Yeah. I do feel pretty worried if the road tyres cannot stand the kerbs or other funny stuff when riding on pavement. The MTB tyres feels for tough to me.
BTW, does anyone knows how much is it to get a 26in tyre for a cheap (<$100) MTB? How much cheaper is it to change myself than bringing to the shop and change them?
Also, how much more expensive are the wider tyres? My standard tyres are wider than the other cheap bikes and will maintain them wide as long as it's not too expensive.
Not many choices out there for you if you want to stick to tires that cost less then your bike. (My tires cost me a total of $120..and that is average and getting good discont from the shop) And as you get to know more about biking stuff you find...if you are one of those who buy bikes that cost like less then a hundred. Paying that kind of price will seem strange to you.
So to keep cost down and reason for you to use on your bike, you might have to stick with cheap brandless tires. As you progress to more better tires, you find that not all tires are made the same. There's always something you have to compromise in one way or another.
You can't have it all. When I am focusing on riding a certain terrain long term. I have to do a tire change to one that can tolerate the abuse or offer me maximum performance or safety.
Using semi slick or worst slick tire off-road, especially wet and damn or on very loose sandy terrain....well....get ready to wipe out, slide and fall off your bike when you take too tight a turn. Same goes for very knobby tires when you ride them on the walkway of market, park walkways with smooth concrete or tile flooring, you will wipe out if you are not careful and pedal too fast and make sudden turns or take corners too quickly.
So when I suggest using semi slick, I meant for road riding. I never, Ever. Ride my bike anywhere that is meant for people to walk. Semi slick over full slick tires are also a practical thing as they last longer and some of them have knob patterns that can make them practice still to ride off road too.
If you ride too rough and like to bump and hop your bike a lot or just plain bounce them up uneven grounds, kerbs..etc? You might suffer what we call "pinching" or "snake bite" which will result in blowing out your inner tubing. This is when you bump a a sharp kern or angle and it cause your tire to depress and compress again your wheel's rim and between the tire and rim, if your thin delicate inner tube which if you hit it hard enough will cause it to burst resulting in a flat tire.
More pricey tires have anti-pinch protection wall to prevent pinching but well be prepare to pay more for them and they are heavier too. Even knobby tire can suffer from pinching thus people doing alot of rough riding will get tires with those side wall protection to "lessen" the chance of it happening and happening in the middle of no where and you have no spare tube to or kit to repair it.
But I think I should add that semi slick and slicks are NOT CHEAP if they are made by branded companies like Swalbe, Kenda, Hutchinson, Specialized, Maxxis, Continental, Michelin...etc. You can try finding unbranded ones but as to reliability, type of compound use, longevity..etc...that is questionable and I have never bought any of those type.
As to fixing them up yourself...well...you can try but if you have never done it yourself, be prepared to buy some accessories to make it easier for you to change it yourself. It sound alot easier then it is to do it. And also, bring your wheel down to the shop to see the tire you fancy can fit your wheel. Some of you here think all tires fit all wheels..That is not true. Even the thickness of the tires...there are reasons why some wants a 2.1 or another would want a 2.6 and then another would want a 1.75. My own ride I use a 2.1 on my front and a 1.95 on my rear. And my front tire is not the same as my back tire model too. I use a Swalbe Smart Sam for front and Swalbe Racing Ralph at the back.
Let me explain. The thicker front Smart Sam is not semi slick BUT...it has knobs that are low profile and has a set running very closely at the edge of the tire thus it acts like a slick and offer very little resistance to hinder rolling on roads but it enough knobs to be tough to ride offroad. And the tires 2.1 size and knobs will make it easier for me to curve my cornering and grip. The thicker 2.1 also make sure it boumps off pothole better and I get a more better ride.
The back wheel tire, I use a 1.95. Thinner makes it easier to dig-in into the ground better and drive me forward when I pedal. As it is thinner, it dig and not flare out my rear wheel when I corner tight too. I offset it with the Racing Ralph tire as it has more shallow knobs to it has more contact on the ground but offer alittle less roll resistance too. Plust the rubber compound used means it will wear faster but it is more grippy but yet it is pretty light weight. So as you can see...as you get more into biking, even something as simple as the choice of tire is not that simple.
Also, air pressure also plays a part depending on where you are riding. heheh.. The smart tip is high pressure for riding on road to lessen roll resistance but off road, keep the pressure lower so more surface of the tire touches the ground for better traction and less bumpy and less prone to blow outs.
Thus....think about it. You okay with having tires that cost more then your bike? Think about where you will be riding it most of the time too. Now if you want to really put on those thin cyclo cross bicycle tire, you might have to change wheel set.... and I can tell if you think tires are pricey you will faint to know how much it cost to setup a wheelset for you to just use those thin tires. ALSO.... you might have to change your brake system too...more $$$$$$. Thinner rims uses a whole difference brake system from MTB.
My advice to anyone here who wants to change parts...always bring your bike down to see if your bike can fit it or will it require changing other parts too. Sometime...just because of one part you might need to change other existing part or two.
After market parts are never cheap even if they have no brand. The reason they can sell you a bike less then $100 is because they are mass produced and uses inferior parts and sold in bulk thus you get that cheap price. As you start to get after part parts...just like car parts...be prepared to spend spend spend.
