Winter tyres - Whyte T129

mattham

Hello everyone...

I'm looking for some winter tyres for my T129.

I have seen some Specialized Purgatory 2.2's pretty cheap that have caught my eye.

I'm a bit worried about the rear clearance on the drive side seat stay, it seems pretty tight at the moment. :?

It's running the stock Maxxis Icon 2.2, but I know that different manufacturers widths can come up different. Does anyone know how Specialized compare width wise to Maxxis, or is anyone running a 2.2 Purgatory on a T129?

Any other winter tyre recommedations that are relatively cheap - £20-£30 is about where I am looking at - the Purgatory 2.2's I've seen are £20 so seem a bit of a steal.

Any help mucho appreciated

Thanks,
Matt

roger_merriman

define winter where you ride?

for some its bog snorkeling for others its just a touch moist..

For that reason some folks run full mud spike tyres, others the same year around.

mattham

roger merriman wrote:

define winter where you ride?

Yea, no worries.....Bedfordshire....so some chalky type stuff on the Chilterns, grassy hills and woodland singletrack.....

Caveman_Chris

I run a 2.0 maxxis beaver on the back of mine, might be OTT for you but I run mine oct-May-ish and feels fine as a normal 'trail' tyre. It moves around in fast cornering but it's perfectly controllable and tracks much better over off camber wet roots and sloppy climbs than my 2.2 ikon.

Also, a 2.3 high roller only just catches (partly due to the flex in the wheels) so maybe a 2.25 ardent might fit?

Sorry, no experience with other brand sizing.

CC

mattham

Caveman_Chris wrote:

I run a 2.0 maxxis beaver on the back of mine

Thanks CC, this is an option I'm looking at actually, though weighing it up as to whether to go with a Spec Storm Control instead. Reviews of the Beaver say the side walls are a bit flimsy, doubt the Storm suffers this, though the Beaver rolls better than the Storm by all accounts.

So - Purgatory up front and one of Maxxis Beaver or Specialized Storm Control on the rear....any views on this?

The rear clearance on the T129 does seems strange to me from a British bike company that is designed by people who ride in the UK.....

cycleclinic

My winter tyres for Suffolk bridleway riding and the like on an old Marin is Geax Barro mud 1.7" tyres. These work well in the slop.

For the kind of riding you the OP and doing the the Conti X-King will probably work quite well. The race sport version is very nice. Currently using the 2.4" tyres on the single speed they pick up claggy mud more than the geax tyres do so at present I am no using them. Geax Saguaro's are another favourite only had these as tubs though and they work very well on dryier ground.

Caveman_Chris

MattHam wrote:

Caveman_Chris wrote:

I run a 2.0 maxxis beaver on the back of mine

Thanks CC, this is an option I'm looking at actually, though weighing it up as to whether to go with a Spec Storm Control instead. Reviews of the Beaver say the side walls are a bit flimsy, doubt the Storm suffers this, though the Beaver rolls better than the Storm by all accounts.

So - Purgatory up front and one of Maxxis Beaver or Specialized Storm Control on the rear....any views on this?

The rear clearance on the T129 does seems strange to me from a British bike company that is designed by people who ride in the UK.....

I have the EXC 120tpi and it does feel quite fragile but it's very light. It's survived well so far and I don't actively avoid anything suspect. They come with the EXO sidewalls now which I think is a recent edition and the one I'll be going for when I destroy this one. You can get them to seat tubeless with a track pump, a bowl of pasta the night before and a few redbulls.

CC

rockmonkeysc

Im using the 2.35" Purgatory Grids on my Mega. On wet chalky trails they clog really quickly. I wouldn't recommend them as a winter tyre.

bigmitch41

Me and my 129s riding buddy have just ordered a pair of Schwalbe Hands Damp snakeskin evo 2.35 front, and Rocket Ron snakeskin evo 2.1 rear for our Whyte's direct from Germany (Bikediscount). Were both on the standard factory WTB tyres, the front's are ok but the rear Nano is much more of a summer tyre and struggling in the wet plop.
I wouldn’t want to go larger than a 2.1 on the rear for the obvious clearance issues already mentioned.
I'll keep you posted when they turn up

kinioo

Just ordered two of these:

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/mich ... p-prod8543

Cheap, not bad reviews...will find out.

DigitalStorm

I am using a Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 trailstar on the front and a Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.25 pacestar on the rear of my Whyte T129. Yes, the 2.25 fits, although I do have Stans flow ex/Hope wheels fitted as the WTB ones were way too flexy.

neilus

Anyone use Bontrager 2013 XR4 Team Issue?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... 93#reviews
Also looking for an Autumn/Winter tyre change...my local trails are in a right mess!

cooldad

Excellent tyres ^^^^^^^^^^^^

neilus

Thanks Cd...you dont happen to know the difference between XR4 Comp v Team Issue..?
http://www.evanscycles.com/products/bon ... 1#features
All i can see is that the comp has a wire bead, team issue doesnt and is therefore foldable...cheers!

cooldad

Nope but have TI on a bike and they are superb. So good I have some spares stashed away.
Folding generally means lighter, which is good, and often means better rubber compounds, which is also good.

poah

swapped out my XR4 for a conti baron 2.3 - major improvement in the current conditions.

if you look on the bonti website it tells you the difference between the comp and team edition.

neilus

POAH wrote:

swapped out my XR4 for a conti baron 2.3 - major improvement in the current conditions...

Cheers, ill look into the Contis...how were they better? Currently giving me more "cr@p your pants" moments than id like are 1) off camber slimy roots (hidden by) 2) deep piles of wet slippy leaves (hiding) 3) calf deep pools of muck...do you think the Contis would tick these boxes?
Also found these, at a good price....
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/bontrage ... 75613.html

bigmitch41

Those are 26"?

poah

neilus wrote:

POAH wrote:

swapped out my XR4 for a conti baron 2.3 - major improvement in the current conditions...

Cheers, ill look into the Contis...how were they better? Currently giving me more "cr@p your pants" moments than id like are 1) off camber slimy roots (hidden by) 2) deep piles of wet slippy leaves (hiding) 3) calf deep pools of muck...do you think the Contis would tick these boxes?
Also found these, at a good price....
http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/bontrage ... 75613.html

the baron's are 26inch only at the moment, the new ones are going to be 650b but not as aggressive. you might want to think about WTB vigilante

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wtb- ... prod107307

neilus

Ok, thats on the list as well! But im a bit confused; the Barons and Vigilantes are 2.3, while the Bontragers I linked are 1.8 or 2. And i did read somewhere that for cruddy conditions, narrower is actually better. The Bon XR spec would seem to agree, the Conti and WTB dont. ??
Apologies to OP for the threadjack !

tarbot18

I use nobby nics 2.25 evo snakeskin s front and back on my my t129 on mavic and hope wheels. great tyres loads of grip and not too heavy .

rockmonkeysc

Norrower is better in bogs but nowhere else. And hardpack, rock or roots and they are horrible and you need lots of pressure to stop them pinching.

mattham

Thanks all, lots of good replies and discussion, certainly has been food for thought

I think I'm going to go for a pair of Maxxis Beavers, 120 TPI's. I can't find anyone with stock of the new EXO side wall ones until into December so I think I'll get them from CRC as they seem to be cheapest for the non EXO version.

Thanks,
Matt

Caveman_Chris

Have you checked nextdaytyres ?