Which lightweight xc tyres?

ACDCwmb

Looking for a few ideas, need a new pair of tyres or a front/rear combination of tyres. Lightweight and fast rolling to be used for marathon xc racing on a lightweight full suss, nothing larger than 2.1 they don't have to cope with full on winter conditions and I don't run tubeless.

Currently looking at continental speedking supersonics unless anyone has any other ideas, cheers all.

llamafarmer

Racing Ralphs?

mellex

+1 for the Ralphs.

blister pus

Specialized Sauserwind Control 2 Bliss were designed for what you describe. Full puncture protection at 520g. Says 1.8 but comes out 2" width so works out other manufacturers 2.1.

I love em, think they're a great tyre, roll really well on the road too.

Short blurb there from bikeradar: http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/ ... yres-33005

njee20

Racing Ralphs are far better than Sauserwinds IMO, or go for the Rocket Ron, more knobbly than a Ralph, and only 405g, but more puncture prone.

Or... if you want something just for dry courses Furious Freds are unbeatable, pretty manageable if you only have one on the back too.

blister pus

Funny, I found Racing Ralphs lacking, with limited grip that wear like butter and are massively over-priced. There isn't a hoping hell I'd change from £22.50 Sauserwinds and that includes most tyres not just RRs.

boneyjoe

I've used Schwalbes for a couple of years with no major probs. Racing Ralphs are great for marathons, but do slide about as soon as its a bit wet. Go for the Rons or Nics then, especially on the front. Some people complain of ripped side walls on the Ralphs, though I've ridden in pretty rocky conditions with no probs. As long as you don't try to be Steve Peat on rocky descents, should be fine! One thing I've found though is that none of these tyres are particularly good in very muddy conditions. They tend to clog up fast and then provide little grip. I've then found Bontragers MudX to be much better. Hope that helps!

llamafarmer

I'm always surprised at how long my Racing Ralphs cling on in the wet, only now that it's very wet and muddy locally are they out of their depth. I've had my fair share of pinch flats with them, but I'm getting better at choosing the right pressures to reduce that now.

njee20

Convert to tubeless, Schwalbe tyres work better than anything out there IMO.

Captain Turok

Big fan of the Black Chilli Supersonic SpeedKings here, 2.3 on the front wiith a 2.1 on the rear. Not as big as they sound as they come up narrow.
Plus some light weight tubes also of course!

ACDCwmb

Captain T, what psi do you run your speed kings at? I hear that they are suspossed to be at 50psi, any thoughts on this?

Captain Turok

ACDCwmb wrote:

Captain T, what psi do you run your speed kings at? I hear that they are suspossed to be at 50psi, any thoughts on this?

Personaly I never run them at more than 35psi. I had them down to just below 30 in the snow.