BMX Tyres
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URL: https://forum.bhpc.org.uk/forum_posts.asp?TID=4687
Printed Date: 27 March 2026 at 4:57am
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Topic: BMX Tyres
Posted By: GeoffBird
Subject: BMX Tyres
Date Posted: 10 July 2012 at 11:50pm
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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" rel="nofollow - 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" rel="nofollow - 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. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Replies:
Posted By: middleton r
Date Posted: 11 July 2012 at 7:56am
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How come you haven't had five hundred thousand, eight hundred and seventy-one replies, Mr. Bird? We *all* use BMX tyres and must be the most woefully opinionated people in the galaxy on the topick. - Tioga Comp Poll discontinued? Waa waa waa! However Mr McEarchern, formerly of the Parish of Scotland and now of the Parish of about twenty miles to my immediate right, once gave me a 406 Primo Comet that was rated at 100 psi - unlike their 451s which are only rated at 85 psi - and the rolling resistance was pretty excellent. The sidewall rubber all crumbled away so I can't tell you what exact size it was - plump, perhaps 32. Not quite slick but negligible tread. - However I can't tell a) if they're still available, obtaining any form of tyre other than MTBs or 700cs being something of a mission when you live in the nether regions of the Empire, and b) what they're like cornering hard, cos I like to keep arms and legs and skin and whatnot intact after negotiating a bend. - Not that you should interpret that last remark as being any kind of comment on the propensity of your skeleton to fragment during a/any/most/all of the races I ever saw you at... ------------- richard mid |
Posted By: AlanGoodman
Date Posted: 11 July 2012 at 11:01am
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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...
I think Bruvver Dave may have one on the front of his home built recumbent as well...
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Posted By: BarneyH
Date Posted: 11 July 2012 at 2:07pm
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Andy Forey is your in country expert on strange BMX tyres combined with strangely laced rims he was telling me all about them last year at Darley Moor, apparently he's found a size combination that fits a Moulton frame, the tyres were I'm sure a US imported racing BMX tyre. As for me I'll stick with my Conti Sport Contact 406x28's I've not had reason to complain since getting them and they've proved far more durable than the Schwalbe equivalents.
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Posted By: tosgh
Date Posted: 11 July 2012 at 4:16pm
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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 ------------- weight is everything |
Posted By: ND4E
Date Posted: 11 July 2012 at 4:47pm
Those strange BMX tyres I use are 400 x19 (18x1") Primo Super Champion childs BMX tyres 110psi. They have really good grip cornering roll nicely but are rubbish on the road as they puncture easily bieng only 19mm wide and very thin walled. The Scwalbe Ultremo 406 tyre (23mm wide and 160psi if your arms are strong enough to pump that hard!) will just about fit into early moulton frames designed for 16" wheels but again rubbish at cornering. Conti Sport contact/grand prix are durable but can let go on the corners.
I think Geoff is looking for something a bit fatter and grippier. I use Schwalbe marathon superbs folding for commuting on the road. They are light roll beautifully but don't have the kind of grip Geoff is looking for, I've nearly lost it cornering in the wet. A lot of the BMX tyres seem to be harder rubber than road tyres especially the one's without knobbles on so I reckon they would be worth a try out. BMX is a huge competative market so they might have spent some money getting the compound right for grip/handling/rolling. Let us know if you try any out Geoff they might be good tyres for trikes too especially if they are slow to wear out. Rim choice is huge for BMX but check the weight first as some of them are unusually heavy (lead alloy!). ------------- ND4E |
BarneyH wrote:Posted By: Yowie
Date Posted: 12 July 2012 at 2:52pm
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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. |
Posted By: Adrian Setter
Date Posted: 12 July 2012 at 5:13pm
Hmm. Maybe that's where I've been going wrong.
 That and incompetence ------------- Challenge Hurricane - MicWic Delta (Front half) - Burrows Ratracer |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 13 July 2012 at 12:01am
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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. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 14 July 2012 at 12:16am
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I've done a bit of research, re: relative weights A standard conventional setup might be a Schwalbe Durano folding (20x1.1" - 190g - that's pretty light - a folding Kojak is 40g more) and a Sun CR18 rim (350g), giving a total of 1080g for 2 wheels. The ultimate BMX setup might be this rim http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/15758/Alienation_Deviant_20Inch_Rim" rel="nofollow - http://www.winstanleysbmx.com/product/15758/Alienation_Deviant_20Inch_Rim , at 305g and this tyre http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70540" rel="nofollow - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=70540 at 295g, giving a total for 2 wheels of 1200g - so only 120g difference! Although typically, a good BMX rim will be about 440g and this might be a more normal tyre http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42064" rel="nofollow - http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=42064 at 400g, giving a total of 1680g for 2 wheels - a difference of 600g. ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 24 July 2012 at 8:06pm
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Further to this thread, Ive bought a pair of Maxxis DTH folding tyres. 20"x1.75" 44-406 (42mm wide on 21mm rim - see picture), Dual-Compound tread, 120tpi carcass, 110psi max pressure, 336g, £24.99 each. I'd prefer slick or semi-slick tread, but this one ticked all the other boxes. Compared with the Kojak, the sidewalls feel of similar suppleness, but the tread rubber feels softer and you're never going to run off the edge of the tread in corners. Looks promising. Mike B has kindly offered to do his roll-down test on them, so I wait with great anticipation!  ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 25 July 2012 at 9:30am
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BTW, for those of you not interested in the fatter tyre, the DTH is available in a range of sizes, down to 38-406 or 28-451 (which seems to be frequently the case with racing BMX tyres) and in 507 and 559 bead diameters (if you can find a suppier...). I guess the old 28-451 Panaracer that everyone used to use in the 90s was a BMX tyre? http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/BMX/DTH.aspx" rel="nofollow - http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/BMX/DTH.aspx ------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |
Posted By: tosgh
Date Posted: 25 July 2012 at 2:27pm
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geoff said "I'd prefer slick or semi-slick tread" you could always do a Burt Munro and slice the tread off with a knife  ------------- weight is everything |
Posted By: AlanGoodman
Date Posted: 25 July 2012 at 2:30pm
Or stick them on the back of my son's BMX for about 10 minutes - that usually results in a distinct lack of tread...  ------------- |
Posted By: GeoffBird
Date Posted: 25 July 2012 at 3:58pm
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Hmm...
------------- Right Time - Right Place - Wrong Speed |