Tires Question/Advice

ncn

So once again I would be greatly appreciative of your input into a decision I am currently facing regarding upgrading my tires.

So I will start with what I currently have -

Rims- 26" Alex rims fd19 http://alexrims.com/product_detail.asp?sc=1&cat=19&cat2=20&pid=110

Tires- Conti Mountain King 2.2 http://www.cyclingmailorder.co.uk/continental-mountain-king-rigid-mtb-tyre.html?language=en&currency=GBP

I plan to convert my current rims to tubeless with the use of a Stan's No Tubes kit which I have already bought. With that in mind I think I will be requiring a tubeless ready tire to make things work a bit better.

So now to what I think I would like. I want to upgrade to a 2.35/2.4 up front but think I will stay at 2.2 on the rear but I am open to change with this as well. I have been looking at Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 in trailstar compound and a Hans Dampf in Pacestar on the back, but unsure if 2.35 on the back will cause too much drag or a Maxxis High roller LUST 2.35 supertacky on the front and a Maxxis Ardent 2.2 hard compound on the rear.

To add to this I still use my bike on roads to get to work and back and also usually bike to the local trails on the road too so don't want to lose too much speed and I'm mainly hitting single track fairly tame stuff at the moment while I get back into it all.

Any suggestions or help would be most appreciated, also If I am completely off on my selections then please let me know.

Many Thanks

Nick

The Rookie

What trail surface

Something like an HD sounds all wrong for your use, I'd suggest around a 2.1" tyre, something easier on road like a Panaracer XC Pro or Nobby Nic.

ncn

Well at present it's mainly woodland riding, so hard pack single track mud at the moment with lots of roots thrown in. There is the odd patches of wet mud to contend with and sand too.

Also I plan to head to Glentress at some point too. So looking for some thing with a bit more grip. Also I prefer the look of a wider tyre on the front.

rapid_donkey

+1 for panaracer fire xc pro 2.1, they have worked everywhere for me

dmont

^ +2 for the Panaracer fire xc pro 2.1, these have transformed my bike and riding confidence, I originally got these due to recommendations on here. Good price, good weight and superb Value for money.

The Rookie

Both the XC Pro and Nobby Nic are good all round tyres, they don't excel on any particular surface, nor will they try and kill you on any either, where I ride they are common as our local rides are a very wide range of surfaces (mud, clay, wet leafmould, loamy, hardpack plus tarmac link sections).

I prefer the XC Pro, my daughter prefers the NN.

swod1

i ride to work on tarmac roads and run 26x 2.25 nobby nics and find them not draggy at all.

obivously a slicker tyre would be better but this gives me grip on the ride back as i sometimes go off road over a mixture of surfaces along a trans pennie trail.

kevinharley

I ran the xc pro a few years back - thought they were fine, but can't really recall much detail.

I ran panaracer rampage 2.1 pr both front and back for about 18 months until earlier this year - again, no complaints at the time (and brilliant puncture resistance - not one puncture, on those tyres, in that time! )

For a weekend trip to Wales in April this year, I got a pair of Nobby Nic Evo 4x Snake Skin Gatestar compound, in a 2.25 size (pricey at full RRP, but often there are deals on Bike Discount De ... got mine for around £20ea); these were a significant improvement, and seemed able to just grip stuff that the rampages were pretty twitchy on. I'm sure this is partly bigger volume, which means I run them quite soft (which I can do as I'm fairly light) but they handled 'The Beast' at Coed-y-Brenin, and the Penmachno trail with aplomb, and even the Antur Stiniog DH / uplift (although to be honest, the bike (Boardman HT), tyres and my skills were all a little 'underpowered' for this!). nevertheless, the NN's have given me bagloads more confidence on a lot of stuff I was mincing before! :oops:

The NN's I find drag noticeably more than the Rampages (but again, some of this will be larger volume, and running them quite soft). They are not that good in the mud; the front drifts quite easily, and the rear lacks traction, so for the coming winter, I'll probably get something more mud-specific, or an all-rounder that copes better with the gloop), and they are slightly more puncture prone (two pinch flats and 1 thorn in the last 3 months, but riding at least twice-weekly). I have also found them quite pressure-sensitive ... if I pump them up pretty hard, they ping off stuff that I know they roll through and over at a lower pressure.

I currently run the NN up front, and the Rampage at the rear, which is generally a good balance of front end confidence, good enough rear grip, and OK rolling resistance, but confirms that the NN sticks to stuff that the Rampage can be a little more twitchy on.

Would be interesting to see what a narrower NN (eg a 2.1) feels like in similar circumstances, and whether my positive experience of the NN's are just that they have a bigger volume than I'd previously been using, or whether compound / tread still achieve nearly the same benefits, albeit in a smaller size.

ncn

I was under the impression the HD's were the new version of the NN's. Or at least that's what I have been led to believe.

