Trek Fuel Ex 8 - Bad Tyres Or Bad Rider ?

rockhopper353

Took my spangly new Ex 8 (09 model) out today for the first time and I am really impressed with the bike apart from the fact I felt the wheels sliding away from me on a few occasions.

Never really felt this on my old Giant xtc hardtail with maxxis ignitor's, are the tyres that come with the Trek crap or is it my rubbish riding skills.

Possibly looking at replacing them with Conti Mountain Kings, any thoughts on these or other recommendations appreciated.

projectsome

one of the girls in my riding club has one. she didn't like the tires either......

GHill

Tyres seem good in the dry (for me), sketchy when it's wet though.

monsterkitten

Tyres work fantastically well in the dry, but if you're riding on rocks or in gloopy mud, then maybe go for something beefier. They are predictable even in the wet though, so if you like fast tyres and can adjust to them, I'd try adapting. It may take a few rides.

American companies tend to spec these tyres that are great in dust or general dry conditions, but are a bit cruddy for British summers!

gonga

I found the jones xr's grippy when its dry and firm but as soon as there was mud and water they couldn't handle it.
I swapped them for the bonty mud x's and so far im loving them

landranger

The tyres are shocking in anything but the dry. One way to improve the grip is to go tubeless, it's the best thing i've ever done. It enables you to run at much lower pressures getting much better grip.
I'm definately changing my tyres in preparation for the wetter weather. Only problem now is what tyres to use?
Anyone for another "good all round tyre" thread?

nettlerash

it's the tyres had the same with mine had a few out of shape moments before swaping the for mud x's for winter duty

Joe_Pineapples

I'm running Mountain King 2.4 foldings at the moment. They're good in the dry. They run fast, have a large volume carcass and seem to grip well at the 30psi I run mine at, but I haven't tried them in the wet or in mud yet. The tread depth is relatively shallow compared to the Michelin Mountain A/T's they've replaced (which were also no better than average) so I'm guessing that a UK winter isn't really what they were designed for.

rockhopper353

Thanks for the replys so far all very helpful.

The conditions were not to bad on the ride today although there was a few wet roots/rocks on a couple of downhill sections where I had my moments, I had the pressures at about 45psi perhaps I will lower them a little and give them another try and them swap them if no better.

Landranger, was it fairly easy to go tubeless, or a hassle ?

Joe_Pineapples

45psi??

That's a bit much, it's no wonder you were all over the place.
Start around the mid 30's and work up or down from there.

rockhopper353

Joe_Pineapples wrote:

45psi??

That's a bit much, it's no wonder you were all over the place.
Start around the mid 30's and work up or down from there.

Ok I will give that a try I am about 90kg though.

Joe_Pineapples

I'm about 5kg lighter. Try mid 30's before you ditch the tyres.

rockhopper353

Cheers buddy, I might get out for a quick blast tomorrow

monkeyboy85

not had a single problem with the tyres on my 2010 fuel ex 8 but Trek has changed them to XDX rather than Jones XR and they look like much better tyres. They are tubeless as standard too

scale20

I had the '08 Tek EX9 and the tyres were shocking. Ok in the dry but i found that as soon as i started pushing them hard on the trails or if it was wet they were deadly.

I changed mine for Mountain Kings. 2.4 up front and 2.2 at the rear. What a difference! the 2.4 on the front turned it to a totaly different bike. I swore by Mountain Kings until I changed over to maxxis ignitors, they are the mutts!

Give either one of those 2 a try.

I was told in a bike shop not long ago that the reason manufacturers put these summer, near on treadless tyres on is to give the bike a fast riding feel for anyone demo'ing the bikes. Makes you think, 'wow' this is fast, I'll have one!

Whether its true or not i don't know but its makes sense.

rockhopper353

scale20 wrote:

I had the '08 Tek EX9 and the tyres were shocking. Ok in the dry but i found that as soon as i started pushing them hard on the trails or if it was wet they were deadly.

I changed mine for Mountain Kings. 2.4 up front and 2.2 at the rear. What a difference! the 2.4 on the front turned it to a totaly different bike. I swore by Mountain Kings until I changed over to maxxis ignitors, they are the mutts!

Give either one of those 2 a try.

I was told in a bike shop not long ago that the reason manufacturers put these summer, near on treadless tyres on is to give the bike a fast riding feel for anyone demo'ing the bikes. Makes you think, 'wow' this is fast, I'll have one!

Whether its true or not i don't know but its makes sense.

Cheers for that, I have the ignitors on a hardtail and never really notice a problem with them in the past so I reckon I'll get another set of those.

cgarossi

I have the EX8 09 and the tyres were ok in the dry and rolled well. But as said, anything other than that they are bit sketchy.

I changed my rear tyre to a Hutchinson Toro 2.35 Inch tyre and run it at around 30psi in the wet. I left the front as it is.

landranger

rockhopper353 wrote:

Landranger, was it fairly easy to go tubeless, or a hassle ?

A piece of cake mate.
I did a lot of reading up on this forum. Do a search for pilsburypie's posts. They helped me no end. I bought the Bontrager rim strip and valves with Stans no-tubes. Blew the tyres to about 60 psi till the beading pinged into place and that was it.
I was sceptical at first about the puncture healing properties, but one day, while out road riding testing my new saddle i heard pssst, pssst, pssst! :roll: Blimey I thought a puncture, this crap'll never work. Well it did, it worked a dream and sealed no probs.

My main reason for going tubeless was that I'd had a puncture on a cold wet x/c ride and couldn't get the bloody tyre off!!

Sounds like I'll be buying a set of ignitors or the fire xc pro for the winter. Bloody expensive though for the tubeless