Summer Front tyre

abooth2909

I have been trawling the web looking for an answer to this but not found anything that is swaying me so any advice is very welcome to help make up my mind!

Currently I am using a Kenda Nevegal John Tomac 2.35 on the front and Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25 on the rear of my Boardman Team FS.

I have been very pleased with the winter performance of both of these although dragging the kenda through some sticky mud at Dalby was a bit of a chore!!

I am thinking of upgrading one or both of the tyres for the (hopefully) drier Summer. I pretty much exclusively ride trail centres generally Gisburn, Dalby, Whinlatter or Llandegla.

I have read that the rolling resistance of the Kenda is one of the highest out there so am looking for either a lower resistance (but still safe!) front or a change of both. Ideally though I'd keep the Ralph on the back.

I have the Continental Speed Kings that came with the bike unused but have heard bad things about them.

So should I :

1) Stick Ralph on front and a Speedking on the back and buy shares in innertubes!?
2) Rocket Ron or similar on front and leave Ralph on back
3) Complete change of both.

My skill level isn't the best so nothing too sketchy on the front please!

Sorry for rambling :oops: and thanks for any advice!

benpinnick

If you want proper summer tyres, the kenda small block 8 is awesome.

abooth2909

benpinnick wrote:

If you want proper summer tyres, the kenda small block 8 is awesome.

Is that do-able on the front or is it best as a rear with something else on the front?

Cheers

Andy

BigJimmyB

I run a pair no probs.

So +1 on SB8's :-)

benpinnick

Both ends are fine. It will freak you out how little tread they have, but they grip like nothing else in the dry.

craigw99

i got the mountain kings on my team f/s in anything coming close to mud they are like sliding on ice.....but on the trail centers ive used - carron valley,mabie and kirroughtree they hook up well on the hardpack ive also heard good things re the small block in the right conditions

.blitz

Be careful about what you put on the front more speed often equates to less grip and unless you are riding totally buff trail centre singletrack a fast tyre on the front will have you on your ear in the first corner.

Have used an SB8 meself on the back they are very fast but somehow I couldn't trust one on the front. Same goes for CrossMarks they are almost invisible on the back but conditions would have to be amazing for me to put one on the front.

A Nobby Nic makes a good partner with a Ralph on the back.

Think about Maxxis Ardent/Advantage as well. Both roll very well when upright but an Advantage is slightly more gnar in the corners. No lightweights at 650g for a 2.25 but a good balance between grip/speed & reliability for trail riding.

abooth2909

.blitz wrote:

Be careful about what you put on the front more speed often equates to less grip and unless you are riding totally buff trail centre singletrack a fast tyre on the front will have you on your ear in the first corner.

Have used an SB8 meself on the back they are very fast but somehow I couldn't trust one on the front. Same goes for CrossMarks they are almost invisible on the back but conditions would have to be amazing for me to put one on the front.

A Nobby Nic makes a good partner with a Ralph on the back.

Think about Maxxis Ardent/Advantage as well. Both roll very well when upright but an Advantage is slightly more gnar in the corners. No lightweights at 650g for a 2.25 but a good balance between grip/speed & reliability for trail riding.

That is my main worry re front end grip... Don't want to be eating gravel!

I looked at the Nics and the Rons seem to be quicker versions of those.

I was looking to go lighter than the maxxis tyres really but will take a look at their choices this evening.


Thanks for all the suggestions so far....

Greer_

I've been using conti speed kings from last summer in the dry through to the winter and mud. Still going strong but the rear is getting a bit bald. They've been fine for me in all conditions, but I don't overly worry about grip, I just choose a decent all rounder. They've done around 700 miles and couldn't say a bad word about them! So if you've already got a pair, why not use them over the summer until you need new tyres again?!

abooth2909

Greer_ wrote:

I've been using conti speed kings from last summer in the dry through to the winter and mud. Still going strong but the rear is getting a bit bald. They've been fine for me in all conditions, but I don't overly worry about grip, I just choose a decent all rounder. They've done around 700 miles and couldn't say a bad word about them! So if you've already got a pair, why not use them over the summer until you need new tyres again?!

Have you had many punctures with the speed kings?

angry_bird

I used to use SB8 front and rear but just couldn't get the grip I wanted out of the front in some corners, now I use an maxxis ignitor up front, much more to my liking.

Having said that there are occasions where I'll use SB8s both ends but I don't tend to ride as hard, maybe it's a lack of confidence on it now. I did ride them back to back on the same trail one day last summer and the ignitor won hands down for me, yes more rolling resistance but much grippier in the corners.

Greer_

Haha maybe I should rephrase .... I went through a spate of 1 puncture every ride for 3-4 weeks but it calmed down once thorn hedges stopped being cut so regularly - where I ride is usually covered in thorns so I doubt many tyres would be able to cope. That's what I put it down to anyway - some of the thorns I've pulled out have been huge! Never had any pinch flats with pressures between 30-40psi and I've never had a problem with punctures on any other trails (bar my local)

frankspencer1979

Finding this thread pretty interesting as my rubber queens popped this weekend (yes, both of them. I have no luck recently!)

I was thinking about going for black chilli speed kings but after reading reviews I feel like they're just gonna pop immediately. Would it be worth teaming them with heavier duty tubes?

I'm also now intrigued by the Ralph/Nic combo. Anyone got experience with the Evo versions of these tyres? Are they any different from the standard (cheaper) version!?

frankspencer1979

frankspencer1979 wrote:

I was thinking about going for black chilli speed kings but after reading reviews I feel like they're just gonna pop immediately. Would it be worth teaming them with heavier duty tubes?

Actually, I meant Race Kings. Feel a bit duped by Chain Reaction website as it leads you to believe the standard folding version comes in Black Chilli, but it is only the Supersonic version that offers this at twice the price!

The Rookie

Michelin Dry Mountain 2's are a great summer tyre, they are lightning fast rolling and grip well on dry tracks, they cope with a slimey top surface OK but really don't like wet roots.

lostboysaint

Your Nevegal should only be a desperately slow roller if it's the StickE compound. The harder compounds are fine and also grip very well indeed. I'd be inclined to stick with it as both it and the Panaracer Rampage (it's identical twin) are still well regarded in the grip department. (SC Rampage is a painfully slow roller as well, but the harder compounds are fine).

ryan_w-2

I'm currently running 2.2 Conti Rubber Queens (black chilli & tubeless) on my Mondraker, now looking down the route of 2.1 Maxxis Crossmark LUST on the rear and a 2.1 Ignitor LUST on the front for summer use...

I've never liked the Advantage, just didn't work for me.

Be interesting to see what you guys think of the above?

Cheers

abooth2909

lostboysaint wrote:

Your Nevegal should only be a desperately slow roller if it's the StickE compound. The harder compounds are fine and also grip very well indeed. I'd be inclined to stick with it as both it and the Panaracer Rampage (it's identical twin) are still well regarded in the grip department. (SC Rampage is a painfully slow roller as well, but the harder compounds are fine).

That's interesting, I will have to check which compound I have.

It's all a bit subjective really as I changed the tyres as soon as I got the bike so haven't tried anything else. I was basing the high rolling resistance partly on experience but also some stats I found on the net which were testing the non-stickE ones and found the resistance to be the highest of all the tyres they tested!

I may pop the continentals on for my next outing if its dry and see if I notice any real difference in bother perceived resistance and grip...

Thanks guys!

Now I need to convince myself that I don't need a carbon hard tail after looking through some of the recent build threads!! :twisted: