Tyres for the bent

[Joe.B]

Now that spring is upon us my thoughts have turned to new tyres for the Seiran. Currently she’s shod with Marathon Supreme’s in the 559x42 flavour though I’m wondering about fitting something faster. 

Kojak’s in 559x35 seem like the obvious choice as they are already well liked amongst us recumbentists. Other possibilities are the Schwalbe Dunaro and the Rubino Pro which so far as I can tell Vittoria no longer make in the 559 size, though SJS still have them.

Suggestions will be most appreciated; I’m not particularly concerned about winter performance as I shall switch back to the Supreme’s when the weather turns again. I quite like the Supreme as a winter tyre.

[Dave_C]

I put Kojaks on mine and they have been great so far.

[Phil W]

Only had my bent since November so can't talk about year round. I've been running Kohak 35mm since I got my bent in November. One puncture at 1100km. Pretty happy with them, have to be careful if wet leaves or off the Tarmac but on road no problems. I can leave road bikes on thin tyres behind on the flat so they can't be that slow.

[Kim]

I was quite impressed by the difference that Kojaks made over Marathon Plus on the ICE trike.  Much faster rolling, and pleasingly grippy on skog-free tarmac.  There seemed to be a sweet spot for comfort that required careful tweaking of pressures to find.

The Duranos on the Baron aren't bad either^[1], other than being in the process of dying of old age.  Not sure what to replace them with - I'm putting that decision off until my ankle has sufficient stamina to appreciate a fast bike again.


_{[1] Well, the bike goes quickly and they haven't had a puncture yet, but the bike's new to me (I'd only just got it properly dialed in when I went and injured myself, so I've only done about 350km on it) and I haven't tried any other tyres on it.}

[Joe.B]

I'm currently floating between the Kojack's and the Durano's   I'm drawn towards the Kojack as it's so well regarded and also the type of fast touring tyre that I've always liked. That said the Durano's in 28x559 flavour offer more of a contrast to the Supreme's which I'll still have available for rides where the Durano's are less suitable.

[Arellcat]

The Watt-counting velomobilists with 26" wheels will generally suggest using either the Schwalbe Almotion or the Compass Rat Trap Pass.  Both are wide, flexible and fast.  Narrow tyres like the Durano are fast too, but are tending to be saved for perfect surfaces only.

On the back of my Quest I'm using a 42-559 Marathon Supreme, which seems to have about the same or very slightly more speed than the 50-559 Kojak it succeeded.

[ElyDave]

I have a conti GP 4 seasons on the back 25mm, could possibly get up to 28 mm as a 29", reasonably fairy proof and fast.

On front I have a 559 x 40mm marathon plus

Is that likely to be slowing me down?

I have a couple of marathon racers on my runaround that I could swap.

[McWheels]

I've been running a pair of Marathon Greenguards for 1500mi, 26 x 1.25. I'm basically on a Carthorse but only the fastest most lycra-ed roadies get through the westerly winds down here faster. As and when they are used up, I shall probably switch to Almotions with a tube (don't need new wheels). My guide in these things is http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/

[Joe.B]

That site makes for some interesting reading.

I originally began thinking about new tyres for the bent because of the following:

•   Weight; conventional wisdom holds that an ounce off the wheel is as good as pound off the frame. So why not try some lighter tyres and tubes.
•   Experience on my road bike; I’ve just removed the Marathon Supremes from the road bike and fitted the Rubino Pro’s.  The Rubino’s give nicer ride than the Supremes but have given me some scary moments in frosty conditions.  The Supremes have much better winter grip.

Anyway, looking at the test results the new Supreme looks really good though I wouldn’t consider buying them while the older version currently fitted have so much life left on them.  I might pick up some 40x559 Rubino Pro Slicks and give them a go, switching back to the Supremes when winter comes round again.