Confused about tyre selection :(

irvs

I'm looking to change the standard tyres on my giant revel bike but all the different options are confusing
I was going to get maxxis high roller 2 or minions but they come in different widths like 2.1-2.4ins and compounds. What width and compound should I get???
I've also seen people running different width and tread patterns front and back whats the purpose of this, should I do it???

Thanks Neil

Twelly

Your front wheel steers and does most of your braking whereas your rear wheel drives you and has less braking force sent through it. People use different tyres front and rear because different treads and compounds do different things better.

For example... your front wheel needs more grip than the back because if the front loses grip, you crash. Because of this you may like to run a wider or a stickier (softer compound) up front. If the back loses grip it is not as disastrous so you might choose to run a harder, thinner tyre on the rear to give you less rolling resistance and increase your speed.

Different tread patterns are more focused on grip when turning (lateral grip I think is the term) or grip when digging in and driving you forward. I run front/rear specific tyres (WTB Prowler/Stout) and I think it makes a difference but some tyres are just as good on the front or back.

Cant comment on the Minions or High Rollers as I haven't used them.

Chunkers1980

How would anyone else know what to get? What do you ride?

Wheels do different things, so different treads for optimal thing performance.

.blitz

what sort of riding are you doing?

Minions esp vary wildy all they have in common is the name

lostboysaint

Given the weather I'd go with Mud-X or Trailrakers!!!!

irvs

Cheers for the great info explained it well.
I'm doing mostly trail riding but there's loads of roots rocks and loose dirt, though I've recently done a bit of down hill with similar surfaces. I really feel like I need more grip but don't want to loose much rolling speed.

So im right in saying i would need to fit a wider soft front tyre and a hard narrower tyre On the rear???

Thanks loads neil

Twelly

Irvs wrote:

So im right in saying i would need to fit a wider soft front tyre and a hard narrower tyre On the rear???

Not necessarily no.

It depends on lots of things. If you use the search button there is a huge thread somewhere about tyres which has about 345,000 pages of people asking the same questions about tyres and getting lots of answers. Read through all of that and I guarantee you will know exactly what tyre to try. You may have to experiment with different combinations before you find tyres that suit you and your bike.

.blitz

Irvs wrote:

I'm doing mostly trail riding but there's loads of roots rocks and loose dirt, though I've recently done a bit of down hill with similar surfaces. I really feel like I need more grip but don't want to loose much rolling speed.

60a 2.5 folding Minions roll surprisingly well and are not too heavy @ 850g or so. They grip well in loose conditions but lack the ultimate grip in corners of a HR, which is faster and less grippy everywhere else

42a ST Minions are grippier than the 60as but I find them draggy as hell on hardpack and smoother trails. Good front tyre if conditions & terrain are sketchy, works well with a 60a on the back

3C Minions are most excellent. The transition from the super-fast 70a centre compound to the 42a middle compound can be quite sudden at times but the 40a shoulder compound really bites in the corners. Expensive though.

My choice would be a 2.5 3C Minion on the front and a 2.5 60a folder on the back.

A slightly less gnar solution would be something like a 2.4 HRII on the front with a 2.25 Ardent/CrossMark on the back.

Edit: have just had a look at a Giant Revel and with all due respect it might be slightly over-tyred with Minions
Go for the HR/Ardent combo you won't be disappointed.

irvs

Thanks soo much blitz and twellysmat for the great info and advice.

Thanks loads Neil

Tom Barton

Another nice thing about the maxxis tyres is that they tend to be cheaper than some other brands (conti/schwable etc) for experimenting. You may find the next combo you try isn't quite what your looking for and you may try changing one of the tyres after a while. Alot of riders have been here and after a couple of combos you'll have a fairly good idea of what tyres you like and that makes choosing future tyres much easier because you'll know what your looking for.