Fast, high TPI 26” tire recommendations

[Ryan Schlichting]

Hey all. I’m looking for slick to semi slick 26 inch tires in the range of 32 to 50 mm equivalent width. These would be for mostly Road so I’d like them lightweight supple and fast. I already know about René Herse and I’m a big fan, but I’d like to hear about other brands.  Any help would be appreciated.

[Armand Kizirian]

I don't think you are going to find a better tire than a Rene Herse for a 26" size. 

[Ron Mc]

The similar Panaracer for less $, 120 tpi, is Gravel King SK (slick)

[Patrick Moore]

If you want a supple 559 bsd tire in widths under 50 mm, I’m afraid the only options are the Rene Herse 32 mm Elk Pass or 42 mm Naches Pass — as far as I know. I’d be delighted to be proved wrong.

Panracer has the Pasela in  the 559 X 38 and 32 mm sizes, but these aren’t nearly as nice as the RH tires.

Ditto with the 26” x 1.35 inch Kojak and the 38 mm and 50 mm Tioga City Slicker.

I’ve used all of these extensively and only the RH models qualify as supple and fast.

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Patrick Moore

Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum

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[Josiah Anderson]

I agree with other posters that René Herse tires are by far the nicest option. Gravelkings are okay, but not nearly as supple as RH standard or extralight. Same for the Maxxis DTH. Tioga PowerBlocks are pretty nice, but are discontinued and hard to find, and still not in the same league as RH. My personal choice is usually either Paselas for decent budget tires or RH for nice ones.

Also, TPI can be misleading: https://www.renehersecycles.com/tpi-and-tire-performance/.

Josiah Anderson 

Tacoma WA 

Le lun. 15 juin 2026 à 4:26 PM, Ryan Schlichting <rds...@gmail.com> a écrit :

Hey all. I’m looking for slick to semi slick 26 inch tires in the range of 32 to 50 mm equivalent width. These would be for mostly Road so I’d like them lightweight supple and fast. I already know about René Herse and I’m a big fan, but I’d like to hear about other brands.  Any help would be appreciated.

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[Patrick Moore]

I commuted on 1.25” non-Tourguard Paselas for several years (before switching to the 1.35” Kojaks). The Paselas were light — 240 grams (the Elk Pass is 178 grams, the Naches Pass EL is 300 grams) but they did feel as if they rolled particularly fast — the Kojaks felt just as fast , to me, anyway — and they were very pressure sensitive, with a very small range between wallowy and harsh. And they were much more liable to goathead flats than the Kojaks, and had very fragile sidewalls; and treads for that matter: I recall having a Carradice Nelson fall backward from a QR saddle attachment onto the rear tire at speed  and lock it; the resulting skid removed a good 2” of tread down to the fabric. I preferred the Kojaks for puncture resistance and durability with similar rolling feel — to me, at any rate.

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[Patrick Moore]

Sheesh! That should have read, “…but they did NOT feel as if they rolled particularly fast ...

On Tue, Jun 16, 2026 at 11:36 AM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

… but they did feel as if they rolled particularly fast — the Kojaks felt just as fast , to me, anyway —

[Brian Turner]

RH Naches Pass gets my vote! Love them on my Atlantis.

Brian

Lex KY

On Jun 16, 2026, at 11:38 AM, Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:



Sheesh! That should have read, “…but they did NOT feel as if they rolled particularly fast ...

On Tue, Jun 16, 2026 at 11:36 AM Patrick Moore <bert...@gmail.com> wrote:

… but they did feel as if they rolled particularly fast — the Kojaks felt just as fast , to me, anyway —

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[J G]

As someone who has been setting up 26" wheel city bikes for smaller riders for the past 20 years and who has a Riv Expedition, the RH Naches Pass is the best answer if you are not prone to flats and 26x1.75" folding Panaracer T-Serv/Pasela, if you are.

That size tire is simply the goldilocks for city riding IMHO.

-Justus

Mpls, MN

[JohnS]

RH would be my 1st choice. 2nd are the Ultradynamico Cava race, I have them on my '82 Stumpy which is set up as a basket bike, so way overkill for the application but very nice riding. I had bought them to put on my '90's Stumpy M2, which I have built up with a rigid fork and a XO-1 cockpit, but I wasn't riding it and decided to put them on the '82 which I use a few times a week for running errands.

JohnS

[Patrick Moore]

For speed and the “feel” of agility above all else, one more word of praise and a loud shout of recommendation for the ineffably smooth and fast-rolling RH 559 X 32 mm (labeled) / 28 mm (actual, on skinny rims) Elk Pass, at ~175 grams per; I ride mine with 40 gram RH TPU tubes and ~1 fl oz of OS regular formula in each tire. For the record, I ride these amongst goatheads and on rough pavement and even on firm dirt and gravel.

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[JohnS]

Another tire to consider is the Schwalbe Billy Bonkers 26x2.1 performance tire:

https://www.thebikesmiths.com/products/schwalbe-billy-bonkers-26-addix?variant=43940584226976

I put a pair on my friend's vintage Trek mountain bike last year when I gave it a Riv inspired make over. I didn't get to ride it much, but they felt pretty good. They are a good deal at about 1/2 the price of the RH tires.

No experience with the Sims Works Volummy tire. I may give them a try when I wear out the Ultradynamico tires I'm currently using.

https://www.sim.works/products/volummy-26?srsltid=AfmBOoorey9N9koYYUNOiBfOLZeJ9hazrtDgGXFFGe9BW6MQ7i_N7DT3

JohnS

[Ryan Schlichting]

Thanks everyone for the thoughts on tires.  Unfortunately, it does sound like choices are limited but there are a few options I hadn't heard of so this is helpful.  Feel free to add more if you think of something.  I won't be finishing this project for a few weeks.  Ryan