You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Tyre choice
Tyre choice
NB: Originally posted elsewhere on the Global Riders Network and appears via syndication.
Hi everyone,
Can you guys offer some advice on what sort of tyres you run and what would be a good all round set up. I have a trance x1 and have just about worn the nobby nics out. Riding on the road during all the bloody wet weather hasn't helped. Anyhow I'm not overly cashed up and cant really afford lots of different set ups for different conditions so I'll save these oldies for the road and get a new set up for the dirt. I mainly ride Glenrock, Awaba and am entered for Wollombi and The Highlands Fling later this year. Your advice is greatly appreciated.
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Tags
I have found Maxiss crossmarks 2.24 front 2.1 rear a good combo for glenrock and enduro like the fling and dirtworks, look for deals at lbs or on torpedo7 and crc
Maxxis Ignitor front maxxis crossmark rear
Not as exotic as some of the combos that I'm sure you will get - but they work
I've got a brand new pair of Maxxis Crossmarks 2.1 available. They still have the Original packaging around them. They are the folding bead ones not the wire bead. I'd be happy to offload them to you if you wanted them?
Send me a PM if interested.
Find the crossmarks on the rear brake really poorly, slip on uphills, take the fun out of it, too continuous of a center ridge. Continental x king or maxxis ardent front, continental race king rear 2.2 works good, don't know about wollombi.
Tyres are another of those topics that everyone has their favorites, but it's really hard to say "This is it!". The only way to really know what suits your style and the areas you ride is to test multiple different combinations. That being said, it's a very difficult thing to actually achieve unless you plan to have all the various sets availabe and swap the tires around a lot.
I personally run Maxxis Ignitor on the front and Ardent on the rear. For awhile I ran Ignitor on both front/rear but then swapped out the rear for an Ardent at the advice of my local LBS for improved rolling resistance and haven't looked back.
Don't forget the big debate between tubes and tubeless!
I quite like the Ignitor on the front, too. However, I've found that when it lets go, it does so without a whole lot of warning, but balancing that is the fact that when it has let go, I've always managed to get it back and keep the bike under me somehow.
Contrast that to the Nobby Nic, where the score has been two faceplants from two washouts, resulting separately in a broken collarbone, and skin off plus a sore wrist that ended riding for the day.
If the Crossmark is not your cup of tea for the rear (and it isn't mine for general trail riding - I'd only use it as a groomed track race tyre), the Larsen TT rolls almost as well and provides excellent braking traction while being decent for climbing.
Racing Ralph is OK for the rear - no complaints apart from the sidewalls being a little thin, but then it is also very light. Anything less than UST is likely going to be a bit fragile for Sydney sandstone trails.
I'm currently trying a Rubena Kratos/Scylla tubeless ready combo both as 2.25s. Nice and light. The Scylla I think like as a rear. The Kratos needs to be bigger. The 2.25 is small for the stated bag size on both tyre models, probably equates to a 2.1/2.0. I'd be looking to try a 2.4 Kratos on the front before I felt comfortable recommending it.
Oh, and tubeless FTW.
+1 for ignitor up front and Cross mark on rear
I often swap out the Crosser for a Larssen TT or Small Block 8 too.
Crossmark front and rear for me. I run a high pressure (38-40 psi) to avoid pinch flats and decrease resistance. I've also never had a front wash out, if you learn to put your weight on the outside pedal and shift your weight forward, you shouldn't have a problem.
It does slip on wet tree roots, but I would say all tyres do. On sandstone step ups, such as the ones you'd find at Appin, it's faultless. The only thing I would recommend is to get the LUST version as the side walls wear quickly on the standard version.
I'd buy for glenrock if thats your main area - minimal traction tyres like RR's, crossmarks, small block 8's are NOT for glenrock - except possibly if you are easy round the corners and a bit slower. they do however have great rolling resistance which you appreciate on things like the highland fling.
Quite a few people do ok with one of the above tyres on the rear, and a decent grippy tyre up front like an ardent, nobby nic, ignitor - But you have to be able to control the inevitable loss of grip on the rear on the loose gravel we have up here. I'm a fan of the nobby nic, especially on the front, and given the bike, if you put a crossmark or rr on the front, i guarantee you will have gravel rash inside the first fortnight of ownership - you need nobs to get through the powdery gravel and get to grip on the subsoil.
If you are ordering from UK, schwalbes are about 20% more expensive than maxxis. If you are buying locally, then you need to choose between maxxis and kenda (given your budget constraints) coz scwhalbes are too expensive here. TBH i's consider an ardent up front 2.25(i dont ride em, but they certainly have grip) and a NN rear 2.1
No comment on continentals as i dont know em, but they do have a good rep, just choose wisely