Another tyre thread...

Ferrals

right, cleaning my bike yesterday I noticed the rear tyre is almost bald in the middle and the front is a little worn too. Seeing as I'm getting new wheels next week and am going to run them tubeless i figured i might as well credit card new tyres now rather than have to change them in a month or two and have double the faff with latex.

Bike use is XC, XC race at a low level and trail centre riding (Afan). I'm not particularly agressive- e.g the last decent in blade I rolled most of the drops rather than blasting off them. I am tempted to go schwalbe front and rear with their new tubeless easy casing so it wont be the super light versions. Despite the hundreds of threads on them I am still confused between Racing Ralphs and Rocket Rons.

On the rear I currently have a conti X-king protection 2.2 which I really like, it only rarely lets me down on steep slippery climbs. I am thinking to get a Rocket Ron 2.1 as apparently it is very like an X-king only a bit better in both grip and rolling. Am I right in saying it works in a wider range of conditions than the racing ralph. It seems to be suggested that it rolls faster and grips better than the RaRa too so is it just durability where it is less good? In which case how un-durable is it? If its going to last a month I'll give it a miss but if its going to be ok for 4-5 months or so I'll give it a crack. Are there any other ways a RaRa is better than a RoRo?

On the front I have an Ardent 2.25. I've not had any issues with it apart from a vagueness/squirrely feel when it is squelchy and slippery or when there is a bit of loose gravel. I am thinking of replacing it with one of the new Nobby Nics or a wider Rocket Ron. Does anyone have a comparison between either of those and the ardent? I guess the Nobby Nic would be a safer grippier bet but the RoRo would be faster. and perhaps grippy enough. If it is grippier than an ardent I might just go for that.

Light weight and speed is important but also I'm not going to be switching tyres for different uses/conditions so all round viability is needed. Also when its lighter I commute normally offroad one way and back on the road (6km). I dont care if the tyres are slow on the road but if the road use will shred the Rocket Ron then I'll have to think about that too.

Thanks in advance 8)

The Rookie

Some claim the side knobs give the Ralph more cornering grip than the Ron, depends how you corner I guess, I like a Ron up front and a Ralph out back with a more used Ralph depending on conditions, winter I put a Ron on the back for traction. Neither shreds up too badly on road, a friend is using a RoRa combo on his MTB for commuting and they stand up reasonably well.

CitizenLee

Hans Dampf front / Racing Ralph rear... all year, all conditions, all surfaces. No complaints

Ferrals

Rookie, I've never noticed a lack of corning grip in terms of rear tire so I reckon ro-ro is the way to go on the rear if its is a bit grippier in winter - if the durability is as described by some I'll have a reason to buy something else for summer anyway!

C.L I reckon a hans damph might be a bit overkill! plus having paid out for nice light wheels I dont what to add a bunch back on!

CitizenLee

Ferrals wrote:

C.L I reckon a hans damph might be a bit overkill! plus having paid out for nice light wheels I dont what to add a bunch back on!

Haha, a fair point but they're not actually as heavy as they look at ~750g each for the 26" version.

WindyG

I have tried a Ron both front rear but I found it was better with a Ralph on the rear, I use this pretty much all year round unless it's really muddy when I the use a Geax Gato XC on the front and Ron on the rear.

The Rookie

Depends where you rude if course, most the time the Ralph is fine in the back, but I find it does spin up a bit easily if it's muddy.

Ferrals

THere is such a wide variety where I live, varying from natural bedrock/rocy trails and trail cnetres, through sandyish stuf and moorland to gloopy mud.

It really winds me up spinning out on muddy climbs so will amost certainly go for the Rons on the rear. I've read people saying its a waste of time riding them anywhere rocky but I'm assuming thats the non snakeskin versions

rockmonkeysc

I'm not too impressed with Schwalbe tyres, they seem to loose knobles. I have found this with Hans Dampfs, Magic Marys and the old Nobby Nics.
I'm really liking Specialized tyres. The tubeless Grid versions go straight up with a track pump and don't loose any air. Good grip and wear as well. I'm using Purgatory and Hillbillys at the moment, not really xc tyres but similar construction and compounds.

CitizenLee

RockmonkeySC wrote:

I'm not too impressed with Schwalbe tyres, they seem to loose knobles. I have found this with Hans Dampfs, Magic Marys and the old Nobby Nics.
I'm really liking Specialized tyres. The tubeless Grid versions go straight up with a track pump and don't loose any air. Good grip and wear as well. I'm using Purgatory and Hillbillys at the moment, not really xc tyres but similar construction and compounds.

I only ever hear good things about Specialized tyres, in particular the Purgatory. Tempted to try some next time I need new rubber.

Have Schwalbe not changed a lot of their compounds over the last few years? Obviously could down to different conditions but I've used various models on various different bikes and have nothing bad to say other than some can be a bugger to get on and off.

rockmonkeysc

I think it depends in where and how you ride as well. I ride a lot of rocky trails and I'm quite aggressive with pumping through corners which I guess could be tough on tyre side tread.

lawman

Like Rock Monkey says I think it depends largely on terrain and riding style, I've used Schwalbe for years and have had great luck with them, the only tim I've had an issue was with some Gatestar Nobby Nics that turned out to be faulty. The new Nobby Nics look much improved over the old version, sort of like a mini Hans Dampf, certainly looking forward to trying a pair out.

The Northern Monkey

I have found that while Schwalbes are great tyres, the knobs do cut/tear off much more easily than other brands.

Enjoying some high rollers at the mo, will try specialized next I think.

Ferrals

I used to like specialized tyres but they have limited models in 650b. I too I like the look of the new nobby nic, just annoying there aren't any in stock anywhere yet, not even in Germany. I think where schwalbe do well is they seem to have tires that bridge between xc race and trail use. Conti and maxxis have really nice tyres but they seem to be either very low tread or quite heavy.

rockmonkeysc

Maxxis haven't really come up with anything new in years. Highroller 2's are good and I liked Swamp Things (when they made them) but Minions are only good in the dry and Highrollers are better in the dry and wet. Wet Screams are good once they are half worn.

benpinnick

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Maxxis haven't really come up with anything new in years. Highroller 2's are good and I liked Swamp Things (when they made them) but Minions are only good in the dry and Highrollers are better in the dry and wet. Wet Screams are good once they are half worn.

Minion DHR2s are great in the moderate wet (F & R) and Shortys are Wetscreams that are half worn... and awesome at that.

Ferrals

Yeah but at over 800g not really a light xc tyre!

rockmonkeysc

benpinnick wrote:

RockmonkeySC wrote:

Maxxis haven't really come up with anything new in years. Highroller 2's are good and I liked Swamp Things (when they made them) but Minions are only good in the dry and Highrollers are better in the dry and wet. Wet Screams are good once they are half worn.

Minion DHR2s are great in the moderate wet (F & R) and Shortys are Wetscreams that are half worn... and awesome at that.

I just don't like minions. Maybe it's my local trail conditions but I find highroller 2's better in all conditions.
Not tried shortys but worn wet screams are always better than new ones unless it's really sloppy.

Ferrals

Probably overthinking this but re-reading the pinkbike review at lunch (http://www.pinkbike.com/news/schwalbe-2015-nobby-nic-review.html) the suggestion is that actually the new nobby nic isnt that great in the wet on rocks. What is the old nobby nic like in these conditions? I'm now half wondering about getting the old rather than the new.

tyres are such a bl00dy minefield :evil:

The Rookie

The HD is better than any NN has been, but the old one in a decent compound wasn't a bad tyre, but the cheaper harder compounds were not nice in wet root or rocks although they were a little better once you got the tread surface cut up a little.

Ferrals

Yeah I just think the HD is too much tyre on a bike that will be used for xc racing and commuting as well as general xc and trail centre stuff. I should probably just wait for the new one but I'm concerned I might struggle to get my existing non tubeless ready ardent set up tubeless.

CitizenLee

Might be useful...

http://enduro-mtb.com/en/back-issue-gro ... ail-tyres/

Ferrals

Ah thanks that is interesting. Sadly I've realised I'm too much of a wannabe xc racer to sacrifice speed for grip and realistically I won't be happy unless I just run a Racing ralph rear rocket ron front, and a pair of dentures for when I spin out!

WindyG

You might change your mind when you have a real thick muddy race, I found that a Ron just doesn't dig in and grip it just floats over the surface too much, the Geax Gato XC I use on the front is a little bit narrower, grips well and clears mud and doesn't give up too much weight over a Ron only 630g as 27.5 tyre.

rockmonkeysc

The Rookie wrote:

The HD is better than any NN has been,

If you want a fast rolling, light trail tyre the nobby nic is much better than the hans dampf.

The Rookie

No dispute, I was referring to grip which was the original question, and the HD does give better grip than any NN has been.

Ferrals

Actually my original question was for the holy grail of a fast and light xc/ trail tyre combo with impeccable grip under all terrains and conditions

Don't want to get a tyre over about 680g preferably significantly less but will get snakeskin sidewalls

Trying to wait for these new tubeless easy sidewalks to be avail but am impatient and wonder if it's more marketing than actual improvement.

Ferrals

Not really buying advice now - I ended up getting a racing ralph for the rear and will wait to get a front tyre till I can get a nobby nic 2015 to try. So I now have a choice of either a maxxis ardent 2.25 or a conti x-king 2.2 on the rear. I measured them while still on the bike and they are about the same width. The conti is protection tubeless ready. The ardent is a folding tyre but it came with the bike. Despite using the ardent for a decent amount of time there is no observable wear on it - is it likely to be a cheap compound even though it's a folding tyre? The conti is pretty worn in the centre knobs but the side knobs are fine.

Any thoughts on which would be better as a front tyre? Am I going to have issues setting the presumably basic ardent up tubeless?