Can You Put Mountain Bike Tires on a Road Bike?
Your mountain biking days are behind you, at least for now, but you still have your tires handy. Your road bike tires have both gone flat, but you were really looking forward to riding today. Can you put your mountain bike tires on a road bike?
You can try putting mountain bike tires on a road bike. If the fork and frame are sized similarly enough, then the tires will fit. Keep in mind that the knobby treads of mountain bike tires can make road cycling more difficult, especially when it comes to ascending hills and pedaling.
In this guide, I’ll delve into the differences between the two types of tires and present pointers for outfitting a road bike with mountain bike tires. Make sure you check it out!
How Are Mountain Bike Tires and Road Tires Different?
Mountain bike tires and road tires are dissimilar enough that making the switch from one to another is quite a jump indeed. So what is it that makes these tires so different? Let’s explore!
Recommended Terrain
Mountain bike tires, as I’m sure you would have guessed, are primarily used for mountainous terrains such as cliffsides and steep rocks.
These tires are adaptable in that they can also handle flatter terrains like dirt roads, sandy patches of land, and yes, paved sidewalks and asphalt.
Road bike tires, on the other hand, are intended only for paved sidewalks and asphalt. If you try to go off-roading with road bike tires, they will quickly pop.
Tire Width
If you held up a mountain bike tire and a road bike tire side by side, the former is a lot wider than the latter.
The width of a road bike tire is narrower by design to reduce your rate of rolling resistance when cycling around your neighborhood.
Mountain bike tires are wider but have more rolling resistance.
Tire Tread
Another significant difference between mountain bike tires and road tires is the level of tread in the rubber tires.
Road tires have treads, as every tire needs them for grip, but the treads are not deep at all.
By comparison, mountain bike tires have extremely deep treads that allow the tires to grip hard, flat terrain. Some types of treads are designed for handling wet conditions like rain-soaked roads.
You don’t necessarily need a lot of grip when commuting by bike, but it’s always better to have it than it is not to have it.
Tire Weight
The larger, wider size of a mountain bike tire unsurprisingly makes this the heavier tire of the two.
When climbing hills, a road bike tire is a lot easier to ride on. The heavier weight of tires such as mountain bike tires would only make you have to expend more effort!
Tire Durability
Then there’s the matter of tire durability. The winner between the two types of tires is the mountain bike tire through and through.
These tires are designed to stand up to rocky elements, so it takes a lot more than it does a road tire for one of these babies to pop or puncture.
I’m not saying it’s impossible to pop a mountain bike tire, but it’s not as easy to do as it is with a road tire.
Can You Put Mountain Bike Tires on a Road Bike? That Depends on Whether They Fit!
Going back to my point from the intro, theoretically, you can install mountain bike tires on a road bike, but it all comes down to one very important thing.
That’s whether the tires will fit.
If the two tires are roughly the same size, then you can probably get away with it.
Even if the two tires are very disproportionate, you can always downsize the mountain bike tires from 29 inches to 27.5 inches and see if that helps.
A larger tire won’t even fit inside the road bike frame. If you could by chance finagle it in there, the seat tube could collide with the tire every time you try to pedal.
This could prevent the tire from completing a full rotation, which means, simply put, the bike won’t go.
If you’re not sure how big your mountain bike tires are, look at the sidewall! That’s also where you’ll find the specs for your road bike tires.
You’ll probably see two numbers on road bike tires such as 700×23. The first number, which is 700, is expressed in millimeters and represents the diameter. The second number, 23, is the width of the bike and is also expressed in millimeters.
Mountain bike tires have two numbers as well. For example, you might see something like 26×2.0. However, neither number is expressed in millimeters.
Rather, it’s inches. The 26 is the diameter in inches and the 2 is the width of the tire in inches.
How to Put Mountain Bike Tires on a Road Bike
You did a bit of measuring and computing, and you think your spare set of mountain bike tires will indeed fit your road bike. Now you’re ready to put it into practice. Here are the steps to follow.
Step 1 – Remove the Road Bike Tires
Before you can replace anything, you need to remove the deflated or popped road bike tires currently attached to your bike frame.
To do that, grab your bike and lift it up, placing it upside down or on its side on a flat, level surface such as a garage, a counter, or a workbench.
To loosen the back tire, change your gear settings to the smallest available ring on the outer gear. You can leave the gear settings otherwise as is for detaching the front wheel.
Next, if your road bike has a quick-release lever, loosen that now. Otherwise, skip this.
To loosen the quick-release lever, you need to rotate it 180 degrees.
For road bikes without a quick-release lever, use a wrench to detach each nut.
If your bike has any cable frames, make sure those are separated too. Then it should just be a matter of lifting each road bike tire from the frame.
