BMX Tyres

I'm looking for more grip for secure braking and cornering, especially on the road, and was thinking about slick or semi-slick BMX racing tyres. Given the nature of BMX racing, I guess these tyres have quite soft rubber.

I know the discontinued Tioga Comp Pool was also considered one of the best tyres you could get by the Rolling-Resistancistas, but does anyone have any experience of currently available tyres, such as this one? http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70540

I notice some of them will take up to 110psi, which is quite impressive for such a fat tyre. See here, for instance: http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42064 . And some of the kevlar beaded ones only weigh about 300g, although a wire beaded one could be twice that.

There would also be the advantage of being able to use BMX rims with these wider tyres, which are readily available in a bewildering variety of colours (a typical BMX rim is 25-27mm internal, so shouldn't be fitted with anything smaller than a 45mm wide tyre in theory). Again, not the lightest option, but you may get away with 18 spokes, or get a 48 hole rim and use 24 spokes - I've done this before.

Is this a case of 'the grass is always greener' or am I on to something? Any thoughts/experiences welcome.

The Dahon Speed Pro that I had a couple of years ago came with 100 PSI Primo Comets (37-406) and they were very good... They are still available and in fact I have one on the back of Aaron's little Estrellita.... it replaced the Big Apple that the bike came with as it was fouling the chain...

If your keen to find out which  Bmx tyre is best for tarmac its probably going to be best to do some researching on BMX forums

I'd steer away from actual BMX tyres.  They are often over engineered and very rigid to sustain heavy impact on sharp corners (jump landings on ramps and street furniture etc.)  I have tried some on my 8-Freight and their stiffness is not an aid to efficiency or comfort.  They are grippy though (when new)- some of the blocky patterns are very good on tarmac.  See Schwalbe Crazy Bob 406.  Can't advise on BMX rims.  I've tried BMX forums and there's a lot of style over function in BMX-Land and very inexperienced and opinionated posters out there whilst well intentioned of course.

Thank you all for your replies. Andy is right, I was thinking about the wider 20x1.75" to 20x1.95" sizes. One thing that got me thinking about this was my surprise at how well my new mountain bike rolls, despite having knobbly tyres at about 60 psi. These are Conti Mountain King 26x2.2" and have very light sidewalls.

Howard, I'm sure you're right that some BMX tyres are horrible, but I'm thinking about BMX racing tyres - these seem to typically have 120 TPI casings, run at 110 psi and weigh about 295g for a 1.85" section tyre - that's about the same as a 20x1.35" Kojak (okay - wire bead), so they must have fairly light carcasses. I found an account of one lad wrecking the sidewalls of some Maxxis DTH tyres in a day's riding, so I'd be more concerned they are too lightly built. The Comp Pools have been shown in tests by both Greenspeed and John Lafford to be the best rolling 20" tyre. I believe the legendary Michelin Mileage Marathon Radial tyre is a 45mm section (1.75") and reputed to have a rolling Coefficient of about 0.002.

As Andy says, BMX is a big market, but do companies like Tioga, Primo or Maxxis have the research facilities of Michelin or Continental?

The problem I have is that none of my current bikes will take tyres this wide. Even the one I'm building would only just squeeze in a 20x1.75"

Richard M - I know most people do their bone breaking in their early teens, before they retire almost permanently to the safer, if less wholesome, environment of their bedrooms. I went through this bone-breaking phase in my late thirties for some reason - just the time you were attending BHPC races. You'll be pleased to hear that, touch wood (he says, reaching down to touch the original Chippendale he is sitting on - no I don't mean one of the male dancers!), I haven't broken a bone since.

Back to tyres, I was wondering if you could make tyres in a composites autoclave, using cheap prototype tooling, if you can get hold of the rubber materials? It would be good to try a wideish low-profile radial on a wide BMX rim, as proposed by John Kingsbury decades ago.


Edited by GeoffBird - 13 July 2012 at 12:37am