New tires

Today I changed my bike's tires from the chunky XC tires (the CHT cheep 26/1.95 tire that came with the bike in front and Kenda Karma 26/2.0 in the rear) to the newly bought road tires that my friends got me from Taichung (Kenda Kwest, 26/1.25). It is much thinner, and smoother, with no chunks. The road tires were actually for my Hokkaido trip in Summer, but I really wanted to test it out and wear out the wax that came on new tires.

Changing the tires turns out to be a 2.5 hour bike maintenance since in the process I noticed that my rims was coated with a thick layer of brake shoe "powder" (the debris from the rubbing of the brakes with the rim), by bike really dirty, my brakes worn out (and the metal parts in the brake shoe was already starting to eat into my rims, ouch!), and my chain also real dirty. So, after the lengthy tire & brake shoe change, and cleaning up my chain, gears, rims, fork and body, I finally got to go out for a test ride.

Switching to road tires was a strange feel. When I first started riding good bikes (more expensive one, in contrast with commuter bikes), I was really satisfied with that "vroom" sound that the chunky tires give, which really sound like motorcycles. But now, it feels a little, well, too silent. With a newly cleaned chain & gear set, and smooth road tires, it's like you glide on the road, with no more then the sound of the wind. It's supposed to be more energy efficient with road tires, but the feel isn't that dramatic, since the roads around my home wasn't that smooth (you get a lot of pot holes and rocks on the road); the difference really kicks in when you start going up hill, when you notice that you can still maintain a speed of 25km/hr on slight hills, it's like all hills are much easier now. Going downhill is another story. Since the tires are thinner (1.25), the downhill curves aren't as stable, as I yet to get used to the handling of the feel. I need more practice to get full control of these tires.

Something else noticeable, is that the tires, being thinner requires much less air to fill up. So I can easily pump it to 60psi before my hands get tired (with my tiny mobile pump, I mean), where as with 2.0 tires, I could get tired before I get the pressure up to 50psi. This and the less weight of the tire it self also contributes to the decrease in energy loss. Yet, with the crappy roads around home, that also translates to a bumpier ride.

On the look of the tires, mine has 2 bright yellow strips on the sides of the tires, which really doesn't look too good on my black/brown bike. Oh well, that's what you get when you trade in good looks for bargain prices...