Would South Downs kill Nic?

tim_in_brighton

Greetings, all...

I'm tyre shopping and must have read a thousand different viewpoints now. I'm thinking of Nobby Nics, which seem to offer perfect performance and aren't priced too bad through Merlin. My only concern is how quickly the South Downs flint would shred their sidewalls, and how short "short-lived" really is. Any views on how many miles or riding hours people are getting from them? How many punctures? I've ridden Fire XCs for five years, they've lasted brilliantly and only punctured twice (!), but I find them slightly heavy, they seem to squirm alot on wet flint gravel, and they're quick to kick out on chalk ruts.

Views, please?

Tim

clanton

Haven't tried Nobby Nics yet but can tell you that no tyre I've used grips on wet chalk! Its lethal stuff.

The Spiderman

I`ve managed to eek out almost 2 years so far out of a pair of Nobby Nics though they do get rotated and sometimes I swap to a Racing Ralph on the back.That`s based on an average of 15 miles per week,so around 1000 miles or so.They are beginning to look a little tired now,but a probably good for a couple more months.

I ride mostly pretty tame xc stuff,on Hertfordshire clay and with no rocks,and you can see why they are sub 500g ,if you look at the paper thin sidewalls.

I love the way they ride,but I`d probably go for the snakeskin version,or Conti Mountain King Protections,if its really flinty.

BigJimmyB

Cant say in terms of last-ability, but IMHO the sidewalls are excellent and I'd be confident that they'd hold up pretty well on the S Downs.

Here are some reviews on MTBR, where some have had different experiences:-

http://www.mtbr.com/cat/tires-and-wheel ... 51crx.aspx