swapping tyres?

danlightbulb

Do people here swap tyres if you're going to a different trail?

I currently have 2.2 Mountain King II's (only cheap wire bead ones), which are fine for Cannock where I normally ride. However I am going for 2 days to north wales (Penmachno and Marin trails), and I also have a pair of Rubber Queens (2.4 front and 2.2 rear, again cheap wire bead), and I am wondering whether these trails would suit the Rubber Queens better or not? By putting the Rubber Queens on I'd be adding around 600g to the bike weight.

I also have a pair of Michellin Country X trail which came with my bike, which are folding (as I discovered when I took them off the bike). Not weighed these but wondering if they are any good? I only rode with them once when i first had the bike but it was wet and they felt quite sketchy.

Thanks
Dan

RobJ20

No i run Hans Dampf all the time now.

.blitz

I used to but now I just select the appropriate bike

tarbot18

i use nobby nic all year round ,dont see the point in changing tyres its either wet muddy or both up north.......

bennett_346

Generally no, but i do change tyres for the seasons.

mcnultycop

I never want to have to get a tyre on my Flows again; I wouldn't change one through choice,.

njee20

I change tyres for racing, for riding I just use whatever's fitted!

RandG

I do it often. From HD's to NN's to Ardents and back. Not even sure why tbh. The HD's are great for Winter riding but very draggy on harder surfaces, so dependent on where I'm riding I change.

bartimaeus

I've been running MudX since last April - but if I went somewhere less muddy/slimy/snowy I might swap to my '3 season' tyres (for 'season' read 'week').

lawman

Once my hans dampfs arrive I'll have a set of tyres for all weathers hopefully! For pure XC stuff I'll have a set of Nobby Nic Gatestars, anywhere gnarlier but still having to ride a fair distance i.e. most stuff at uni I'll probably put a hans on the front, and tbh I'll probably use that setup most of the time. For dry DH days Hans dampfs all-round, if its abit wet I've got a muddy mary for the front and for full on winter DH both Muddy Marys will go on, most likely the 456 for that though, the HD's a royal pain to clean when its properly caked!

And in case you were wondering I'm abit of a Schwalbe fan!!

Mccraque

My set up of choice is always a Rubber Queen on the front for grip and bulbousness - and something season specific on the rear. In winter usually a Miud X (or at the moment a Mountain King as I had one laying around) and in summer I switch to a crossmark or Race king on the rear for less rolling resistance.

DCR00

I find Minions work pretty well all year round, but they do drag a bit, so im getting some Ardents to try for the trail bike

if im doing any XC riding, or out with the nipper, i change to a NN/RR combo

I also have Minions on my DH rig, but have some Swamp Things spare for when things get muddy (havent actually been used yet)

swod1

Are high rollers suitable for all round use or maxxis advantage ?

Northwind

I sometimes change, especially for racing... Tyres that work well in innerleithen off-piste slop tend to be pretty damn slow for anything not made of slime, so it's hard to get one tyre to rule them all.

97th choice

I alternate between nobby nics and maxxis high rollers depending upon the conditions.

danlightbulb

Well I've just put the rubber queens on. The 2.4" only actually measures just over 2" which is a good job because at 2.4" it would never have fitted between my forks. Its visibly bigger than the 2.2 Mountain King I had on before though, I'll see if it makes any difference on Sunday.

lawman

danlightbulb wrote:

Well I've just put the rubber queens on. The 2.4" only actually measures just over 2" which is a good job because at 2.4" it would never have fitted between my forks. Its visibly bigger than the 2.2 Mountain King I had on before though, I'll see if it makes any difference on Sunday.

Sounds very odd because Rubber Queens are huge!! The 2.4 normally blows up like a 2.5 or bigger

danlightbulb

Its the weight I'm worried about more than anything, the 2.4 weighed 1050g, making my front wheel weigh 2.4kg total. The rear with the 2.2 RQ has only gone up by 150g to 2.8kg total. Is this heavy? Ive only ever ridden with the 2.2 Mountain Kings so not really sure what difference its going to make or what direction I should be aiming for weight wise.

bennett_346

lawman wrote:

danlightbulb wrote:

Well I've just put the rubber queens on. The 2.4" only actually measures just over 2" which is a good job because at 2.4" it would never have fitted between my forks. Its visibly bigger than the 2.2 Mountain King I had on before though, I'll see if it makes any difference on Sunday.

Sounds very odd because Rubber Queens are huge!! The 2.4 normally blows up like a 2.5 or bigger

Yeah something sounds wrong there. Measure twice

lawman

danlightbulb wrote:

Its the weight I'm worried about more than anything, the 2.4 weighed 1050g, making my front wheel weigh 2.4kg total. The rear with the 2.2 RQ has only gone up by 150g to 2.8kg total. Is this heavy? Ive only ever ridden with the 2.2 Mountain Kings so not really sure what difference its going to make or what direction I should be aiming for weight wise.

Yep thats heavy, my 2.35 muddy Marys are 900g and are also a pretty big tyre. You'll have added at least half a kilo across both tyres, maybe more and as its rotating weight you'll notice it alot more and a 2.4 rubber queen is a slow tyre anyway. What bike is it on? Seems an odd choice if you normally only run 2.2 Mountain kings.

Ideally a compromise between low weight, grip and low-rolling resistance is best. weight wise something between 500-700g ish is a decent weight, if you ride hard, gnarly and rocky trails go for something like a Hans Dampf or if it's more xc a mountain king or Nobby Nic are good all-rounders

concorde

Minion up front and ardent rear through the winter or more like 9 months a year. In the 'heights of summer' I'll have a rocket ron rear and not sure what to go with up front this summer... maybe a rubber queen.

Northwind

OEM spec rubber queens, those- different carcass so might size up differently

(I like the "RQs are huge" commentary, mine were both fractionally undersized, we've just got used to tyre sizes, especially Conti and Maxxis ones, being huge lies...)

danlightbulb

lawman wrote:

danlightbulb wrote:

Its the weight I'm worried about more than anything, the 2.4 weighed 1050g, making my front wheel weigh 2.4kg total. The rear with the 2.2 RQ has only gone up by 150g to 2.8kg total. Is this heavy? Ive only ever ridden with the 2.2 Mountain Kings so not really sure what difference its going to make or what direction I should be aiming for weight wise.

Yep thats heavy, my 2.35 muddy Marys are 900g and are also a pretty big tyre. You'll have added at least half a kilo across both tyres, maybe more and as its rotating weight you'll notice it alot more and a 2.4 rubber queen is a slow tyre anyway. What bike is it on? Seems an odd choice if you normally only run 2.2 Mountain kings.

Ideally a compromise between low weight, grip and low-rolling resistance is best. weight wise something between 500-700g ish is a decent weight, if you ride hard, gnarly and rocky trails go for something like a Hans Dampf or if it's more xc a mountain king or Nobby Nic are good all-rounders

I got them cheap 2nd hand so I thought I'd try them out. Its on a RR8.1,but I've been trying to get it to be a bit more trail friendly than pure XC and thought burlier tyres might help. Maybe I'm misguided though. I would like to buy some better, grippier but light tyres but I'm not racing so dont want to get some puncture prone lightweight ones. Plus I cant just keep buying different tyres. Its a minefield.

Northwind

If they're working for you, don't worry too much! I like a light bike personally but it's all a balance of price and performance. Sometimes a slow, heavy tyre just makes things hard work- it can make fast trails feel slow, or the bike feel a bit ponderous. But not always and the way I see it is, "too little" tyre leaves you either having to slow down, or having a big crash, "too much" tyre just tires you out. I prefer sweat to blood