Front/Rear winter tyre combo for orange 5

darkmatter

Hi All,

Yes I'm sure this question will piss off loads of people but I need some real advice from real riders...

Just purchased an orange 5 and whilst waiting for it to come through i'm trying to decide what front / rear tyre combo to go for. Having never run a differing front / rear rig i'm quite keen to get it right and can also see some pretty good bennefits.

So with that in mind my question is what are you guys and girls running that works well? - I've litterarly been through so many reviews and it's taking me ages to decide, I guess in a perfect world I could ride some and try them but it doesn't tend to work like that

Riding wise it's the usual story - XC, single track, wet roots, forest stuff all based in the UK with a mild amount of muddy riding, ideally something which doesn't skate around too much on tarmac would be good for the inbetween bits but I know you can't have everything Really I guess i'm just looking for a decent "all rounder" that can handle a bit of charging downhill when required.

So far i've been looking at:

The Mud X's (few different versions I can see)
Fire XC Pro's
Some spesh tyre the guy at the bike shop mentioned for the rear (still trying to find it) - think it's captain control
Maybe high rollers on the front?

kthanksbye

darkmatter

Oh I forgot to say, budget wise i'm not too concerned....

russ_gillespie

Sounds like you do the same kind of riding that I do. I've got a spec pitch and use it mainly for forest trail riding and aggressive xc, but also for general xc.

I recently decided the change the tires, the specialized eskar's it came with were going to do me a serious injury sooner or later, the front was forever slipping without any notice.

So, I spent ages trying to decide what to get. I ended up going for Kenda's, Nevegal DTC on the rear and BlueGroove Stick-E on the front. They're very chunky tyres but they give me the grip I need. If I wanted something more XC I probably would have gone for Schwalbe Nobby Nics or the classic Nobby Nic/Racing Ralph combo.

My mate has got an orange 5 and he's had Bontrager Mud-X's on it for the past 12 months and he absolutely swears by them. I would've got them myself but I couldn't find anything bigger than a 2.1 and I wanted 2.3's.

It's all personal preference really, just read the reviews, read the old posts on this forum and see what takes your fancy.

Russ

Splasher

If you like having a shed full of tyres and swapping them so you always have the right tyre for the conditions, then no amount of advice will help because there is always new tyres coming out that people swear by: Nics, Ralphs, Queens, Kings, Fires, Rollers, Rakers, Mud X, Minions, all great tyres in given circumstances.

Assuming you do a variety of rinding and you want a simple life however, my advice is to put a good directional tyre on the front and leave it all year round. Something like a Nic, Rampage, Nevegal, High Roller or Minion DHF single ply. Then put something similar on the rear (Nic, Nevegal, Rampage, High Roller, Ignitor, Minion DHR) in winter and something faster (Crossmark, Ralph, Small Block 8, Razer) in summer.

Tommy1234

Splasher wrote:

my advice is to put a good directional tyre on the front and leave it all year round. Something like a Nic, Rampage, Nevegal, High Roller or Minion DHF single ply. Then put something similar on the rear (Nic, Nevegal, Rampage, High Roller, Ignitor, Minion DHR) in winter and something faster (Crossmark, Ralph, Small Block 8, Razer) in summer.

Just the info I was looking for thankyou. I'll add this to my dream bike shopping list

MacAndCheese

I don't have that much experince with different tires, but I found the Fire XCs clogged up easily in the chalky mud I ride, good for all other riding though.

darkmatter

I've just popped up to the shop and decided to go for a pair of Fire XC's.

Really the only thing that swung it was the fact that the test bike I had was kitted out with these and it *seemed* to me at least to work well.

I guess I'm just going to have to see how it goes and re-asses if I have to!

Many thanks for the replies though everyone

ride_whenever

Splasher wrote:

If you like having a shed full of tyres and swapping them so you always have the right tyre for the conditions, then no amount of advice will help because there is always new tyres coming out that people swear by: Nics, Ralphs, Queens, Kings, Fires, Rollers, Rakers, Mud X, Minions, all great tyres in given circumstances.

Assuming you do a variety of rinding and you want a simple life however, my advice is to put a good directional tyre on the front and leave it all year round. Something like a Nic, Rampage, Nevegal, High Roller or Minion DHF single ply. Then put something similar on the rear (Nic, Nevegal, Rampage, High Roller, Ignitor, Minion DHR) in winter and something faster (Crossmark, Ralph, Small Block 8, Razer) in summer.

Absolutely perfect post... shedful of tyres is the way forward, chop and change for conditions.

Splasher

MacAndCheese wrote:

I don't have that much experince with different tires, but I found the Fire XCs clogged up easily in the chalky mud I ride, good for all other riding though.

To be fair, the only thing that stands a chance in wet chalk is a dedicated mud tyre. Fire XC Pros (the proper after-market DSG compound ones) are good all-rounders.

super_claret

I'm also looking to replace the stock tyres on my Trek Fuel EX8 but am so confused with reading reviews which differ in opinions.

I mainly ride Yorkshire Dales XC routes, which involves a fair amount of on road riding and UK trail centres.

I'm looking for a set of tyres that can stay on the bike over the winter and be a reasonably decent roller on road and cope with grassy moorland, farm tracks and rocky descents.......am I asking too much?

I've looked at the Kenda Nevegals and Panaracer Fire XC but never used them before (relative newbie to mountain biking). Any recommendations would be appreciated.