Your Opinions on New Tyres for UK Trail Riding

glauciaregina9

Hi All

I'll soon be needing to replace the current Specialised Enduro 2.1's on my Orange 5
So, to open a whole can of worms about tyre choice:

What brand/model(s) should I look at?
(e.g. one of the guys I ride with says avoid Specialised cos he thinks there's better to be had)

I ride mainly UK trail centres, and some stuff around the Peak District, general Trailriding, nothing DH/Freeride-specific

There's so many bloomin' tyres out there :-) ... Your thought appreciated

Cheers

glauciaregina9

Oh yeh, forgot to mention - I have a preference for lighter weight and lower rolling resistance when it comes to tyres, although the primary thing is, of course, GRIP...

peter413

Maxxis Minion on the front and a High Roller on the back.

Both 2.35 single ply kevlar beaded. Really light but loads of grip but the back will always let go before the front

benpinnick

Something with supersonic at the end from continental IMHO. Give the best combo of grip, speed and weight.

Torres

Shwalbe, Racing Ralphs - Rapid as you like.
If you need a bit more grip then stick a Nick upfront instead.

ilovedirt

high rollers make good back tyres, 2.1 should do

Tom Barton

Maxxis crossmark - very light and very fast. Not great in the wet/mud tho.
Kenda small block eight - great rear tire, fast and very grippy - best in the dry but deal with damp conditions ok.
Minion/highrollers - very grippy. Middle of the road for rolling resistance and weight tbh.
Conti rubber queen 2.2 front and mountain king rear is a nice combo - come in various casings. Expensive.

Mbuk did a tire review this month btw

jmillen

Be interested in seeing what people say about this....also thinking about a new pair of tyres with obscene amounts of grip

the article don

I just got Kenda Nevegal 2.1 Tomac Singature Series and I'm very impressed. I live in Scotland, so I'm sure you can imagine the conditions but for the stuff I ride they blow away my Continental Mountain King 2.2s.

Northwind

I just use 2.1 Nevegals most of the year, and Small Blocks when (if) it gets really dry. The Nevegals aren't massively quick but they're great all rounders, they can do mud if they have to but they're not too slow on hard stuff. Similiar to highrollers but IMO a little better, they don't drift/break loose as nicely but they grip better in the first place so it's a balance.

The Article Don's comparison is a bit unfair, everything looks good compared to 2.2 mountain kings

tricky_dicky

i use maxxis high rollers - can;t compare with the Nevegals but after using the high rollers i may not try another tyre anyway! been super grippy in the mud this weekend.

peter413

I have ridden Nevagals and yes if you are running 2 high rollers the nevagal does tend to be more predictable on the front but with a minion on the front, high roller on the back, you have the confidence to push hard because you know the back is always going to let go first.

With the nevagals the front does seem quite likely to let go, but the back should first.

Northwind

But minions drag like **** compared to a stick-e nevegal.

Oh, if you run DTC nevegals on the front you're right, you lose that "back end first" confidence but with a stick-e on the front and a dtc on the back, the front will stick longer than the back. Unless you do something daft of course.

peter413

But the stik-e nevagal does not roll as well as the maxxpro minion and that grips just as well.

The Minions are some of the best rolling tyres I have used. About the only one taht beats it is the holy roller but that doesn't grip nearly as well

Northwind

Don't agree at all tbh mate. The 2.35 Nevegal is slower than the maxxpro minion but not the 2.1. Not as grippy as the minion though in corners but more than grippy enough I reckon (I preferred the Nevegal's straightline braking but you can feel straight away the maxxpros are better on flat corners)

peter413

In reality it isn't because it grips so much better. It does roll very slightly better but the grip from the minion makes up for it.

Any way it is personal preferance. Just means I will be able to beat your @rse down the hill when I get a bit more confidence riding bigger stuff

Northwind

You could beat me just now. But only because I've got a broken a&$e

The Northern Monkey

I like my Minions for grip... but they do drag.

Maxxs Ignitors are my tyre of choice. Great grip, roll quick and fairly light

peter413

Northwind wrote:

You could beat me just now. But only because I've got a broken a&$e

Actually I was a lot quicker yesterday than usual. Was almost keeping up with Martain on his Yeti and Anthony. :shock:

I even managed to catch Anthony up on the middle section of falla brae (he went black, I went red)

And they got me to hit one of the ladder drops in the FR, even though I didn't jump it . He was going to buy me some cake for that but the hub was shut when we got down

rudedog

I just switched from Maxxis Ignitors to Continental Elevation Pro (black chilli)

Had my first run with them on at Kirroughtree yesterday and was impressed with them - they seemed to roll much better than the Ignitors and grip seemed pretty good considering the conditions (very wet). Admittedly, I'm stil learning a lot so I'm probably not pushing them as hard as more experienced riders would.

pilsburypie

If rolling resistance is important to you may I suggest you stay away from the High Rollers 42a super tacky 2.35.

