Tyre upgrade advice required

DTM12

Hi, I need some opinions on getting some new tyres for my 08 stumpy comp. The bike is currently stock with Specialized resolution tyres, they are listed as 2.0 I think but they seem huge ! like 2.2’s or something.
I come from a road background but I love my mountain biking through the Autumn and Winter months. I don’t feel that happy with the current stock tyres on my bike and am looking to upgrade to a better tyre, as I am aware from road experience that the difference between crappy tyres and good tyres can be transforming for your bike, and can be a massive upgrade, and I guess that’s even more exaggerated on a mountain bike.
I know I am guilty of wanting one tyre that’s good at everything, and I appreciate that’s probably a bit unrealistic, as I will probably stick with one tyre for everything. I have ridden some mates bikes with Conti Speedkings which were like a much narrower section and rolled so well compared to mine, however whether I would want a tyre that extreme is probably debateable.
So can anyone give me their opinion on a tyre that rolls really well, but has plenty of grip for my type of riding, which is primarily on man made trails through the Autumn and Winter months. I am from North Wales so trails are generally CYB, Penmachno, Llandegla, Marin type trails. So a lot of rocky and rooty trails, with a little bit of winter mud thrown in for good measure !

ratty2k

Just fitted Maxxis Highrollers to my bike, softer one to the front for a bit more grip and rverse the rotation for the back tyre.... Not too worried if they are a bit draggy on the ups, I'd rather have the grip on the downs.

DTM12

Yep I know its a bit of a trade off, between dragginess and ultimate downhill grip, personally I would like a tyre that minimizes the draginess, as thats where I feel my current tyres let the bike down. But maybe thats because of my road background, maybe all MTB tyres feel like this, but there must be some better than others for roll, whilst not sacrificing too much grip on wet rock etc.

ride_whenever

schwalbe racing raplh on the back, nobby nic on the front. Reasonably fast and grippy, and light (magic tyres). Or you could go old skool and go panaracer smoke/dart!

Surf-Matt

There's always the Conti Mountain King option...get Protectection versions if you hate punctures.

Light, grippy and roll well on roads if needed.

DTM12

Should I be looking at 2.0's for my sort of riding ?

ride_whenever

i'd be tempted to say 2.1 but, yeah round that mark.

Surf-Matt

DTM - I ride a Stumpy Comp too - I stuck the 2.2 Conti MKs on - they are almost exactly the same size as the 2.0" Fast Traks it came with! The improvement is vast.

DTM12

You say you got 2.0 Fast-traks on your stumpy ?? Was yours an 08 stumpy, mine came with these 2.0 resolutions on. In what way an improvement ? Grip or rolling ? A lot of my riding is going to be on winter trails, so whilst not always muddy, wet rocks, roots etc are the main cause of concern

Surf-Matt

DTM - it came with Fast Traks LKs 2.0" (mine is a late 07 model) - rolled pretty well on road and hardpack but worse than useless on anything wet or muddy. I'd avoid!

I replaced them with the Contis (2.2" Protections - use a very good "Black Chili" compound) about a month ago and the difference is massive - great grip, refuse to puncture, light (very slightly heavier than the FTs in Protection form but it's a tiny difference) and roll well on anything. They are a brilliant allround tyre IMO.

ratty2k

The problem I fpound with Conti's was total lack of grip in the wet (on rocks) Granted this was the older tyres, but it put me off 'em for good. I seriously DONT rate Fire XC pros for the same reason, but that may just be riding conditions as much as anything.

Surf-Matt

Ratty - I've found them good on wet rocks. Yes they might slip a bit on wet roots (any that don't?!) but otherwise I've found them very good. I think the rubber has moved on a lot recently.

glen4

DTM - is your stumpy a HT? I know surf matt's is. On my stumpy HT expert I tend to use Panaracer tyres, a mixture depending on conditions. At the moment I have 1.95 Cinders fitted, but also have Trailrakers (for mid winter mud and rooty, rocky grip) they don't roll too well but grip, grip grip in the slop. Cinders are a good all rounder, roll well if the pressure is fairly high, and I have no issues with grip, rode at Afan last week (very wet trails) and had no grip issues with these tyres. Brother has Razer XCs on his stumpy HT which really are a summer specific, but roll really well.
In essence there is no such thing as a do it all tyre, but with this setup you can mix and match front/rear to get the best combo. Running into winter I'll use a trailraker front and cinder rear.

DTM12

Its a full suss

nknowlton

same issue at the moment, I run on a 05 Stumpy FS and also at the moment have the Resolutions on - I fancied someting certainly no bigger and was looking at the Contis Protect 2.2 as they apparently come up more like a normal 2.0 ?

Surf-Matt

nknowlton wrote:

same issue at the moment, I run on a 05 Stumpy FS and also at the moment have the Resolutions on - I fancied someting certainly no bigger and was looking at the Contis Protect 2.2 as they apparently come up more like a normal 2.0 ?

They do indeed - circumference of my Fast Trak 2.0" tyres - 82.5" (I think)
For my MK Protections - 0.2 inches bigger! So very, very similar.

Still loads of chainstay clearance too. They are definitely small for 2.2s.

easyg

I would go for nobby nics - got em on my marin and they are currently doing really well in the current weather conditions - lots of grip, shed the mud quickly and roll fast too. Got to watch pinch flats with these as I know being someone who is in the air quite a bit but if you land them properly they'er top notch and worth the expensive price tag as they are feather light.

Others would be panaracer fire xc pro's which I had before and they were very good all rounders too, also being relatively light.

Easy.