Fast tyres

Surf-Matt

This has been done to death but...

My Spesh Fastrax Pros are wearing down so need some more tyres - front and back.

Requirements are:

Must roll fast on roads. Must have rounded "shoulders" so I can lean on them without slipping. Preferably extra puncture resistance (or just good at resisting them). Half decent off road - not like mega rain/mud specials but okay for semi muddy/rocky/rooty riding. Lightish.

Current shortlist is:

More Fastrax Pros (they seem pretty good to me - hopeless in deep mud but otherwise fine) - might look at the reinforced "Armadillo" versions but are they too heavy? Also heard of the reinforcement coming away from the main tyre rubber - isolated incidents?
Schwalbe Racing Ralphs.
Kenda Nevegals (do well in latest WMB test)
Panaracer Fire XCs

Any recommendations?

Cheers all!

Robmanic1

Matt, the RR rear NN front combo is working well for me at the min. Might consider swopping to RR front and rear if the trails ever dry out! (Or even Furious Freds, no feedback on these yet, if anyone out there has tried them I'd be interested to hear your views, thread successfully hijacked ha ha ha!).

Thewaylander

Avoid the Nobby Nics at all cost, they are not good on rocks or roots, personally crash teested

supersonic

So foar there isn't a tyre that can do everything very well - even just a few things very well, usually have to compromise a bit somewhere. And we all like different tyres, so can be a bit of a lottery.

WIth most fast light tyres you can pay with more punctures, obviously less grip in certain conditions (wet and mud!) and often very flexible sidewalls. The lightest ones come in at about 350g, but I'd say 500g is a good compromise. Go for kevlar beads.

Thewaylander

Just ordered a pair on kenda Blue groove's hoping with the big air space they can cope with my local roots and rocks

supersonic

I like Conti Verts - fairly large volume, light for size, last ages, and roll fast. Just slippery when wet, but predictable.

Cps

http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_129931.shtml

Anonymous

i like high rollers for the requirements you have listed, get a harder compound and they will be swift on road but stil grippy off road, the 2.1 are about 500 g iirc and can be had for about 20 quid each

cjw

I've got RRs front and rear. They grip well at lower pressure if it is dry. A little moisture, such as a little morning dew, and they are like ice skates :roll:

Also have read reviews that they last almost no time on the roads. Not a problem for me as I only do a few miles on roads going to / from local trails (say between 4 and 12 miles round trip on tarmac).

dunker

spesh crossroads armadillo elite, as long as you ride in the dry off-road i'm finding them a great all round tyre. all round for me meaning roads, bridleways, cycle paths, dry loose gravely and grassy climbs, hardpack. about 600miles on mine and no punctures yet

allthegearnoidea

matt, were you happy with the performance of the tyres you had??
if so, why not go for some more of them!!

you could sppend forever trying out different tyres before you find one your happy with! building up the confidence again on new tyres can take a while!

you could also get some winter tyres like the fire xc mud's or similar?? so you can have a set of good tyres for iddless etc as well as a good set for the longer dry route's!

i've just gone for a pair of panaracer Cinders as heard good reports on them and my trailblasters were a bit censored on anything other than dry hardpack! but have only done one ride (trail loop) with the trailer on so not able to really test them like that! should know more after sundays ride though!

puncture wise, you could always run an old innertube over the outside of the current one, or one of the mental guys that came on my craching ride mentioned he used the car tyre weld in his once and never had any puctures at all!!!

danhx

Thewaylander wrote:

Avoid the Nobby Nics at all cost, they are not good on rocks or roots, personally crash teested

Glad I'm not the only one to have found this. I found the nobbies aweful on smooth rocky surfaces, prefering to go sideways rather than up/over. Fire XCs are much more inclined to cling to the rocks.

pittpony

I like my Fire XCs but they aren't as fast rolling as some others. They're easily the grippiest tyre i've used and I'd rather that than a quick road tyre that has you skidding about at every turn on the trails!

stevieboy

Matt - forget the RR's, they are lethal on anything other than hardpack. See my Scale 30 post, I nearly binned the demo bike running RR's.

