New tyre selection help please for aggressive trail riding

Jonc001

I recently purchased a Norco sight 2 SE and love the bike, although I'm not convinced by the Kenda slant six 2.3 tyres. They seem to be fast rolling in hardpack or dusty conditions but not so good in wet or muddy rides. I like to ride trail centres fairly aggressively and a bit of XC. Can anyone recommend a good all round setup? I read recently in WMTB that they tested a combo of Specialized Purgatory 2.3 on the front and Maxxis Beaver 2 one the rear. my local shop suggested Bontrager XR2 back and XR4 front. I also like the look of the Mxxis Ardent. Any advice would be appreciated.

ThePriory1978

Hans Dampf

bennett_346

Prepare for a list of users' favourite tyres, regardless of whether they actually correlate to your individual needs.

cooldad

All of the above, and all of those to follow.

Roostoids

I can tell you my experiences, as I'm currently trying to find a better setup with tyres;

Specialised 'The Captain' on the front. No grip whatsoever but fast rolling. Have binned this now.

Maxxis 'Larsen' on the rear. Fast rolling with nice grip in the turns, like it alot.

WTB MotoRaptor on the front. Newly acquired at a cheap price, I'll let you know how it fares after tomorrow on its maiden voyage.

Panaracer Fire XC Pro - Have a set of these as my winter tyres. They grip well in the mud and wet and are wide and grippy but they aren't very fast rolling in my experience, so I prefer them for winter rides cos they tend to be slower anyway.

Trick is finding summer tyres that don't give away too much grip but roll a bit faster, I guess that's your dilemma too.

Leigh Rough Riders

Jonc001 wrote:

I'm not convinced by the Kenda slant six 2.3 tyres. They seem to be fast rolling in hardpack or dusty conditions but not so good in wet or muddy rides. I like to ride trail centres fairly aggressively and a bit of XC. Can anyone recommend a good all round setup? my local shop suggested Bontrager XR2 back and XR4 front. I also like the look of the Mxxis Ardent. Any advice would be appreciated.

Go with what you fancy and see! A lot of people recommend Mxxis so they are probably decent.
Bontrager XR4s are supposed to be good both on front and back but for more normal summer conditions, and come in 2.2 and 2.35.
But for what you describe I would recommend Continental Baron 2.3 Black Chili 3ply 180tpi folding tyre. I run it on the front, but others have on both front and back. I am not sure what to match it with, so I am thinking of getting another Baron for the back. It is a superb tyre.

.blitz

Jonc001 wrote:

I also like the look of the Mxxis Ardent.

Ardents are pretty good trail tyres. They're big floaty things with flexible sidewalls and they're not too heavy 650g for a 2.25. The sidewalls take the urgency out of acceleration but they roll very well at the expense of ultimate cornering grip and the shallow tread doesn't hook up in loose mud.

Might also want to look at Advantages. They are a more gnar version of the Ardent with a full set of Minion-esque shoulder tread blocks (they're interrupted on the Ardent) and deeper paddles on the centre section. Carcass is the same they're a good size and handle loose rubbly conditions better than Ardents at the expense of ultimate speed.