Step 2 – Protect Your Bike Frame
Even if mountain bike tires can technically fit on a road bike, these are not the appropriate or intended use of these tires.
Switching the tires and riding on the new types of terrain that the mountain bike tires allow for could put your road bike frame at risk of scratches and dings.
I recommend putting frame tape on your bike before installing the mountain bike tires and keeping the tape there unless and until you decide to switch back to road tires.
Step 3 – Inflate the Mountain Bike Tires
The increased width of mountain bike tires requires you to inflate them a little more for a road bike frame than you would when using a mountain bike frame.
Don’t overinflate the tires, as then they’re at risk of popping. Just fill them up a little more than you normally would.
What does doing this achieve? The benefits are twofold. For one, your tires will be able to roll at a faster rate, sort of like road tires would.
Secondly, you’re less likely to experience flats with your hybrid bike setup.
Step 4 – Put the Mountain Bike Tires On
Now that your mountain bike tires are set up, they’re ready to go on your road bike.
You have to follow the instructions on how to remove a tire but in reverse. Slide the mountain bike tire onto the road bike frame to start.
If the frame had any nuts, I hope you held onto them, as you’ll need to tighten them back into place now. You can use a screwdriver for this.
You can also tighten the quick-release lever by rotating it in the opposite direction of how you loosened it until the lever feels tight. Don’t over-twist though.
Test the wheels and see if they can both freely rotate. If they can, then you’ve put them on correctly.
Reset the gears, reconnect the cable frames, and you’re good to go.
Step 5 – Switch Your Brakes
Using mountain bike tires with road bike brakes won’t really work in most scenarios. Road bikes traditionally use cantilever brakes whereas for mountain bikes, V-brakes are the more common type.
If your road bike has V-brakes, which are becoming more and more common, then you can disregard this step.
For road bikes with cantilever brakes, you should replace them with V-brakes. Cantilever brakes aren’t as heavy and might not have the stopping power when riding downhill or pedaling across tough terrain.
Step 6 – Add a Bike Cassette
Your hybrid bike is essentially all ready to go at this point. There is one more step, and while it’s optional, I’d still highly recommend it, especially if you plan on sticking with mountain bike tires on a road bike for the foreseeable future.
A cassette includes a series of metal discs that are attached to your bike’s rear hub. Each toothed disc features sprockets that align with the accompanying number of gears.
Road bikes don’t need as many gears as a mountain bike. If you plan on pushing your new tires to the limit and off-roading, then a cassette will afford you more gears so you can use your road bike more like a mountain bike.
What to Expect When Riding a Road Bike with Mountain Bike Tires
Not all bike tires are the same, which is something you’ll realize once you switch your road bike from its standard tires to mountain bike tires.
Here are some tips and pointers to keep in mind with this unique hybrid setup.
You Won’t Be Able to Pedal as Easily
Mountain bike tires are more laborious for pedaling than road tires. You’ll also go at a slower pace.
If you were hoping to travel somewhere quickly, such as commuting to work, you might want to leave a couple of minutes earlier to give yourself some extra time to reach your destination.
It’s not like you can just pedal harder to get there faster. You’ll exhaust yourself and arrive to work (or wherever you’re going) all sweaty.
Treads Don’t Guarantee Wet Weather Traction
Mountain bike tire treads are available in a variety of patterns, with some more suitable for wetter conditions and others better for dryer conditions.
You can’t assume that just because you’re using mountain bike tires that you can glide through the roads on a rainy day on your bike. Trying to do so could increase your risk of losing control of the bike and crashing.
Maneuvering Will Be More Difficult
You’re probably used to the simple maneuverability of your road bike, right? Well, now that you’ve switched out the tires, maneuverability is not going to come so easily anymore.
Mountain bike tires are wider. That makes them more difficult to use compared to the streamlined narrowness of road tires.
That’s not to say that you’ll continually struggle with the tires, but your new-old ride will take some getting used to.
Handling Won’t Be the Same
A significant change such as upgrading your road bike’s tires is also going to affect how your bike handles.
One area where you’ll really see a difference in handling is ascending and descending hills.
Despite that mountain bikes are designed for perilous terrain, your ability to pedal up a hill with a set of mountain bike tires is going to prove to be your most challenging feat yet.
All the factors that I’ve discussed to this point will make your slow slog up a hill torturous. Riding down a hill won’t be the zippy moment you’re used to either because your bike is slower as a whole.
Conclusion
Outfitting a road bike with mountain bike tires is possible, but you’ll want to take some precautions first.
Choose mountain bike tires that are about the same size as your road bike tires, make sure the tires are properly inflated, and change out the brakes as well.
Be prepared for a slower, more laborious ride. You should get increased traction, but that doesn’t always mean a better grip.
Don’t rush, pedal safely, and have fun with your new ride!
