Best all rounder: Tyre Choice? Your thoughts

Sodfoster

So what do you think are the best all weather tyre choice? Good in the mud and over wet roots, rocks and shale but also grippy in the dry.

Does such a tyre exist??

I have a hardtail if that make a difference?

Anonymous

Maxxis High roller. For best grip, get the super tacky compound, it works in almost all conditions.

Northwind

Nevegals for me, a stick-e on the front and a dtc on the back. Not terribly slow and they'll grip on anything, shovel mud decently, find grip on rocks like you wouldn't believe... The 2.35 stick-e is a fairly slow thing but it's worth it.

But they're hardly the only ones, Minions are great, Highrollers are great... Though I mark them down for their hopeless sizing, there's no way of knowing how big a particular Maxxis tyre is since they used to be skinny, and now they've changed some of them but not all, grr. Rubber Queens are pretty good. Specialized'll have something with a confusing name that'll be spot on. Nobby Nics will do the job though they're expensive and aren't as good in mud, but then they're faster. Lots of great tyres out there these days.

Anonymous

ARGH, I'm starting to hate my Nevegal DTCs with a passion - they are completely useless on anything wet and rocky.

diy

Nevs are very pressure sensitive. But I would rate them best all purpose in a 2,1. Almost as grippy as blue grooves but much better rolling. I also rate spesh fast trak lk which are a great summer tyre.

Boy Lard

I am pretty new to all this and didn't realise just how much difference some good tyres can make. I saw that there were hundreds of threads asking about what tyre to use and was worried about asking again. I trawled thorough lots of the old threads and realised why the question keeps getting asked:-

The question has been asked so many times, people just expect you to know and never answer the question any more.

I'm glad you got a straight forward answer and so quickly. I have a 2.1 XC Highroller on the back and the 2.35 Supertacky Highroler on the front. Very grippy, not too much rolling resistance. I love them.

jairaj

I find tyres are a personal choice, person A might love tyre X but person B could hate them.

But the top 3 have been listed - High Roller, Nevegal and Nobby Nic. Take your pick and give them a go.

I only have experience with the High Roller, I find this a great tyre that can handle almost all conditions. The one thing to note about the High Roller is there is a gap in tread from the centre line and the side knobs so you have to lean it over a bit more to get the tyre to grip. It feels horrible a first but once you get used to it the tyre feels great.

blister pus

specialized sauserwind controls and as a stout deputy, michelin xc all terrain

jairaj

blister pus wrote:

specialized sauserwind controls

hmmm I was eyeing these up for this year when it starts to get proper wet. My current tyres are looking a bit worn out thought I might give them a try.

Whats the sizing like on these? I've been running the Specialized Captains over summer and the 2.2 balloon up to the same size as my High Roller 2.35. Is the Sauserwind a similar sizing?

blister pus

says 1.8 on the tin but they come out 2" and i've seen maxxis 2.1s come out the same size. it's a swift cut through the mud tyre that's bouncy when blown up. but if you're used to big tyres then may not suit everyone

Northwind

yeehaamcgee wrote:

ARGH, I'm starting to hate my Nevegal DTCs with a passion - they are completely useless on anything wet and rocky.

Have you got a DTC on the front? Switch it if you do! Not a good front tyre, you need to run such low pressure that they end up slower than the stick-es anyway, and they're so pingy...

Laurence25

I have Nobby Nic's 2.4 on the front and 2.25 on the back I would rate then 8/10 because so far I have used the on everything apart from snow, so it would be unfair to rate them on that, but they are just fantastic and very good rolling resistance and sorry to thread jack :oops: but with high rollers would you recommend ? as I would love to try some out ??

Anonymous

Northwind, I have DTCs front and rear, they just don't get any traction at all on damp rocks, which feature a lot round here!

peter413

As much as I'm not a fan of Nev's, I agree with Northwind that you should try a stick-e on the front instead of the DTC, they are horrible on the front

Anonymous

Hmm, ok. Will do.
The Nevegals definitely have less rolling resistance than the highrollers, but this wet summer has made me dislike them somewhat.
I'll try a stick-e asap then.
cheers.

Northwind

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Northwind, I have DTCs front and rear, they just don't get any traction at all on damp rocks, which feature a lot round here!

The only DTC I've got on with at all on the front was my mis-shape "2.35", which is on a 2.5 carcass so is HUUUUUUGE. It grips OK on most things and it's light and quick, but still pingy and confidence-undermining. Stick-e is the way... What size are you using?

2.1 DTC should be good enough on the rear though, that's what I use pretty much all the time and it's fine on most wet rocks, other than those randomly slippy ones they use at innerleithen that turn into blocks of ice in the rain. What pressures are you using?

