You are hereForums / By Discipline / Mountain (off road) / MTB Gear / Tyres - Seeking advice
Tyres - Seeking advice
Hi, I'm currently running the Schwalbe Rocket Ron tyres that came with my bike as new. Dimensions are 54-622 (29 x 2.10) on both front and rear. Rear tyre is just about dead so I was looking to change to Maxxis Crossmark on rear, Ignitor on the front.
Both the Maxxis tyres are 52/52-622 (29 X 2.10).
I don't normally struggle changing tyres having done so many times over the years (I'm 40+). However, I had a go at changing the rear tyre and the Crossmark seemed way too big in diameter for the rim. So I put the Ron back on, which went on with no problems.
So I guess I'm just after peoples thoughts / suggestions. I mean, I realise the numbers are different (54 v 52) but Maxxis don't seem to make a 54 in a Crossmark according to their web site. Just for information, I mainly ride Glenrock / Awaba. Body weight approximately 100kgs.
- Login to post comments
- Bookmark & share
Do you mean the bead was slack on the rim?
54 refers to width in mm, the 622 is the Bead Seat Diameter. Both are 622s so in theory should fit properly.
You may find tubed tyres are not as tight in their bead fit on the rim compared to tubeless or tubeless ready, which depend on that tightness to seal on the proper "tubeless ready" rims. (You can also use non-tubeless on TL rims, it's just more of a pain to get them to seal). Some brands are also tighter than others. Contis for example are a royal pain the @rse in my experience with them across multiple models, very tight to the point of snapping tyre levers. Maxxis are much easier and Schwalbe in between.
If running tubed tyres tubeless (ie, with sealant) you won;t be able to run them at as low pressures as proper TL as the pressure is required to keep the bead in the hook with the more flexible case and stop it blowing off.
Not sure if I've answered your question - sorry for he scatter-gun approach, hopefully I've hit the target there somewhere!
On a side note, is the Ignitor casing smaller than the Crossmark? The Ignitor rocks as a 26er front tyre, but as a 2.35. The 2.1 was much smaller than other 2.1's to the point of looking a bit silly. The 2.35 was a good match handling-wise with a Larsen 2.0 rear. Would like to try the Ignitor 29er but only if the casing size issue is fixed.
Hi Hawkeye and thanks for the reply. Yep the bead seemed too big for the rim. For more info, the Maxxis is one of the folding type tyres that I unpackaged immediately prior to attempting to fit it so it didn't have much shape to it. I haven't gone tubeless.
I'd imagine everyone has their own way of doing things but very basically, once I've got the old tyre / tube off, I put the new tyre half on (meaning a full half all the way around), insert the tube and inflate it a little to give it a bit of shape, then squeeze the other half onto the rim going from the furthest point to the closest, using levers if necessary for the last little bit. I didn't need to use levers to get the Schwalbe on or off.
I'm of the same opinion though: 622 = 622 and should fit. Happy to admit that I'm not really 100% sure what the rest of the numbering means (as opposed to not being happy about not knowing!!!).
I'll have another go tomorrow ...
If you have not purchased the front tyre yet, the Ardent is a better option in the 29 size. Ignitor seems to work good as a 26", but the Ardent is better for the 29er.
I struggled a little bit with my Crossmark when I went tubeless as it was a bit floppy on the rim, as you describe. Got it to take after a few goes.
Hope that help.
Hi Bryan and thanks for that. Although I do have the Ignitor ready to go, my opinion is that it's never too late to buy bike stuff! I decided to go for the Crossmark / Ignitor combo after reading a suggestion on another thread. I do like the Ardent though and actually had that model written down for consideration. Good to have it recommended for a 29er.
Hi James, By the sound of it, you have rims that are a little undersized, and consider moving the maxis onto another friend ( enemy) , and order something else. Maybe go a conti, going by what hawkeye says. Schwalbe used to be small, but increased their size in 2012 to make it fit stans and ust s easier.
If your rocket rons don't burp for you, then replace with other schwalbes - nobby nics are the equivalent of the igniter , maybe even ardent, and the racing Ralph's of the cross mark .
Tyre size are a bit different which each brand as most of the veterans been members on nobmob for a while should know. I have 3 different brands in my shed & 1brand is loose to fitting & others I need tyre levers to take on & off
I run the Crossmark/Ignitor combo and have done for ages. The crossmark was also loose on my rim but I actually like that, makes for easy toolless tube changes. The tyre was getting old so maybe that also contributed to the loose fit.
For a while I did run both as Stans tubeless. A bit fiddly to seal but wasn't overly difficult. Ended up getting jacked off having to pump it up before every ride so went back to tubes.
Now I have just switched over to a Crossmark UST cause I've had quite a number of flats recently. The UST one was a bugger to get on, very tight. Still running a tubed Ignitor on the front. Never had a flat and great grip all the way to the edge so I'm in no rush to UST that tyre just yet.
Firstly by way of update, what I ended up doing was laying both Crossmark and the Ignitor (both foldable types) flat on my cold concrete garage floor over night. So when I came to have another go at it this morning both tyres had a lot more "form" about them than what they did yesterday afternoon when they were freshly unpacked.
The good news: The Crossmark went straight on as expected. That is, half neatly in the rim, tube in, other half squeezed on. No levers required. Perfect. Ignitor was a little tighter on the rim but not much and again, no levers required. Very happy.
Something I did notice on the Ignitor was a "Max Weight" rating of 90kgs. As I've got it on the front though I'm thinking this isn't really going to be an issue for me. I couldn't see a weight rating on the Crossmark.
So in conclusion - thanks again to those who replied. Very much appreciated. Some more ideas going forward for me too, particularly the Ardent, as well as the NN / RR combination.
Cheers.