I got some new bicycle tires for my mountain bike last month. It took me a while to finally install them, but today is Bike to Work Day, so I had extra incentive. (I normally ride my Takara Tribute, but I didn’t want to take that downtown for the rally today–cleats are great on a normal ride, but they’re dangerous in a slow-moving crowd!)
Previously I had the original knobby tires that came with my KHS alite. These would be great for off-road use, but I only use this bike for errands around town. Just in case I ever decide to re-install these, the tire circumfrence (for my cycle computer) is 2015 mm. The new tires are 26″ x 1.4″ Ritchey slicks. For my cycle computer setting, I measured 231.5″ for 3 rotations x 25.4 mm per inch=5880.1 mm. Divide by 3 to get the average circumfrence=1960 mm.
I’ve only ridden these tires one trip, but they’re much more pleasant than the knobbies so far! They give a much smoother ride on pavement, whereas the knobbies generated an irritating humming that I could both hear and feel through the frame. I’ll definitely be riding my mountain bike a lot more often now that I have these slicks mounted!
