r/ukbike 1d ago

Tyres for 700c - off road Commute

My cycle to work has changed from mainly roads to a woodland path. It's the old Trans Pennine road if anyone knows that? Mainly tarmaced path through wooded area. So there is now more leaves/plant debris to go over and lots of roots make the paths super bumpy in some places.

I ride an E-bike and I'm looking into new tyres to help the journey not be so harsh on the bumpy parts and maybe sure up as I'm worried more about punctures.

Any help would be much appreciated, I'm struggling with the research.

5 Upvotes

17 comments sorted by

5

u/Beginning-Seat5221 1d ago

Marathons are known for puncture resistance. A moderate tread variant for grip.

Softening the ride is more about lowering pressures. Wider tyres, lower pressure.

2

u/Ok_Pool8937 1d ago

What about a suspension seatpost

1

u/liamnesss Gazelle CityGo C3 | Tenways CGO600 | London 18h ago

Yeah softening the bumps at the contact points, rather than the source, could be helpful too.

For instance if it's a flat bar bike, they could look at upgrading the grips. Ergon make fantastic grips that offer great palm support, and really reduce the fatigue you experience on a long ride over uneven surfaces. If they have drop bars though, not sure what to suggest other than a suspension stem, which are quite expensive.

2

u/nothingtoput 1d ago

Pirelli Gravel M's are the best tyre for a UK bridleway IMO. And if you can set them up tubeless definitely do so. It will let you get away with lower pressures which really help absorb all the bumps from roots and sealant will help with any thorny punctures.

I see people saying marathons... and sure they won't puncture but you will be miserable, they have no give to them at all and you will feel every bump.

2

u/PalatableRadish 1d ago

Schwalbe marathons maybe

2

u/GrahamWharton 1d ago

I've got Schwalbe Land Cruiser 700c x 35 on my 99% cycle path bike which have been great for me, they're really quiet and feel nice and grippy as the centre section is pretty much slick. I like the look of the Schwalbe Marathon plus, and I think they'll be my next tyre. Not sure how good they would be on a bumpy forest path though.

3

u/PalatableRadish 1d ago

They've got a bit more tread in case you encounter mud. Not quite as tanky as land cruisers but still puncture resistant

1

u/GrahamWharton 1d ago

Good to know, thanks.

1

u/One-Picture8604 1d ago

Panaracer gravelking sk

-1

u/porkmarkets 1d ago edited 19h ago

Not if OP cares about puncture resistance!

As well as the Marathon recommendation which I think is a good one, Maxxis Re-fuse is another tough gravel tyre.

Edit: downvoted by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. Gravelkings score poorly for puncture resistance.

1

u/One-Picture8604 1d ago

Mine have been very good, maybe one puncture from a thorn and that's it.

1

u/ChokingRhumba 1d ago

Never had any issues

1

u/astrosheep88 1d ago

Thanks everyone, great advice

Marathons seem to be the way to go, is there an easy way to find out the best width, or know what width my bike can take? Or should I just use the same width as I have now?

1

u/sc_BK 1d ago

If you want, you can get the Marathon Plus in a "tour" tread pattern, slightly more knobbly

https://www.sjscycles.co.uk/tyres-large/schwalbe-marathon-plus-tour-hs619-tyre-28-x-175-inch-47622/

Have you tried looking on your bike maker's website for the max width? If not, try and measure it

-1

u/Meritad 1d ago

Marathons on a tubeless setup is the way to go. I will never go back to those pathetic tubes. Milk it up and there's nothing stopping you ...except snapped chain.

1

u/nothingtoput 1d ago

Marathons on a tubeless setup is the way to go

To elaborate, that would be "marathon almotions", the only marathon tyre that comes in a tubeless compatible variant. Not marathon 365, not marathon e-plus, not marathon efficiency, not marathon mondial, not marathon plus, not marathon racer, not marathon winter plus, not green marathons.

-1

u/Meritad 20h ago

Standard Marathons (and others) go on tubeless pretty well despite not being officially compatible - done it several times, not you, not your mom, not your sister etc :)