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tires
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RC from Calrk Mo on 3/31/2012 9:22:19 AM:
We are wanting to ride from Clinto to Machens next spring / summer. I do see an occasional road bike on the trail and would like to know what tires that are being used. We would prefer to use road bikes as we have JUNK mountain bikes
 
Trek on 3/31/2012 12:47:10 PM:
We've ride both hybrid half bikes and a tandem road bike on the Katy. The tandem has 700 28's on in it. Most of the miles on the Katy were on Bontrager hard case. We've recently switched to Continental Ultra Gatorskins of the same size.
 
Gene from Indiana on 3/31/2012 10:47:02 PM:
Have ridden several times with 700C X 23 and 25s hard case tires. Seems to do all right. Would like 28s but my Trek won't allow the tire clearance. Decreased pressure to 100 lbs instead of 120. Bring your road bikes to the trail and ride a short distance.
 
dave from lowry city,mo. 64763 on 4/1/2012 9:04:13 PM:
i have 700cx38 and also used 70cx35 both work great
 
Newbie from Farmington, AR on 4/1/2012 9:44:53 PM:
You can ride anything you want to, and they will work with/without flats, vibration, wrecks, instability, etc. But why you would do a through trip on road bike tires? Sounds like a good time to buy a hybrid bike to me. I ride 700c x 38's. I also have a 26" tire mountain bike with 1.5" wide semi-slick tires and a drop bar handlbar. Both are great for the Katy. You don't need anything fanc--just a sound tuned up bike that has good rubber and fits you good enough to spend 6-7 hours a day on it.
 
Trek on 4/1/2012 10:55:56 PM:
I'd do a through trip on the tandem with road bike tires for lower rolling resistance and increased speed. It's much more efficient than huge 30 plus width tires. It will be a much better trip on a decent road bike than on a junk mountain bike.
 
Anonymous on 4/3/2012 11:08:55 PM:

I agree with the comment about a good bike and skinny tires than a junk bike on wider tires. Much better in my experience. I have ridden both the Bontrager Hard Case and Continential Ultra Gator Skins on the KATY with excellent results. I prefer the 28s on the KATY. After several 100 miles on the KATY I think that width is the best compromise. That's my 2 cents. Whatever you choose...ENJOY!
 
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