I have one of these on my front and an ignitor 60a(2.1) on the rear and although they grip well on the trail centres and give confidence certainly on bigger stuff they drag like Danny La Rue. I have 2 bikes, my trek ex8 with the Maxxis tyres on and a canondale hardtail with crappy bonty tyres on I use to cycle to work. I used the Trek to cycle to work on yesterday and couldn't believe how hard it was. The old saying cycling through traecle was perfect. Took me 10 mins longer to cycle 6 miles and damn near killed me! :oops: (yeah I know it's a bouncer but hell)

As spring is here I am in the market for some amazing tyres that probably do not exist..... Good grip, excellent rolling resistance, tubeless and light for trail centre and a bit of free ride..... Someone enlighten me please!!

rudedog

pilsburypie wrote:

If rolling resistance is important to you may I suggest you stay away from the High Rollers 42a super tacky 2.35.

I have one of these on my front and an ignitor 60a(2.1) on the rear and although they grip well on the trail centres and give confidence certainly on bigger stuff they drag like Danny La Rue. I have 2 bikes, my trek ex8 with the Maxxis tyres on and a canondale hardtail with crappy bonty tyres on I use to cycle to work. I used the Trek to cycle to work on yesterday and couldn't believe how hard it was. The old saying cycling through traecle was perfect. Took me 10 mins longer to cycle 6 miles and damn near killed me! :oops: (yeah I know it's a bouncer but hell)

As spring is here I am in the market for some amazing tyres that probably do not exist..... Good grip, excellent rolling resistance, tubeless and light for trail centre and a bit of free ride..... Someone enlighten me please!!

Maybe try some tyres made with black chilli? Its supposed to have the benefits of a tacky compound but without the negative effect on rolling resistance.

cavegiant

I always thought the ignitors were the best 26" trail tyre, but the 29" sucks =-(

Nevegals are good, but drag and weigh tons
Racing ralps are racing tyres, great until you hit a rock badly and they tear.

Tom Barton

I think the black chilli falls in the middle with rolling res vs grip.

Certainly not quite as sticky as maxxis 42a or kenda Stickee but certainly roll faster.

Yet not quite as fast as a 60a or 70 tyre but then... grippier..

Do last quite well though. Definately worth it over normal 60a/70 tyres (my opinion) but you may still want the super sticky tyre options for when you really want to push it hard..

Pudseyp

Everyone will have a different opinion, you need to find what works best for you...lots rave about the legendary High Rollers, I use them and they do a good job, Kenda Nevegal and Blue Grooves are great too..then you have Panaracers, Shwalbe, Conti's, Michelin...the list goes on..the new fad is mixing combo's of front and rear..so more confusion..I would recomend if you going out with mates who run different rubber, try there bikes to see what the grip is like...otherwise its trial and error to find something you like...don't take to much notice on opinions on here....my mate raved about Panaracer Fire XC's so I spunked £60 on a pair and after one ride I took them off....hated em !!

Northwind

I just bought a 2.4 Rubber Queen off someone, I'm looking forward to trying the ridiculous thing out, it looks like a motorbike tyre

pilsburypie

You sure do have to take peoples opinions with a pinch of salt - especially on the net - could be a 12 year old spotty herbert with a shopper bike giving advice!

Also, people do have their own preferences. Can't really fault the supertacky high roller for grip on the downs - Seeing as that is where I really want to be going and pushing as hard as I can, then I suppose they are right for me. Just made me think when I rode to work (a direct comparison with other tyres) how bloody draggy they are..... no wonder I huff and puff sweating like Barrymore at a Boyzone concert up hills!

I'm certainly up for decent suggestions for lighter faster tyres that offer decent grip - Tyre weight is said to be the biggest bang for buck improvement on your bike so seeing as I spunked £1700 on a fuel ex8, I don't mind spending £60 on a magic pair of tyres..... plus all the how fast they wear talk is rubbish in my opinion - unless you cycle miles and miles on road with supertackys I can't really see you riding them bald as Kojak after a blast....

Sorry to rant

glauciaregina9

Thanks for all the interesting comments folks, gave me plenty to go with.

Finally opted for a pair of Maxxis Ignitor 2.35's, the folding 60a one's.
Relatively light(ish), and good reports as a general trail tyre.

We'll see how I like them...

Northwind

pilsburypie wrote:

I'm certainly up for decent suggestions for lighter faster tyres that offer decent grip -

Now or for suummer? For summer, small blocks- not especially light because they're not race oriented, so they'er still tough and longlasting but they stick like spunk in the bath and they're fast. Just, not great in mud as you'd expect, they do better than most full on summer tyres though but that's not saying much.

peter413

Northwind wrote:

pilsburypie wrote:

I'm certainly up for decent suggestions for lighter faster tyres that offer decent grip -

Now or for suummer? For summer, small blocks- not especially light because they're not race oriented, so they'er still tough and longlasting but they stick like spunk in the bath and they're fast. Just, not great in mud as you'd expect, they do better than most full on summer tyres though but that's not saying much.

Or Maxxis Holy Rollers. They handle damp stuff surprisingly well (seeing as we always have rain in the middle of summer :roll: )

pilsburypie

Northwind wrote:

they stick like spunk in the bath

On that note alone I shall buy some.