have to shop around.  Of course, nothing short of hitch hiking will help me in soft sand or really deep gravel. If touring tires work for the rest, then I'll stick with the widest pair I can get.

Ike

[miles2go]

I'll second Conti TravelContacts.  I have 2,000 heavy loaded touring miles on a pair, I've never had a flat with them so far and they still look much like new.  When I say heavy loaded touring I'm talking about my bike and gear weight being over 110 pounds. 

The 700c TravelContacts are designated 37s but I think they measure closer to 35.  That's not first hand knowledge as my primary touring bike is based on 26" wheels and that's what I have the TCs on.

Cheers,

[midagecrisis]

Newbie here. Hi folks.

I've recently had lots of time to surf the web because of a recent bike accident that's left me focused on recovering well enough to get back on the bike. I came across this thread, and I want to ask for your opinions and your experiences.

I recently experienced squirm from my cross tires. It came without warning, the magical combination of slick surface, a slight lean, and the belief that my cross tires would offer better traction on slick surfaces than road tires. I had never experienced this with road tires. For a split second I felt a complete loss of traction, and the next thing I heard was the loud crack of my helmet saving my head. (The rest of my body was another matter.)

I had never heard of squirm before, but after reading Sheldon Brown's article on tires, I am more aware of it than I care to be (with the pain in my ribs being a constant reminder). Anyone else here ever get the squirms? What a horrifying feeling.

[Sailariel]

Am also a newbie to touring bikes. Have a 7Sp Miyata Cross Bike that I set up for touring. My knowledge of bicycle tires is quite inadequate compared to some of the people in this forum. I do have very extensive experience with motorcycles--cafe racers in particular, and have used this knowledge with less fast bicycles. My experience is that an aggressive tread is only good on loose stuff. On my cross bike I have Continental tires 700x36C with a very mild tread. I ride mostly on pavement--some quite rough, and packed dirt. So far I have had no problems. I think the more agressive tread belongs on mountain bikes. If it buzzes, it`s too much.

[Sailariel]

Am also a newbie to touring bikes. Have a 7Sp Miyata Cross Bike that I set up for touring. My knowledge of bicycle tires is quite inadequate compared to some of the people in this forum. I do have very extensive experience with motorcycles--cafe racers in particular, and have used this knowledge with less fast bicycles. My experience is that an aggressive tread is only good on loose stuff. On my cross bike I have Continental tires 700x36C with a very mild tread. I ride mostly on pavement--some quite rough, and packed dirt. So far I have had no problems. I think the more agressive tread belongs on mountain bikes. If it buzzes, it`s too much.

[ptaylor]

Tires are a frequent topic of discussion on this forum. On my loaded touring bike, I run Schwalbe Marathon Plus 700x38 tires. I also carry a folding Schwalbe Marathon XR 700x35, which I have never used.

I have about 6,000 miles on my front tire, and it is still going strong. I replaced my rear tire after about 4,000 miles because of wear. I have never had a flat on any of these tires.

I also ran Schwalbe Marathon Plus tires on my commuter bike, where I had about 3,000 miles, with one flat, until the bike got destroyed by an errant car. The commuter tires need to go through a lot of broken glass typical of urban areas.

I have tried, but no longer use slime or tire liners.

Schwalbes are expensive, and hard to buy. There are only a few internet sites that carry them. I have always bought mine directly from Schwalbe North America .

Paul

[Jackalope]

Are 26 x 1.90 too small for touring on the Great Divide?  Hope not, I just bought 3 from Wallbike.com at only $35 each!!  They are clearing out the 1.90s to standerdize to a 2.0