Ideal tyre for dalby forest + what conti compounds are there

jon1993

I tried setting a time around Dalby forest red (2:10 with three stops ~15min) the other day it was 8 degrees ground was wet to the point where it was just forming puddles on the surface. I use a 2010 Scott spark 30 with a Conti 2.2 mountain king mk1 on the front and a rubber queen on the back. I found my front end was washing out a lot so though about upgrading to a mk2 mountain king on the front for that little more grip. Is this a good idea? Does anyone have any better tyres they think would be more suitable? and what compounds do they do in that tyre just to check?

warpcow

Rubber queen would make a better front tyre than any MK version (though yes, an MK2 is far better than an MK1). Conti only do 'two' compounds: cheap'n'nasty and Black Chili. Black Chili is actually all sorts of different compounds depending on the intended use of the tyre (so softer compounds for DH tyres, harder for XC, etc), but is always the 'best' for a specific tyre type.

jon1993

ok thanks a lot I might get a mountain king mk2 for the back then would that make more sense? or are there any more suited tyres for that particular riding?

rapid_donkey

Personally I would steer clear of Continental tyres, unless you are going Black Chilli.
On One are doing Schwalbe nobby nic/rocket ron/racing ralph evo folding tyres for silly prices: http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/products/q ... albe-tyres

bennett_346

Never ever buy a NON black chili continental tyre - they're dire. And i'm sure sure i find the prices for black chili worth it but that's just my personal viewpoint.

Specialized tyres have always been a personal favourite of mine, roll well for what they are and are reasonably light but most of all they're cheaper than most equivalent tyres. I'm yet to run out of grip as well.

rockmonkeysc

Have you considered that it could be technique rather than tyres that are the problem?

bennett_346

Sounds like a tyre issue to me and besides there's no harm in finding some more suitable rubber. You're assuming he's a newb too.

jon1993

Thanks a lot I would say I am pretty good but certainly no expert. 2:15hours around the whole red isn't a bad time considering I wasn't exactly pushing myself, stopping a few times to take pictures getting lost in fog and having a go around Dixons hollow in the wet. The fastest I know of is 1:43hours on Strava. The way my bike was handling it was clear that the tyre was unsuitable for the conditions as id never really had that problem before but I wondered what the "ideal" tyre for the loop Is? Thanks for all the help