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Best value 29er tyre? (for front)
Hello there fellow mountaineers
Firstly, this is my virgin post! Yay!
Secondly, but more importantly... I am looking for a new front tyre for my giant talon 29er
What are the good options out there, mainly looking for opinions from 29er experience (from perth riders) due to the different contact patch but any advice would certainly be great.
I want to keep (for now) the kenda small block 8 at the rear for cost and experimentation purposes.
The tyre has to be low weight which I assume will mean It will have to be a folding style, I have also been thinking of goin to tubeless too but unsure of the costs involved.
Main use will be xc style tracks, with pea gravel on occasions.
Thanks for reading and for any help in advance!! 
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Rocket Ron TL 2.25 but it wont last long!
Not sure about value for money, but the specialized tyres work OK for me.
Light / cross-country racing duties: S-Works Fast Trak, 120 TPI, 2Bliss ready aramid bead, dual-compound, 29x2.0"
Heavier duties - Specialized Purgatory Control, 120 TPI, 2Bliss ready, aramid bead, dual-compound, 26x2.2"
is good value, sticks well and is light. I'm not sure how they will handle pea-gravel though as it's more XC oriented and like a SB8 doesn't have any deep knobs
For me the Folding Maxxis Ardent 2.4 or 2.25 is my do it all front tyre. Cheap, roll well,grips well, weight not to bad, ok its no weight weenie XC, but at least the side walls will last. Can be set up tubeless as well.
I got a pair of 26er Ikons for $110 from these guys through ebay, best price I could find around
http://www.palmycycles.com.au/browse/mtb/tyres-t...
looks like the 29ers are $10 more a set
.....For $50 delivered which I thought was pretty good from ebay.
thanks for the advice so far
Any opinions on the Maxxis aspen?
Have seen them on special - $30, Lightweight 530g and looks to be a good xc tread?
Best value front tyre is the one that keeps you off the deck.
I'm not one of these race whippets who can make a slick stick like ... to a blanket in slippery conditions, so I tend to prioritise grip over rolling resistnace on the front.
Maxxis Aspen - found them awful for pea gravel. Most fast rolling tyres like the Aspen seem to have shallow tread round the centre, find they tend to ride ontop of the pea gravel. Replaced them, used more agressive treaded tyres E.G specialised purgatory (NOT the captain control). The fast rollers also seem to slide in the transition into a corner as tread moves from shallow fast rolling to knobs on the tyre shoulder. Steepish downhill braking is not fun if on loose pea gravel and a fast roller. If just ride normal stuff (pea gravel over hard base) then 2.2 up I find ok. If ride deep gravel then the wider the better IMO. Like Hawkeye I can't make the fast rollers like Aspens stick in pea gravel.
Would suggest any of the more agressive treaded tyres for the front.
have also just found the Maxxis Ikon (folding) for $32 + postage! (pushys.com.au) which is pretty much same weight - 520g, and more grippy by the looks.
might have to grab one me thinks
edit: just saw your post, oldernslower, hope to ride none if very minimal deep pea gravel... might check out them specialised tyres and rethink.... thanks
There are a couple of variations, if you're going to run tubeless get the exception 3c whatever's rather than the base model
Well decided i wont go tubeless yet so have orderered the Ikon (non-tubeless ready) so we'll see how it goes! Will let ya's know
I been running Ignitor all round & haven't complained yet , everybody's riding style is different too .
If I was you I'd go tubeless.
The advantages are immense, but of course it's your call
yeh was considering the ignitor, it looked quite good but at this stage i really wanted something that would roll well too, and also i just had to have something lighter than the sb8's! if it doesnt work out for me then ill probably chuck the Ikon on the back and get something grippier, like the ignitor, for the front.
yeh i really wanted to go tubeless!! but at this stage i need to keep the costs right down. It will be a definite upgrade in the future tho!!
well the ikon arrived today and installed very easily onto rim.
also realised after weighing kenda sb8 (which was 710g - wire bead)it has dropped 160g off the front. yay.
hopefully will be heading out to a track this week to test...
I was just about to post a new thread asking about new 29er front tyres for pea gravel, glad I found this.
I was running a Maxxis ignitor on the front of my 26" bike, it was great for most all trails and XC races I was doing. I was thinking about getting the 29er version, but they only seem to come in a 2.1" size, so I'm still trying to work out if that's big enough. I might go look around at he Ikon now, it seems to be popular on here.
you be surprised at the 2.1 it looks bigger when on the wheel
tested the ikon today at the goat farm and it seemed to do well, let out a bit of air until it felt ok so not sure on the pressure - waiting for my gauge to be delivered...
Grip was much much better than the SB8 (to be expected..) and it still seemed to roll just as fast. I could definitely take the corners faster and more confidently but some of that was also due to technique improvement. The track was extremely dry, also to be expected with our current weather, so was very loose in some sections.
The sb8 at the rear is still very slippery, so when i change that it will be much better again! Also with more concentration on my technique to help both tyres bite a bit better.
Overall for my riding, which includes quite a bit of on-road for now, it seems to fit the bill quite well. Bring on the next trail i say!