Well I went up a place called the Sidlaws just at the back of Dundee last night and while the mountain kings managed ok I felt I lost out quite a bit on grip on the loose rocks and they seemed a bit skittery so definitely think I want to go a bit bigger.

I may just look at some NN's then.

Many Thanks for the info so far.

dmont

Hi ncn:

" loose rocks and they seemed a bit skittery so definitely think I want to go a bit bigger" & " I'm mainly hitting single track fairly tame stuff at the moment while I get back into it all. "

Apologies if I'm totally wrong here, but are you a newbie ?
If so, like me, you may find you don't actually need new tyres and it's more down to cornering technique. There's a few good Youtube clips on the subject, which I find using proper technique has made me a much better rider with less skittering and loosing the front end round right hand corners...

Again apologies, but even the best tyres in the world wont help if the technique is wrong...

Cheers
Dmont

ncn

Kind of a newbie, I used to ride a fair bit about 3-4 yrs agao around Sherwood Pines and places but had a bad leg injury (Not due to Biking) and now I am back into it again.

Well I started tamely but yesterdays ride was pretty steep at times and the climb was a fair one, on the way down the skittering was more noticeble but on the way up it seemed to be grip and in all honesty I just used to seeing a wider up front. I find it inspires confidence.

tails

I have the same issue as ncn. Got a fire xc but im replacing a speed king due to lack of grip. And i also prefer something slightly bigger up front.

How do NN's, fire xc, storm and ground controls all compare. And whats a Hd?

Sorry to jump in but its a very similar question. Just want a uk fit and forget tyre for xc and tails.

swod1

tails wrote:

How do NN's, fire xc, storm and ground controls all compare. And whats a Hd?

Sorry to jump in but its a very similar question. Just want a uk fit and forget tyre for xc and tails.

Hd is a schwalbe Hans Dampf tyre.

Nobby nics are a xc/ trail tyre not had mine long but so far so good, you can get the cheaper performance version to try out which is what i'm doing at the moment.

Specialized storm aren't these a mud/winter tyre so wouldnt use them all year round, i have the ground control on rear of my bike at the minute and good fast rolling on pretty much any surface i've tried except mud which it packs up a bit

dmont

ncn wrote:

Kind of a newbie, I used to ride a fair bit about 3-4 yrs agao around Sherwood Pines and places but had a bad leg injury (Not due to Biking) and now I am back into it again.

Well I started tamely but yesterdays ride was pretty steep at times and the climb was a fair one, on the way down the skittering was more noticeble but on the way up it seemed to be grip and in all honesty I just used to seeing a wider up front. I find it inspires confidence.

That's cool - I totally understand were you say a wider tyre inspires confidence, that's a big plus. You may also be unconsciously staying off your bad leg ( hope you're ok now btw ) which may be causing issues...

Anywho, if anyone is interested, these tips really helped me :

http://www.youtube.com/user/IMBIKEMAG - look at the cornering stuff.... v good....
And a very simple one to remember : http://vimeo.com/41187732

Dmont

ncn

Im all good now thanks Dmont, it was a wierd bone issue, my shin just started growing extra bone in the middle and was causing me a great deal of pain, the docs stopped all sport and running so was pretty rubbish. I kind of got it to a point of no pain but just as it was starting to hurt again I broke my foot, ankle and tore the ligament that cconnected them haha. Some how that break and having a cast on for 8 weeks set everything back in place and now I am 1.5 years on running a fair bit with no pain at all which is good.

I will take a look at that vid when I get home from work, cheers.

My mate has also just thrown Maxxis Crossmarks into the picture which look pretty nice and he goes everywhere on his bike so that's another possibility. Although I might just start buying a different tyre a month and see how I go till I find something I really like

tails

Thanks for the advice sorry for the invasion. This is harder than buying the bike

ncn

tails wrote:

Thanks for the advice sorry for the invasion. This is harder than buying the bike

No worries on the invasion buddy.

I think it's just because there is so much choice and alot of different opinions so it's difficult to come to an informed decision.

The advice is greatly appreciated.

rapid_donkey

I think people massively over complicate buying tyres.

My advice would be buy these Fire XC Pro's on offer: http://www.merlincycles.com/bike-shop/t ... tubes.html

See how you get on with them, and if you dont like them, come back and ask for alternatives.

I use XC Pro's, have used them through winter, at trail centres, last week in the Peaks with lots of big rocks and downhill. They just work.

ncn

A lot of people say these are are good but the 2.1 aspect just puts me off as I currently find my 2.2's skinny. Maybe it's just me been so used to seeing a larger profile up front.