More talent required or new tyres required ?

Philgr

After some advice please

I have a Trek Ex 9.8 and it came fitted with botanger XoX tyres ,
As my fitness has improved so has my speed but I have found in muddy conditions the front wheel washing out, so much so that I'm losing confidence in muddy conditions as I have had a couple of close shaves with losing the front end totally

My rides mostly consist of cycle tracks in the lakes with several miles of road thrown in as I ride from my house - so nothing serious !

So do I need more talent, or maybe better tyres or both?

I don't want to spend just for spending sake, but if better tyres will improve my confidence and my rides then I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks in advance

Phil G

chedabob

What pressure you running the Bontrager ones at?

Philgr

25-30psi

Northwind

Bit of both probably.

CraigXXL

Check your fork rebound too it might need backing off a bit

Philgr

I Have been back and had a look at the set-up of the front shock and made some changes to the set-up , so i will see how it goes, going to try and get out later

Phil G

ricardo_smooth

The tyres are crap in the wet tbh mate. So don't be too surprised if it doesn't make a difference!

chrisdb

the tyres are shocking in the slightest damp/mud/wet. Stick a high roller on the front and an ardent on the back.

you can thank me later.

oh, and get a shorter stem.

Philgr

I have just looked at the tyre choice and my head is spinning

Why a shorter stem ??

J@mesC

More responsive, better feel for what is going on up front I changed to an 80mm stem on my Fuel EX and made a big difference.

I also don't like XDX tyres, although they fly in the dry

peter413

Actually, if your struggling for front end grip, you may be better off with a long stem instead of a shorter one, longer stems put you weight over the front end more than short ones do

chrisdb

They come with daft long stems - get a 70 or 80 and the handling is much more precise and you lose very little on climbs.

Philgr

The stem fitted to my bike is a 100mm i think

so now i need new tyres and a new stem

ricardo_smooth

just try tyres before stem. change one thing at a time or you might never get the setup right to suit you.

protrekker

Hi Can anyone tell me where I may be able to get an Extra Firm spring for my RockShox Tora 120mm forks? There 2010's but only have preload, nothing else. I've tried tftuned, windwave, and all the more well known dealers. Anyone help please?

Philgr

I'm deff only going to change one thing at a time and tyres will be the first thing I change

Im completely baffled by the choices, but from discussions with my local bike shop and I guy I trust, I'm thinking of going for the maxxis which I'm told should suit my requirements only problem is what size 2.1 or 2.25 and while I'm at it do I go tubeless

Phil G

chrisdb

I've ridden the 9.9 quite extensively on a comination of High Rollers, Ardents and Advantages. As I said above I'd recommend a High Roller on the front - I'm currently running a maxxpro 60 folder - light and rolls well with good grip levels. On the back an Ardent 60A folder- even lighter with less grip but lots of speed - it rolls fast.

If you want to start of with a baseline I'd say go with Advantage front and back.

Width wise I run 2.35 front and back for XC, trail centres and mild downhill but if you are looking for XC racing speed then you might want to go thinner.

largephil

If you are looking at the highroller front / ardent rear combo (great combo) then I'd sugest a 2.25 Ardent and 2.35 highroller. The sizing on these tyres are well out, and the ardent is actually slightly bigger even though its labeled as a smaller width.

That said, good advice above, pair of 2.25 advantage tyres is a pretty sound option.

Philgr

im looking for a tyre choice that will provide rapid progress on single tracks etc.. and hard-pack surfaces, i also do a couple of miles from the house on the roads

basically im looking for the holy grail, fast on the roads but wont try to kill me on the wet and slippy stuff

chrisdb

as above

the Ardent I run is a 2.25 - happy to be corrected. It is huge for the size, looks bigger than the High Roller.

Ryan Jones

I can vouch for that, the ardents are pretty beefy tyres for 2.25's. They are also very light, within 50 grams of my Schwalbe Rocket Ron's and roll pretty fast too at least on road, never rode them off road to comment. I'm selling them if you're interested

ddraver

I run a 2.25 Ardent up front and a High Roller on the back for most of the year. I may swap the HR for a crossmark on the back in summer an am contemplating an Advantage for the mud this winter

I don't like High Rollers on the front, I like something a bit more directional, however I seem to be very much on my own on this so maybe you should ignore me!

largephil

I can understand about the highroller on the front ddraver, I had an issue with it at first but found you have to be more agressive with your turning to get the best out of it. That or run slightly lower pressures to get the side tred working. The Ardent is more predictable on the front but its fast rolling pattern lends its self to being a good rear, and the huge volume cusions the blow a bit more for the hardtails.