Anonymous

currently using 2.35s front and rear. perssures are somewhere between 28 and 36PSI

Northwind

Hmm. Well, not sure what to make of that really, like I say I only use a 2.1 on the rear and it does the job very well. I run 25-ish usually but then I'm very light, I can go down to 20 no bother but there doesn't seem any point usually, only time I've felt it worthwhile was at superbagneres it's just soaking wet fall-line descending, everything that's not mud and roots is massive wet muddy rocks To be fair I could have done with better tyres at both ends there but that's not normal riding.

Sodfoster

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Maxxis High roller. For best grip, get the super tacky compound, it works in almost all conditions.

Im unsure about the super tacky compound, does it not really slow things down? Dont they wear out really fast?

Anonymous

Sodfoster wrote:

yeehaamcgee wrote:

Maxxis High roller. For best grip, get the super tacky compound, it works in almost all conditions.

Im unsure about the super tacky compound, does it not really slow things down? Dont they wear out really fast?

On road sections it's a real pain the in the backside, but I haven't really noticed the slowness of it off-road really, just an extra bit of grip when I need it.

therealboyjones

I've used Nevegals and High Rollers recently, both in 2.35" casements. The Nevegals were the John Tomac signature onces, the high rollers in the 60a maxx compound. High Rollers seem far superior in wetter and more slippery conditions as they bite better. I haven't noticed a lot of difference in terms of rolling resistance as the nevegals are as knobbly. I'd go with High Rollers again.

LukeG16

I've been running 2.35 Maxxis ignitors all year - good all rounders but the front end has just started to slip on the wet trails. I have a similar question- I've just ordered a 2011 Heckler and want some big grippy all rounders for trail riding (mainly cannock chase but sometimes welsh trail centres) Was thinking the 2.4 nobby nics, any ideas?

richg1979

im running a 2.4 nobby nic on the front of my nomad and a 2.25 ralph or nic depending on conditions on the rear (2010 pattern)

The nic is still no slouch on the rear but like the bit of extra speed with the ralph but does get a bit slidy when mud's about so thats when the nic goes back on.

also minnion 2.35 dhf sinle ply maxxpro front and 2.1 ignitor rear is good combo.

i found the nevegals to roll terrible.

Happy Harry

The type of trail must make a huge difference to which tyres people are happy with. I only ride natural trails - bridlepaths/byways etc - so grass, gravel, roots, hardpack, dust and mud. Sometimes all in one ride :? It's probably quite tame compared to most. No rocks, buttock-clenching downhills, jumps, scree or anything extreme like that.

Tomac sig Nevegals suit me nicely with a 2.35 stick-e on the front and a 2.35 DTC on the back. As others have said, the pressure makes quite a difference and I change it to suit the conditions every time I go out. If it's rained I usually run 28-30 front and 35-40 on the back. In the dry 50 front and back reduces the rolling resistance noticeably.

JohnBass1992

Specialized Eskar Control. They came stock on my Pitch but roll well and find decent grip on anything.

turpinr

whats the difference between the normal nevegals and the stick-e ??

Happy Harry

turpinr wrote:

whats the difference between the normal nevegals and the stick-e ??

The stick-e (sticky!) has a soft, grippy rubber. The downside of that is that it wears quicker. The DTC (dual tread compound) has harder rubber in the centre and soft on the edges. As the centre doesn't grip so well the tyre rolls better but you still have grip when leaned over. This one won't wear so quickly either. You'd normally put the DTC on the back where less grip isn't so important.

I imagine the stick-e would wear very quickly if you used it much on tarmac but mine is wearing very well after a summer of 95% off road work.

sofaboy73

if your not getting on with the nevs, try the panaracer rampage SC. got fed up of my nevs wearing too quickly and slipping off rocks all the time. the rampage is a very similar design but has the side nobs are in a slighty different position meaing you don't have the gap in tread you have on nevs (which alsways seem to find the slippy root!).

blow up nice an big, roll well and grip great. hvae tried them front and rear and work euqally well

Northwind

turpinr wrote:

whats the difference between the normal nevegals and the stick-e ??

Stickyness But it's not quite like super tacky which is just incredibly soft and sticky, it's more like with black chili, and probably others, the stick-e compound isn't just mechanically sticky. It's also slower rebounding so when the tyre deform (ie it squashes round a rock) it doesn't ping back so fast, effectively grabbing the rock or whatever a bit more. So it's a lot like running lower pressures.

I'm pretty sure this is what makes them so much noticably slower though as the DTC has the same rubber in the middle anyway. Also I think it's probably why pressure's more important, at higher pressure the effectiveness of the slow rebound is reduced because they're deforming less in the first place.

I'm not sure if this is better or worse than just being mentally sticky It does seem to wear less fast than a super-tacky, and it's better at some things but worse at others.