Your decision to buy a mountain bike cannot begin or end without paying special notice to the type of tires in the bike. Your choice of adventure, whether rough or paved, as a biker can largely help determine the type of tires you need to buy as well as the amount of tire pressure you may need to maintain in your mountain bike. All you need to do is keep this correlation in mind before as well as after you buy your mountain bike.
Mountain Biking adventures involve rugged, rough landscapes and unpaved roads. Sometimes paved roads and well trodden bike trails are also preferred by some mountain bikers. The choice of adventure depends from biker to biker and thus the choice of Mountain Bike will differ too. Before you decide on your choice of mountain bike, you should delve into certain important factors like the type of tires you will need and the type of trail you will be riding on. The importance of choosing the right Mountain Bike tires can be listed as below.
Types of Tires – Wide, Narrow, High Friction, Low Friction
As already pointed out, the type of mountain biking adventure one prefers differs from biker to biker and this very aspect should help you determine the type of tires you will need and the type of mountain bike you will have to purchase. Though you can purchase multiple set of tires yet it is important to take a good check on the tires on the Mountain Bike you wish to purchase. If you are a biker who loves riding on rough terrains, your choice of mountain bike should have wide, heavy tires which are ideal to handle the friction and dangers of rough terrains.
Similarly, if your interest lies in mountain biking on pavements and well paved paths, then narrow smooth tires are what you need. However a point to remember is that even tires used for mountain biking on paved road do need to have friction although on a lesser scale. Using tires with high friction on paved areas can cause you to lose speed so though high friction tires can be used, they should be preferably avoided.
Appropriate pressure in tires
Having determined the type of tires you need for your mountain bike, you need to now focus on the tire pressure. The right tire pressure can give you a smooth ride and better control on your mountain bike. The effects on maintaining either low tire pressure or high tire pressure are easily evident. A mountain bike having high tire pressure can lead to a bumpy uneven ride which can result in loss of control. On the other hand, low tire pressures can make riding difficult and increased possibility of tire punctures.
Nowadays, bikers also have the viable option of selecting tubeless tires for their mountain bikes. However tubeless tires require low tire pressure ranging from thirty to forty pounds per square inch but the benefit would be lesser chances of facing a flat tire and the ability to ride on less than normal pressure in tires for various types of mountain bikes.