Recommendations please for a budget road bike.

[MESmith]

29" MTB slicks are hard to find, especially in Thailand, whereas for some reason 26" slicks are not so hard to find. You might have to order them online. But.... while these tyres make you roll faster on asphalt, they definitely put an end to any sort fun you can have offroad.

Cheers, CM-Expat

Yep, I think swapping tyres around will be a pain in the a$$. Not wanting to give up my offroading. No hurry on this project. Air quality is already going downhill here in the north.

[moonoi]

The problem is MTB rims are generally a lot wider than road rims, and the tyres are designed with that in mind.

The link I gave in my previous post suggests not.

http://www.betterbybicycle.com/2014/04/a-simple-guide-on-essentials-of-wheels.html

All I can say is, I used a similar chart in deciding to try out the Panaracer Ribmo on my 29er. It was a nightmare in trying to get the tyres seated on to the rim without pinching the inner tube. I'd put them on to do a 200km Audax but ended up taking them of, as if I had a puncture at the side of the road, there was no way I could get the tyre back on the rim at the side of the road.

According to a couple of shops around here, they've had similar problems.

Since then if you're using an MTB on the road, suggest going with something like Schwalbe Racing Ralph or Furious Fred, my current favorite all round tyre is the Continental Race King. Don't need to be bothered with swapping tyres around for marginal gains, and can go on or off road just long as it's not too muddy..

[chiangmaiexpat]

All I can say is, I used a similar chart in deciding to try out the Panaracer Ribmo on my 29er. It was a nightmare in trying to get the tyres seated on to the rim without pinching the inner tube. I'd put them on to do a 200km Audax but ended up taking them of, as if I had a puncture at the side of the road, there was no way I could get the tyre back on the rim at the side of the road.

That is exactly the type of problems you may run into when using road tyres on an MTB rim.

Although MTB rims are commonly only a few mm wider than road rims, the rims/tyres are designed differently. A road tyre is designed for higher pressures (typically 2.5 - 3 x as high) and the tyres beads, bead chaffers, plies, rim lips, etc. may just not fit together. This can result in different problems such as fitting problems, hose folds, pockets, sliding hoses, broken valve stems, and pinch flats.

In theory, you could switch from MTB to road rims, but apart from the additional (significant) cost, you would face a host of issues, such as finding a compatible cassette, finding a compatible quick release, a compatible brake... and before long you wish you had bought a road bike in the first place.

Cheers, CM-Expat

[bobfish]

MTB rims seem to be getting wider...on my hardtail I'm using 2.25/2.10 tyre front/rear combo on 28 wide 650b's.

According to the chart I'm on the limit already without going to the smaller sizes that [semi] slicks come in.

I did use 26in Ridmos a few years ago on my old HT for a 300km road jaunt without problem, although compromised and still much slower than others riding on dedicated machines.

So, I bought a road bike...... solved that problem anyway

[moonoi]

All I can say is, I used a similar chart in deciding to try out the Panaracer Ribmo on my 29er. It was a nightmare in trying to get the tyres seated on to the rim without pinching the inner tube. I'd put them on to do a 200km Audax but ended up taking them of, as if I had a puncture at the side of the road, there was no way I could get the tyre back on the rim at the side of the road.

That is exactly the type of problems you may run into when using road tyres on an MTB rim.

Although MTB rims are commonly only a few mm wider than road rims, the rims/tyres are designed differently. A road tyre is designed for higher pressures (typically 2.5 - 3 x as high) and the tyres beads, bead chaffers, plies, rim lips, etc. may just not fit together. This can result in different problems such as fitting problems, hose folds, pockets, sliding hoses, broken valve stems, and pinch flats.

In theory, you could switch from MTB to road rims, but apart from the additional (significant) cost, you would face a host of issues, such as finding a compatible cassette, finding a compatible quick release, a compatible brake... and before long you wish you had bought a road bike in the first place.

Cheers, CM-Expat

That was the point I was trying to make, charts say one thing, but reality proves something else.

Also, try finding road rims for a 142x12 thru axle :-) you'd have to custom build, and as you say by the time you've gone through the hassle, you could have bought a road bike for similar money.

In my case, my road bike isn't really suited to an Audax where you have to support yourself, which was why I went for using my 29er, which I've since sold all the components of except the frame and wheels (no one wants a 21" frame in Thailand) and switched to a 650b All Mountain Hardtail. Still to use it in anger though, the road bike has been getting most of my attention recently

Edited February 3, 2015 by moonoi

[MESmith]

OK, I've been looking online at cheaper road bikes available in Thailand. The Infinite brand look good value, but how do they compare with the Merida Ride 100 (claris8 spd, sora rear derailler) @18,900 bt or say, Masi Alare (sora 9spd) @ 20,90. Are the Infinite frames similar quality? Components are comparable.

Eventually, I'll get around to looking at some bike shops in CM (I live out of town)

[moonoi]

Infinite is a local Thai brand owned by LA Bicycle. They have a UCI Continental level race team sponsored by Singha and have Peter Pouly as probably their most (in)famous rider :-)

The bikes are pretty good and would say they are probably the best of the local brands given that they design them themselves and don't just buy off the shelf OEM frames from China painted with their own logo (Nich do this and I wouldn't touch one of their bikes with a barge pole), and certainly on a par with the other brands you mention.

Only problem I found is there isn't much choice in frame size if your a bit long legged.