Rockrider 8.1 Tyres

Evvo

Hi all , im quite new to mountain biking and also this forum, I have recently purchaes a RR 8.1 which I am using for a mixture or tarmac riding & forest trils mixed with loose gravel.

The bike is great but i am finding the tyres are very skittish both on tarmac & the forest trails, they are Rockrider Btwin own brand & even the cheap own brand tyres on my last cheapo mtb seemed much better.

Can anybody reccomend a better tyre & what sort of pressure that I should be running them at?

Thanks

supersonic

Continental Mountain King 2.2 Black Chili, pressure, start at 30psi and see how it feels.

cooldad

Big fan of Maxxis Ignitor Advantage (soft compound) for general trail riding - nice rounded profile and good all rounders.

Good Old Bakes

I do similar riding to yourself and first thing I did when I got mine was take the crappy btwin tyres off and replace them with a pair of Scwalbe Land Cruisers. They've been absolutely spot on, much easier on the tar and no loss of grip on the trails. Of course, if I was just riding technical off road stuff I'd stick to dedicated knobblies but the Schwalbes have done everything I expected of them.

Evvo

Thanks for the replies Glad im not the only one who thinks the btwin tyres are terrible.

The schwalbe Land cruisers look to be a good bet? & reasonably priced too I think I may give them a shot.

Evvo

Good Old Bakes wrote:

I do similar riding to yourself and first thing I did when I got mine was take the crappy btwin tyres off and replace them with a pair of Scwalbe Land Cruisers. They've been absolutely spot on, much easier on the tar and no loss of grip on the trails. Of course, if I was just riding technical off road stuff I'd stick to dedicated knobblies but the Schwalbes have done everything I expected of them.

Also what pressures are you running at on a mixture of surfaces?

Good Old Bakes

Evvo wrote:

Also what pressures are you running at on a mixture of surfaces?

Er......... pass. :oops:

I have no idea mate. I guess I should pay more attention to these kinds of things. I just give em a squeeze and if they feel right, away I go.

Anyway, that's enough about the missus for now....

leaflite

I wouldnt go for land cruisers unless you do a lot of on road riding-they look almost slick to me, wouldnt imagine they would give much grip offroad!

I would go for the continentals ss recommended, or maxxis advantages/ardents. The tread blocks are quite low/shallow on these compared to some other tyres, so they shouldnt give too much rolling resistance onroad, but the large volume, aggressive tread pattern and medium-soft rubber makes them grip very well offroad.

Evvo

thanks for all the input but now I'm totally confused when you look around there seems to be a massive choice of tyres for Xc style riding and to be honest I have not got a clue what to go for, I don't want to spend a fortune on tyres if I don't need to but really need to get these btw in tyres off as soon as possible

so anymore input as confusing as it may be will be much appreciated

bennett_346

Leap in and take your pick from one of the reccomended tyres, you really can't go wrong with them as a beginner. If you like them, buy them again. If you don't, try a different one next time. Simples.

cooldad

If I was going to take anyone's advice (except my own) it would be SS.

leaflite

Evvo wrote:

thanks for all the input but now I'm totally confused when you look around there seems to be a massive choice of tyres for Xc style riding and to be honest I have not got a clue what to go for, I don't want to spend a fortune on tyres if I don't need to but really need to get these btw in tyres off as soon as possible

so anymore input as confusing as it may be will be much appreciated

Yes, tyres are confusing. There is no agreed "best" tyre. Different tyres work best for different surfaces and weather conditions, which is one of the reasons for this. Telling us where you ride most (ie names of trails) will allow others on here who ride there to advise on what tyres they use.

If you only want to buy 2 tyres or dont want to be bothered with swapping tyres around, you need to look for a good allrounder tread pattern. This will probably not be the best at any type of terrain, but will be good enough at most places/conditions for you to be able to ride quickly and not have issues with grip.

For general, all round riding you probably want something with around a 60A rubber compound. If where you ride has very little rocks, pebbles etc you could probably get away with something harder. Softer rubber= more grip on rocks but more rolling resistance

My favourite all-rounder tread patterns atm are:
High roller(grippy, but tall tread blocks= more rolling resistance)
Minion(similar to high roller, can be more grippy depending on surface)
Ardent(slightly less grippy, but lower tread blocks= less rolling resistance)
Advantage(similar to ardent, slightly less grippy imo)
Schwalbe nobby nics (nice tread pattern, but the harder rubber limits them to non rocky terrain, especially in the narrower widths)

I would go for kevlar bead(lighter) rather than wire, and about a 2.2-2.35 width.

cooldad

Way to de confuse the issue.

danlightbulb

Aren't product names blooming fantastic.

leaflite wrote:

High roller(grippy, but tall tread blocks= more rolling resistance)

Obviously not that 'high rolling' then...unless high means low...

leaflite wrote:

Advantage(similar to ardent, slightly less grippy imo)

Less grippy so no 'advantage' whatsoever...

leaflite wrote:

Schwalbe nobby nics (nice tread pattern, but the harder rubber limits them to non rocky terrain, especially in the narrower widths)

Nobby implies grippy and tougher for me so again...