Don't get me wrong they are silly quick, but literally throw in a twig or two and they are chocolate fireguard.

I've swapped the Scale tyres to Fire XC Pro's after borrowing the GF's Kula and loving the grip the give.

Surf-Matt

Think it's down to Fire XCs or more Fastrak Pros.

Hmmm....

Cheers for all the input!

allthegearnoidea

matt, from what i have read of the reviews the cinders are suppopsed to be fire xc's on steroids! hence why my choice! and also they are a lot cheaper on ebay than fire's when they pop up!!;)

as said, i cant tell you what i think of them yet as have only done a trail ride with teh trailer! but should know more after sunday!??!

samblake1234

Nobby nics :!:



Are amazing


quick and grippy

topo

Ive got a set of super worn continental tyres i use for Downhill. They are pretty much semi slick tyres now so roll fast but grip pretty good in the corners. It did take the 21/2 years to get like that though so i doubt you can wait that long.

beanston1975

Michelin XCR Drys are lightning quick but a bit iffy when there's even a hint of sticky stuff.

At the mo' I am running Hutchinson Pythons and they are also fast rolling but have a little more grip in the mud.

RR and NN are a bit out of my price bracket at the moment .....

Thewaylander

NN really have no grip in the wet, or on rocky or rooty area's. as stated before i have tested trying some kenda blue groove's out tomorrow, but think there gonna be a bit heavy and slow for your taste mat

stubs

Fast traks are brilliant summer tyre but I am running maxxis ignitors which are a good all round tyre whilst i wait for summer

JumperSimon14

i have got kenda nevegals on my new xtc and they seem to meet all your requirements. i would recommend them to anyone.

NorwegianBlue

My preference for a summer are Specialized Houffalize Pro's in a 1.8".

Fast, versatile and tough. I think they're often overlooked because fashion calls for a wider tyre these days.

Surf-Matt

Asked for a new set of Fast Traks for my birthday (Tuesday) - cheers for the input all!

Mancunianfightingcat

I've had a pair of fire xc kevlars on and off my stumpy for a couple of years now, but I keep taking them off as they're not very grippy in the corners. I'm now on my second pair of Spesh Enduro pro dual compound 2.3s. They roll fairly well and stick really well in the corners and on rocks. These seem to be out of production now, so you can pick them up for a £10er each!

However I've just got a new 5 with Continental Mountain Kings, I'm not too impressed with these though.

grantway

Mountain kings that came with my 5 AM bike what a bucket of censored
Had a couple and one bad front slide out in the mud yesterday.

Like wearing a pair of football boots on ice?
I mean what the hell was the tyres doing on an Al Mountain bike, as
there not an All Mountain tyre.

diamondback are not dead

I've got High roller semi slicks Like a whippet on roads but i'm not afraid to take them into the rough stuff either!

Dazzza

Ive heard good reports on kenda nevegals and panaracer razer pr.

I run these and for grip performance they are very similar to fire xc's if not better but for rolling they far outshine them, infact im putting mine back on sod the mud lol.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=4332

Surf-Matt

Dazza - I remember you mentioning them. Might give them a go "next" time - I seem to wear out tyres quite quickly!

allthegearnoidea

Matt, the Cinders impressed me yesterday matey! no rolling issues at all and very grippy in the semi drysemi wet mud, the old trailblasters would have been censored lol! also very good at speed too, only had one slight back end wobble when flinging the bike around a pothole on the tramway (17-18mph last minute fling to avoid!),
very good!
but as said before, if you were generally happy with the tyres you had then no reason to change them! maybe look out ofr a set of winter tyres for the iddless rides etc???

Surf-Matt

Timmo - I think that's my best bet to avoid as many comedy sideways moments!