1

I have a trek 7300 multitrack hybrid bike. The tires and tubes are at least 7 years old and I would like to replace them. The rim does not have any sizing printed on it that I can see. The current tire is a WTB Slickasaurus which has marked (37/32) 700c and 700x37/32c. I understand the 700c is for tire diameter. What does the 37/32 represent?

Is the Slickasaurus a good tire for the bike, or would you recommend some others? I spend most of my time on paved roads, and occasionally a little gravel/dirt road.

edit: sorry you think this is a duplicate question. I did see the linked question before asking but it didn't seem to explain 3 numbers which is what I saw marked on my tire. Also I don't think the tire on the bike now is the original one it came with.

edit 2: here's how it looks on my tire enter image description here

Joe
  • 121
  • 1
  • 5
  • 2
    We try to not make brand recommendations because its a slippery slope of opinions, and brands/models have a habit of going away after a short while. Instead, consider how and where you ride the bike, and where its failings might be. Slick is fine for roads and hardpack, but shingle/stones/loose dirt tends to benefit from some tread. Since most of your time is on-road slick centers would be ideal, with some small level of tread on the shoulders but be aware it will make road cornering worse. – Criggie Jul 03 '17 at 01:24
  • 1
    After searching, I see this brand/model has an ideal amount of tread for road and light offroad. It would be suboptimal in wet or greasy offroad. – Criggie Jul 03 '17 at 01:27
  • I nominate for reopening because once I found a photo of the tire on Amazon, it does seem to have a bizarro tire width designation that is not answered in the linked question and is unique enough to stand alone. – RoboKaren Jul 04 '17 at 06:53
  • @Joe I'd change the title of the question - or open a new question - if this question doesn't reopen. – RoboKaren Jul 05 '17 at 01:57

1 Answers1

3

Bike Blue book has the original tires on a 2012 model as 700c x 35: bluebook

You could just go with any 700c x 35 tire. I've found that many local bike shops can order for a similar price as mail order and they'd be able to match your tread to the terrain and weather conditions in your area. As far as width, you might be able to go slightly wider with a 37mm (as you currently have) or 38. It all depends on your tire clearance, especially if you have fenders.

As for your particular tire, I agree the Slickasaurus have ambiguous markings. The manufacturer's website doesn't give any information so I took this screen grab off Amazon for a Slickasaurus tire that shows "700 x 35c (35/32)". My reading of this is that it fits on 700c rims normally designed for a 35mm tire width (that is, the wire bead is close to that of a 35mm), but because it's a slick tire, the actual tread width is closer to what a 32mm tire would have.

For your old tire, it means that it nominally fits rims designed for tires that have a wire bead profile closer to a 37mm tire's wire bead but in actuality has a tread profile closer to a 32mm profile.

Slickasaurus

RoboKaren
  • 29,248
  • 17
  • 91
  • 174
  • thanks for that information. Is the 32 in the tire marking a height measurement? – Joe Jul 03 '17 at 01:52
  • 1
    @joe 32 or 35 or 37 is the "nominal width" of the tyre in millimetres which is very close to its height when installed. But the measurement may vary by plus or minus 10% so a 32 could be as small as 29mm or as large as 35mm. Basically your tyre has to fit inside the forks/stays and under the brakes. – Criggie Jul 04 '17 at 01:31