The Ever Re-Occuring Questions Regarding Tyres

scottellis88

I love my bike, i love pedalling my heart out going as fast as i can trying to outrun my friends and get as much speed as possible to hopefully force me to attempt that jump instead of bottle it at last minute... there is always one thing what i am never quite happy with and thats my tyres.

I am currently running on racing ralphs which have solved my issue regarding rolling resistance which i didnt like about the High Roller 2's but these always give way on me, i cant go full pelt round a corner without the bike slipping beneath me and landing flat on my face.

I have just ordered myself a Norco Sight 2 SE and the guy from evans cycles strongly advised that the first thing i do is change the tyres, he says they are designed for the likes of american/canadian trails and is in no way good enough for our mud

So what do i go for now, i want something what will give me the grip whether im climbing, jumping over roots, bombing down a downhill section, but do you really have to sacrifice too much rolling resistance to get this.

A few people have recommended the Schwalbe Captains or Clutch but what are you running on and how do you find they feel, are they good as an XC tyre but capable for a bit of AM or DH?

specialeyes

viewtopic.php?f=20005&t=12836143

passout

I always thought kenda nevegals were good all rounders. Run 2.1 ' john tomac signature' folding versions at the mo & it's amazing what they cope with - Lakeland passes etc. Obviously you can get them bigger. Not even sure if they still make them as they were in my shed for ages - stuck them on as a short term measure & have never taken them off! Great.

For grip I always found cinders to be amazing & high rollers to be very good tbh. With HRs you sometimes to lean in a fiar bit for them to engage - although the newer versions might be different.

scottellis88

do you run different sizes on the front compared to the back? when i was talking to a evans cycles sales rep he suggested a 2 on the back and 2.2 on the front or something like that

davewalsh

scottellis88 wrote:

I am currently running on racing ralphs which have solved my issue regarding rolling resistance which i didnt like about the High Roller 2's but these always give way on me, i cant go full pelt round a corner without the bike slipping beneath me and landing flat on my face.

Are you running RaRa's front and back ?
If so, leave one on the back and put one of your HR2's on the front. Job done !

rockmonkeysc

Kenda Nevagal's are ok when the trails are dry & dusty but awful in any other rconditions, even with the Stick-E compound.
I'm really liking the Schwalbe Hans Dampf at the moment, great in all conditions, not bad rolling resistance, work on all trail surfaces but particularly amazing on loamy trails. Difficult to pinch flat as well

lock1981

Schable hans dampf are supposed to be a good all rounder. There light too and go up to big widths I'm rolling two 2,35's

scottellis88

whats your opinion on rolling resistance with these big grippy tyres... is it just something i will have to train my legs to cope with and get stronger or what because when i had HR2s all round i was absolutely shattered going round a local trail i usually fly round

felix.london

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Kenda Nevagal's are ok when the trails are dry & dusty but awful in any other rconditions, even with the Stick-E compound

Sounds like it could be a good tyre for me. What's their sizing like? Compared to Schwalbe's for example?

benpinnick

lock1981 wrote:

Schable hans dampf are supposed to be a good all rounder. There light too and go up to big widths I'm rolling two 2,35's

The Hans Dampf are a great tyre, but to say they are light is pushing it. They're around 100g heavier than most of the comparable 'trail' tyres (Mountain King 2, NNic, Advantage etc.) but that said they are tough as old boots, grip well in most conditions and offer a good volume. Recommended. bike-discount.de have a set of pace/trailstar combo in for €65.

lock1981

scottellis88 wrote:

whats your opinion on rolling resistance with these big grippy tyres... is it just something i will have to train my legs to cope with and get stronger or what because when i had HR2s all round i was absolutely shattered going round a local trail i usually fly round

They feel great.... But I've just took off two swamp things and the front was super tacky

There pretty light compares to them... thin side walls though

passout

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Kenda Nevagal's are ok when the trails are dry & dusty but awful in any other rconditions, even with the Stick-E compound.
I'm really liking the Schwalbe Hans Dampf at the moment, great in all conditions, not bad rolling resistance, work on all trail surfaces but particularly amazing on loamy trails. Difficult to pinch flat as well

Can't agree with this. I've just been riding in the highlands with mine (snow, hail, bogs etc) and they were fine. Not a mud tyre though granted.

passout

scottellis88 wrote:

do you run different sizes on the front compared to the back? when i was talking to a evans cycles sales rep he suggested a 2 on the back and 2.2 on the front or something like that

You can do. Personally I'd run bigger on the back for comfort & to avoid pinch flats when on my hardtail. When rigid or F/S I tend to have the same size (roughly) front & rear. Depends on you & the conditions though - mix & match is fine.

I usually go for something more grippy (usually) slower up front though & something more hard waring on the rear, whatever I'm doing.

davewalsh

scottellis88 wrote:

whats your opinion on rolling resistance with these big grippy tyres... is it just something i will have to train my legs to cope with and get stronger or what because when i had HR2s all round i was absolutely shattered going round a local trail i usually fly round

Tyre choice is always going to be a compromise between grip / volume / durability against weight and rolling resistance. It sounds like you've gone from one extreme to the other, Racing Ralph to High Roller 2.
From my experiance, the Ralph is a great rear tyre so I'm assuming your problem is the front end washing out, in which case I'd look at changing the front to a more grippy tyre and accept the fact that it's going to roll slower. If the HR2 is too much then you could swap it for a single ply Minion 2.35 folding, which would save you half a pound at the expense of some volume. An alternative if you want to keep the volume is to fit a 2.4 Nobby Nic and lose some of the durability. FWIW I run a Minion on my Inbred and a Nobby on my Blue pig and really like both of them.