Riding a mountain bike with road tires on it?

My road bike has had a slew of blown tubes and flat tires lately on the skinny tires it currently rolls on. Honestly, it has been very frustrating to me. I think it might be time to switch to a little thicker tire and something a little more sturdy. I might be burned out on road bikes too. It got me thinking. Does anybody here ride a mountain bike with some road tires on it? I know it wouldn't be as fast necessarily but I just am looking to have something comfortable to ride with some sturdy tires. Also, I might have access to a cheap mid 90s mountain bike. If not that one, there are tons on Craigslist for cheap.

I've done it. It was OK, but no road bike, that's for sure.

Where are you riding that you're getting so many flats? What tires were you running (size too) and at what pressure?

I put about 450 miles on a mountain bike with road tires last year. This year I finally got around to buying a road bike. It works well and gives a nice ride, but don't expect blazing fast speeds. The upright position is what seems to slow you more than the tires themselves. My suggestion first would be a set of armored road tires to replace whatever you have now. I know Gatorskins are a common go to. Your tires may be worn to the point that there is just not much rubber left to protect the casing and tube.

I ride a mountain bike with thinner road tires. Not the 2" wide city slicker things but some 1.5" Kenda rain tires. Works great for me. I've never ridden a modern road bike long distances though. I used to have a 70s Schwinn and my mountain bike is light years better so I'm sure it wasn't a good bike.

I've put about 500-600 miles on the mountain bike + rain tires combo. I like it.

I have road tires on my 1994 Trek 930...I also have some old school toe cages on it...it is strictly an on-road machine now, and I rather enjoy riding it.

I ride mostly around town and out on the road. I am running 700x23 tires. The front is a Continental and the rear is a Forte (Performance Bike's house brand) Strada K. I run both tires usually between 100-110 psi.

If you don't have a mountain bike, I'd suggest trying some different tires, like Gatorskins, before spending money on a mountain bike. Also check the inner surface of the rims for spurs on the metal, that's a common source that doesn't show up until ridden a ways. Be sure to put talcum powder on the tube before putting in in, too, to prevent friction tire and tube.

Having said that, I just started commuting to work on an old Trek 6700 hardtail mountain bike that's running 1.5" slicks. It's not as fast as my road bike, but it can damn sure cover ground with no problem. I did convert it to road-style drop handlebars because I find the position much better on the road - specifically being able to change hand positions over time and get down in the drops in a head wind. I set it up with identical reach and pedal geometry as my road bike (which was pro fit for me) but raised the handlebars about 3" to get my head up in traffic and let me look around a little. I used a set of Tektro brake levers that road-bike style but pull enough cable to use the linear pull MTB brakes I had. I used the Shimano Deore trigger shifters I had by hack-sawing off the clamps and part of the plastic body (who needs gear indicators?) and mounting them with som 3/4" pipe strap I had laying around. They mount to the bar just outboard of the stem so you can keep your hands on the tops of the bars and shift trigger-style. It's even still running the RockShox Pilot SL air spring fork.

It rides great, but it's pig heavy compared to my carbon Madone. A lot of that is the rear rack and trunk bag full of clothes, lunch, work essentials. It takes a while to get up any speed, but once there it cruises well. In fact, that bike really makes me smile. It's just a ton of fun.

Next step is to finish up the cat-litter-bucket panniers....

Before drop bars:

After drop bars:

On National Ride-To-Work Day, parked at my regular col' beer stop on the way home:

EDIT: just saw your post about your tire choice. Go wider, and drop the pressure a little.. I run a 25mm on my carbon fast bike at 80psi front and 100 rear, and I weigh 245lbs. If you can cram a 28mm or better 32mm tire in there and drop the pressure you might be better off. For reference, the MTB tires I run convert to 38mm (1.5") and I'm running 50 psi front and 60-65 rear on Performance house-brand armored tires (Gotham, maybe?)

I used to commute on a Stumpjumper with slicks. In the winter, I'd run studded snow tires :) Works well for a city weapon, not my mount of choice for fun rides.

I'd also try some different tires. Maybe bump up the size a bit, and see what cyclecross guys run. I use an armored insert in my tires around here to protect against goatheads.

A 29" road wheel will fit most mountain bike frames, just have to deal with the brake position.

I built a 29" disc wheel set for my full suspension bike. Stupidly fun to ride in the city.

The forte tires are pretty crappy. I totally agree w/ the above comments on running a 25/28 in a better tire and also vote gatorskins as the best. Specialized armadillo's are tougher and cheaper, but don't have the same ride/feel. I'd want to know exactly what sort of flats you got before recomending dropping pressure much below 100.

I ride a 16 yr old mountain bike with mountain bike tires on it at group rides put on by a local road bike club because I'm trying to cross train (read: save my knees from 5 days of running). I thought a group would be motivational.

It is hilarious to me that some of these guys on $5k road bikes in all the goofy looking tour du france gear can't keep up even when I'm riding out on the dirt and grass, bunny-hopping potholes in cargo shorts and a GRM t-shirt.

(Some of them also disappear so fast over the horizon I'm not sure why they came to a group ride but they aren't usually annoying me with advice on how to buy equipment either... because they are so far away. So I won't criticize them for being awesome on expensive gear. ;) )

You can pretty much ride any bike 20 miles down blacktop at a good clip if you work at it. You can't ride everything up a rocky trail. If you can't have two bikes... get one you can smash over a log and keep going. That is just my .02.

I put two new tubes in both front and back last week and checked the rims. There were no rough burrs or rough spots. The flat I got last night was just an instant deflation about a mile in my ride last night. I pumped up both tires about 100-110 psi as always. there was no leak or noise when the tire went flat. It just made a noise and went flat.

Are you sure you're not pinching the tubes when putting the tube/tire on the rim? Not implying anything, but I've done that and got a result very much like you describe. It took me doing it five times in a row to realize I was doing it wrong...

I took both wheels to the local bike shop and they checked the tubes/tires before I put them back on my bike. I hope they checked them okay. I am heading back tonight to see if they can diagnose the problem.

Get the good think cloth rim tape, Velox or equivalent if you don't have it already. If it is old replace it. First thing I would check in a bike getting frequent mystery flats.

Agree with SEDave (always take a moment to match the hole in the tube with a spot on the rim and tire) but sometimes your luck just sucks too. I had 4 flats in 3 group road rides this spring. Zero flats in 20 other solo rides over the same period. It was a running joke for quite a while.

Random: Someone flatted on a small group MTB a few weeks ago and it took everything all four of us had to get him back going again. We put a tube in (we all run tubeless) and he pinch flatted that 30 minutes later. The other 3 guys (1 pro MTB, 2 Cat 1 MTB) put in big hours but flats are just so uncommon these days, at least off-road, that everyone's tools were messed up from dirt/disuse. Two screwed up C02 nozzles and my pump kept falling apart.

92dxman wrote: there was no leak or noise when the tire went flat. It just made a noise and went flat.

I am confused, did it make a noise? It it makes a pop before it goes flat, you may have a hole in the tire casing (check the sidewalls too), or the bead of the tire may be damaged. When installing the tire, check to make sure it is centered on the rim all the way around on both sides. To do this put a little air in, then push or pull on the tire to center it on the rim.

What do the punctures look like? Half moon slits are a rim strip failure, two punctures like a vampire bite is a pinch flat from low pressure. Star shaped tube failures are a sign of a failure in the tire casing. Failures at the valve stem base are also from low pressure. Single punctures are usually thorns or glass, you need to check the inside of the tire casing very thoroughly to make sure the culprit is not still embedded in the tire waiting to pop your new tube.

But on a road bike, hard to beat these: http://www.rivbike.com/product-p/t104.htm

I'm a huge fan of road bikes with really wide tires. There's almost no performance hit, but it's LOTS more comfortable and it makes riding on trails totally doable.

In reply to EastCoastMojo:

It did make a pop noise before it went flat.

My guess is either the bead of the tire is damaged or the tire was not centered on the rim. Since you are having this problem repeatedly, more likely the bead. Take the tire off and closely examine the bead all the way around. It has a "skin" of rubber over the wire (or kevlar) bead. If the skin is missing in one area, that's your issue, and it means new tire time Did the tube have a star shaped blowout?

I ride a late 80's Schwinn Probe ATB with 26" x 1.5" Bontrager Road Warrior slicks. I've never had a problem with flats.

It sounds to me as well that it is an equipment problem or installation problem as ECM suggests.

For comfort and speed, I really suggest a wider road tire, at least 25c, but it should make no difference in flats. If you want a good flat-resistant tire, the Panaracer Pasela Tourguard was the budget recommendation at the shop I worked at.

I recently threw some road tread tires on my Avalanche. I haven't ridden off road in years and am looking at getting on the bike more. We have a bike thrift shop that sells used tires for $1 and I scored a pair of takeoffs with the nubs still on them. I've only put about 30 miles on the bike but it is a remarkable difference over the "mud" tires I had before.

I made it visit to the local bike shop who looked at wheels this past Saturday and it turns out that the tube has a little bit of a pinch. Also you could see the beads in spots on the tire. The tire was pretty much toast and I ended up going with a 700x25c Gatorskin to replace it. Once the back tire goes, i'll be getting another Gatorskin.