Tyre width question

tom_fun

Going to Coed Y Brenin in a week or two and have some tyre quandries, I have some Bontrager standard tyres fitted on my Gary fisher (2.1 i think) I have found these to be quite slippy so far and may change them before I go to wales, I have 2 other sets of tyres in my shed, some 1.9 Maxxis High Rollers and some 2.35 Tioga DH.

I bought the High rollers by mistake, i didnt realise they were so skinny when i got them and I have never really used them for that reason, they look like race tyres

my question is what effect on grip does width have? I want to put the grippiest set on for wales because of the slippy nasty jagged rocks that will meet my knees at some point

I have read bad things about the Tioga DH's & the Bontragers but good things about the High Rollers but are my High rollers comprimised by being so thin?

All help appreciated (& Recomendations welcome )

Cheers

Bignige

To be honest my experience with Welsh rock is that they offer way more grip than you could possibly imagine, the tyre width is less important than the tread pattern and tyre pressure.

Bignige

Oh and nearly forgot. personally I'd run with the High Rollers, don't forget you'll have to ride back up the hills at some point and the DH tyres are not really designed for that (Unless you have thighs like Chris Hoy)!!!

Northwind

The DHs are pretty terrible. The Highrollers are good, just a bit too skinny. Probably the smart thing to do would be to cut your losses and just get a sensible trail tyre and never think about tyres again- Nevegal 2.1s, Highroller 2.3s, Nobby Nic 2.35s, something like that.

Alex

Run the bontrager tyres. The terrain at Coedy favours a high volume low rolling resistance tyre such as the bontrager. The 1.9" highrollers actually come up around 1.6". They are severely narrow and the sidewalls are extremely thin.

I wouldn't worry about tread pattern at coedy, as it's just wet rocks rather than mud.

Tom Barton

A common trick for many trail riders who like to push round all aspects of the centres is to mix and match tyres depending on your riding style.

A nice compromise is to run a good 2.3 grippy tyre out front for that little extra confidence and then run a slimmer lighter tyre outback to keep the rolling resistance down. There are endless suggestions of tyres but a couple to think about could be:

minion dhf 60a 2.35 and swampthing or crossmark or sb8 (depending on preferance)

or perhaps

highroller 2.35 60a and a 1.9 highroller outback (cheaper as you have the 1.9 already)

I personally use a 2.4 conti rubber queen and 2.2 rear in ust. But I live for looning back down the mountain - you may find that ott.

Have a look around - loads of topics on tyre advice/opinions. Maxxis tend to be best value/bang for your buck though.

Enjoy your trip! :-)

LoUiS1985

schwalbe nobby nic (front) schwalbe racing ralph (rear)

Alex

LoUiS1985 wrote:

schwalbe nobby nic (front) schwalbe racing ralph (rear)

Are the best part of £40 an end!

Eranu

£26 for 2.1 Nics at Merlin, £29 for 2.25 or 2.4.

The Nics are good tyres but I find they don't clear mud that well where I live as it's nasty clay/chalk.