Best Recumbent Tire

Oh gods, not another learning experience!

 

I have a huge assortment of 20 inch tires for my recumbents. A few general thoughts after many miles:
- Schwalbe are tough and durable and reputable, but heavy and not fast. And very expensive. (Neither the Durano nor Kojak are as fast as they look.)
- Primo Comets are slow. And unless you get the Kevlars, just a flat waiting to happen.
- Maxxis are bomb proof, heavy and slow.
- Contis were nice but their quality has dropped off. Early models were fast and tough. But my last few were not as fast. And very expensive. And limited sizes for 20 inch.
- Kendas are solid all around tires. Durable, cheap, and can be fast ( but not the fastest)

- The best 20 inch recumbent tires I've found are Tioga, by far. Easily the fastest 20 inchers out there - take your pick of PowerBlock, PowerBand, or Fast'r. Even Comp IIIs are fast. Tioga designs to win BMX racing on hard pack, and they do. And they are excited to tell you EVERYTHING on their website . Great engineers with design goals. Plus they have many levels of material upgrades and sizes on the same designs, so you can spend a little more to get a little more. Cheap to reasonable price.

For my money, it's the Tioga Fast'r X 20x1.6 for the Win: fastest, cheapest, best all around recumbent 20 inch tire. Plus they look like a million bucks.

 

Update: I meant to say "Tioga Fastr-X S-Spec". S-Spec turns out to be important as it specifies a 120TPI body (that's Threads Per Inch for the newbies), 110psi rating, and are 5% lighter than the 60TPI non S-Spec versions. Counter-intuitive, I know, but it works. They make three levels of this tire: base, S-Spec and BLK LBL (BLK LBL adds an anti-puncture liner to the S-Spec). Base Fastr-X is $30 (65psi), Fastr-X S-Spec is $40 (110psi), BLK LBL is $50 (110psi). All have solid slick tread bands on center. Base level is great for front tire applications, but not great for rear, as 65psi is simply not enough pressure to stiffen the sidewall under heavy pedal load, and feels mushy. Once you get it to 90psi and above, it transforms into an efficient speedster.

The previous generation line is also available for great prices: PowerBlock, PowerBand and StreetBlock, which also comes in S-Spec levels. These are also terrific, but are a bit more focused on BMX competition.

On my new RANS Rocket, I'm opting for 20x1.75 to get a bit more air volume under me (I'm 185lbs); front is a Fastr-X S-Spec, rear is a Fastr-X React S-Spec. I'll start with the front at 70-80psi, rear at 90-100psi, then tune for harshness/ speed. I'll post pictures and results on my Rocket thread elsewhere on this site.

 

Hmmm… I may try the Tioga BLK LBL on my front after I've worn out the Schwalbe. Where I ride, an anti-puncture liner is close to a necessity.

 

Totally got that - what I do is add my own "hand selected" anti-puncture liner to the S-Spec; I buy large rolls of it to use on any tires I get my hands on so I have it already on hand...

 

"… add my own "hand selected" anti-puncture liner to the S-Spec;"

Mind telling me what it is and where you get it?

It might add a little weight, but time spent repairing a flat is time spent not riding. At my age, I don't need to spend time on the side of the road/trail, crouching over a failed tube in 90°F, 60 to 90% humidity.

 

Sure - here you go. It's on Amazon for $10, two long rolls. I buy the 700c size because it's the narrowest (and lightest) it's super light any way, and I just cut it to length for the 406mm with a regular pair of scissors.
I haven't had a flat with these on... Enjoy!

p.s. I worked for Lockheed for 20 years - the P38 is my favorite prop plane! I even knew one of the engineers who worked as a designer on it... Greatest aircraft company ever

 

Thanks! This looks like a good investment.

 

Hey, ressurecting this old topic, as I don't want to set a new one.
After certain Schwalbe discontinued Tryker, I kinda struggle with my front tires.
I tried Marathon+, that is puncture resistant, but slow and slippery (heavy understeer on them).
I tried Marathon Racer, that wasn't that bad, but exploded under me on a ride, due to sidewall damage (paperthin sidewall, prone to such thing)
I tried Kojak, that is kinda prone to punctures and SOME internet nerds even suggest that it has quite high rolling resistance (higher than Marathon GreenGuard!)
So currently I put on those GreenGuards and continue trying...

Do you have any suggestions to try? Must be 20" and maximum of 1,50" profile (to fit under mudguards and not collapse sideways under the load of turning)

 

I'm very fond of the Schwalbe Durano. Very little tread relief, but it sticks to pavement like glue, very durable. Never had a puncture, in spite of the local metal, glass, and debris strewn roads. I've pried metal and glass fragments out of the tread, none ever came close to full penetration. Rated at 115 psi, max (just under 8 bar). They do wear, but you should get at least a year of heavy riding out of one. I've made high speed turns at ~30° lean with no problem (Lightning Cycle Dynamics P-38). You shouldn't have any trouble on a trike.

 

Does anyone have experience with the Vee Sppedster in 20x1-3/8 (451 diameter)?

 

28-406 Schwalbe Durano, max 115 psi.

This is what's on my wife's trike:

Schwalbe Durano 40-406 (20 c 1.50) 100 psi. (6.9 bar) max. Front and rear. Aggressive tread, but she's never had a flat.

Originally had 40-406 (20 x 1.50) 85 psi (5.9 bar) max. “Marathon Racer” on the rear. She picked up another 3 mph (4.8 kph) when I switched it to the 100 psi.

I also advise keeping the tire pressure at or near maximum on your front wheels because of the slight camber, which increases in a turn. Because trikes don't lean, this puts a lot of stress on the sidewall, as you found .

 

Recently purchased some Schwalbe Big Ben 26 x 2.15 tyres for my brother's comfort bike. I had mistakenly chosen the slightly reddish-brown color , which he didn't care for, so I put them on my comfort bike. Big improvement in ride quality over the CST tyre that came OEM. Now wishing I'd purchased these tyres for my wooden trike instead of Marathons. The colour also looks pretty spiffy.

 

Okay … how does one install them?

 

I have a new contender for Best Recumbent 20 inch tire: it's a new release from Continental, "Continental Contact Urban" a design replacement for the Conti Sport Contact. Beautiful tire, semi-slick, reflective sidewall. I purchased the 20x1.6 to give it a try on the rear.

To refine the categories a bit, I still believe the Tioga FastR series is the best overall 20" front tire - good looking, ultra low rolling resistance and a wonderfully compliant ride. But it turns out that compliance comes from a relatively soft sidewall, so the very thing that makes the Tioga great on the front costs it pedalling energy in the rear, as the sidewalls flex and lose energy on the power stroke.

Enter the new Conti - perfect 1.6 size, which provides enough air for a big rider like me on a 20 inch wheel, ultra low rolling resistance to match the Toga and put a beating on anything else around (I previously used a Primo Comet which came with the bike, but have tried many others) and this tire has a strong sidewall, enough so to dramatically increase the pedal energy transfer. I think it's currently the best 20 inch rear tire out there today. The Rocket is significantly faster and yet a better ride.

So Tioga FastR in front, Conti Contact Urban in the rear... for the Win!