Tyre dilemma
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Right, apologies for another tyre thread, I'm sure I'll end up with a million different opinions and end up way more confused than I started but hear me out 
I have a whyte 901 hardtail, 27.5 inch wheels, with the tyres that came with it: a maxxis ardent 2.25 on the front and a maxxis crossmark 2.1 on the rear. Despite poor reviews of the ardent, touch wood i've not really had any issues with it, it's only been a bit sketchy a couple of times when going fast round berms that had a bit of loose gravel on.
I was having issues with the crossmark on the rear though, because it was clogging with mud a lot and not really gripping well when it was wet and slippery, whether mud, roots or rocks. I was planning on changing it but the weather dried up nicely and it became less of an issue. However the weather looks to be going back to rain again and I'm doing an xc race on the 18th which looks on YouTube to have some muddy And slippery climbs/ sections so thoughts are turning to a tyre change again.
I largely ride trail centres like afan and local spots around swansea such as kilvey as well as commuting to and from work on bridle ways/cycle paths. I'm xc orientated but like hammering down the descents and playing in afan skills park too. I do have some aspirations to start xc racing but realistically I'm going to do this one in builth and then the coed Brenin one in September and nothing else all year - unless I can wangle doing the margam park race in June too but it clashes with a wedding. I'm not going to be changing tyres regularly so I want a set up that will work well in all conditions and be fast rolling - not too demanding then
I'm not sure whether to change one of the tyres or not bother. When I asked the question on another forum before the suggestion was to switch the ardent to the back and put a conti trail king 2.2 or similar on the front. I'm not sure how fast rolling that would be?
What do people think should I do something like that, get a new rear tyre or do nothing? I was thinking that given that the tyres are just the ones that came on the bike with no special compounds as far as I'm aware I should be able to get a rear tyre that is faster rolling and performs better too?
Sorry for the massive ramble/brain dump
I have a whyte 901 hardtail, 27.5 inch wheels, with the tyres that came with it: a maxxis ardent 2.25 on the front and a maxxis crossmark 2.1 on the rear. Despite poor reviews of the ardent, touch wood i've not really had any issues with it, it's only been a bit sketchy a couple of times when going fast round berms that had a bit of loose gravel on.
I was having issues with the crossmark on the rear though, because it was clogging with mud a lot and not really gripping well when it was wet and slippery, whether mud, roots or rocks. I was planning on changing it but the weather dried up nicely and it became less of an issue. However the weather looks to be going back to rain again and I'm doing an xc race on the 18th which looks on YouTube to have some muddy And slippery climbs/ sections so thoughts are turning to a tyre change again.
I largely ride trail centres like afan and local spots around swansea such as kilvey as well as commuting to and from work on bridle ways/cycle paths. I'm xc orientated but like hammering down the descents and playing in afan skills park too. I do have some aspirations to start xc racing but realistically I'm going to do this one in builth and then the coed Brenin one in September and nothing else all year - unless I can wangle doing the margam park race in June too but it clashes with a wedding. I'm not going to be changing tyres regularly so I want a set up that will work well in all conditions and be fast rolling - not too demanding then
I'm not sure whether to change one of the tyres or not bother. When I asked the question on another forum before the suggestion was to switch the ardent to the back and put a conti trail king 2.2 or similar on the front. I'm not sure how fast rolling that would be?
What do people think should I do something like that, get a new rear tyre or do nothing? I was thinking that given that the tyres are just the ones that came on the bike with no special compounds as far as I'm aware I should be able to get a rear tyre that is faster rolling and performs better too?
Sorry for the massive ramble/brain dump
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Comments
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No thoughts at all?
Last night I came to the conclusion changing the rear tyre is the way to go, rather than putting the front on the back, buying a new front and ending up with two new variables. So I'm after recommendations for a 27.5 inch 2.1 or 2.2 (does it make that much difference?) rear tyre that will be a bit grippier in the wet and clear mud better than the maxxis crossmark I have at the moment while still being fast rolling - I was wondering about the conti x-king, although to my mind it looks more like a front tyre?0 -
the thing then is that the rear tyre will be 2.25 and the front 2.2 - which i thought was the wrong way round? Although whether it matters in practice is another thing. I'd rather keep the ardent where it is though and get a different rear tyre0
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Methods of measurement differ anyway so who can say without measuring yourself.I don't do smileys.
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Parktools0 -
Indeed, the 2.2 could be a lot wider or a lot narrower than the 2.25, 0.05" is only 1.27mm anyway!Currently riding a Whyte T130C, X0 drivetrain, Magura Trail brakes converted to mixed wheel size (homebuilt wheels) with 140mm Fox 34 Rhythm and RP23 suspension. 12.2Kg.0
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Valid point! any idea about relative thicknesses of maxxis v continental tyres? it seesm the maxxis ardent comes up big?
Does no-one have reccomendations for a good all purpose xc rear tyre assuming I do want to keep the ardent on the front?
The schwalbe racing ralph/rocket ron evo snakeskin look like they'd fit the bill but very expensive!0 -
Ardent is relatively quick rolling, Trail King grippier. Apparently Trail King comes up fairly big. Sounds like a good combination to me.
You can put the crossmark back on if you are doing any long dry xc rides and want something faster rolling than the Ardent.0