Don't you just love marketing people...

leaflite

cooldad wrote:

Way to de confuse the issue.

Im trying to, but it is a confusing subject.
You cant just say "I use this", as everybody will probably give a different answer and what works where you ride may not work where the OP does

leaflite

danlightbulb wrote:

Aren't product names blooming fantastic.

leaflite wrote:

High roller(grippy, but tall tread blocks= more rolling resistance)

Obviously not that 'high rolling' then...unless high means low...

leaflite wrote:

Advantage(similar to ardent, slightly less grippy imo)

Less grippy so no 'advantage' whatsoever...

leaflite wrote:

Schwalbe nobby nics (nice tread pattern, but the harder rubber limits them to non rocky terrain, especially in the narrower widths)

Nobby implies grippy and tougher for me so again...

Don't you just love marketing people...

When I said less grippy, I was comparing to the minion/high roller. They are still grippy tyres compared to some other xc tyres. Nobby nics can be grippy, but they dont work everywhere.

Evvo

Hi at the moment i dont ride any known trials just through a couple of local forest tracks, i ride on a busy tarmac road for around 4 miles to get there, then there are wide gravel forest tracks then narrow wooded areas with exposed tree roots but quite hard packed at the moment, also my current tyres are 2.00 wide do i need to be looking at a wider tyre? as most i have seen seem to be around 2.25?

I will be looking to go to Swinley forest shortly if thats any help but still want to use the bike on the road a bit without having to keep swapping tyres.

leaflite

Evvo wrote:

Hi at the moment i dont ride any known trials just through a couple of local forest tracks, i ride on a busy tarmac road for around 4 miles to get there, then there are wide gravel forest tracks then narrow wooded areas with exposed tree roots but quite hard packed at the moment, also my current tyres are 2.00 wide do i need to be looking at a wider tyre? as most i have seen seem to be around 2.25?

I will be looking to go to Swinley forest shortly if thats any help but still want to use the bike on the road a bit without having to keep swapping tyres.

Width is personal choice again, wider tyres have more "give" -may make the bike more comfortable-and often give more grip, but add weight and sometimes rolling resistance.

2.25 is a nice all-rounder width.

For what you describe, a 2.25 ardent or 2.2 mountain king would be my choice. However, dont discount the other suggestions in this thread-they may be just as good.

70\ʹspenguin

How much do you want to spend?

Evvo

Not too sure around £25 per tyre I thought?

leaflite

Folding are £32 here, wire bead can be had a little cheaper:
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=78363

Evvo

I went onto the Continental website to take a look at the Mountain Kings & they look like the sort of thing im after, but while on there I noticed the Race kings & these seem to have excellent reviews on chain reaction & the price is very similar, would these be any good or should i stick with the mountain kings?

Also would the standard continentals without black chilli be ok or do i need that?

Sorry to ask so many questions i just want to be sure i make the right choice of tyre

Shylock

I am in the same situation in getting rid of my OEM Mountain kings that came with my bike.

So for the front from the recommendations a Maxxis Minion DH Front Tyre - Single Ply Folding http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... delID=5849

And for the rear Maxxis Ardent Folding Tyre - Single Ply Folding
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Mode ... elID=78363

My biking colleague says the Minion is a downhill tyre and says the high roller is better for my XC/Trail riding. Will the high roller provide me with the grip i need and less rolling resistance therefore noticeable speed improvement?

70\ʹspenguin

Keeping in budget at 19.99 per tyre i think these would be fine for you: Racing Ralph Evo Pacestar

They are very light and roll very well and fast.

leaflite

The general consensus seems to be that continental tyres are only any good in the black chilli compound.

Minions and high rollers are supposed to be pretty similar in terms of grip and rolling resistance, both are marketed as "dh" tyres(the wider widths only). They have slightly different cornering characteristics, the high rollers can be a little unpredictable when leaned in between the centre and outer blocks.
The bottom line is whether you need such a tyre for what you are riding. Something like an ardent or advantage should be fine for the majority of trail centres. I am running a 2.35 high roller on the front of the GT currently. It works well in terms of grip, but I will probably replace it with something with lower tread blocks when it wears to reduce rolling resistance.

Shylock

I understand, I guess it depends when trail becomes downhill..... On the south downs I get speeds of up to 30mph or 20mph through some real twisties.

How much would you notice in terms of up hill effort between the ardent and minion on the front- lets say if the minion was 100% effort how much would the advent be?

Evvo

Well i have taken the plunge and ordered a couple of Continental Mountain kings 2.2 wide they should be here in a couple of days so i will let you know how i get on with them.

mitomaniac

Can get a pair of conti mountain king 2.2 for £22 ish delivered off eBay from Rutland cycling cheapest I found and good postage too

Shylock

I hope they're better then the OEM ones that came with my bike! Or did you go for the black chilli spec?

Evvo

the ones I have ordered are from Rutland Cycles off eBay not got them yet so when I have fitted and tested them I'll let you know how I get on, I will also be trying lower tyre pressure too so hopefully that will help with the off road parts

Evvo

Well the Mountain Kings have arrived & i have fitted them I am running them at 35psi and they roll very well on the road & far better grip on gravel & also doing well in the mud so far i am very impressed with them.