Tyre Recommendations

wilkij1975

Hi all

Just wanting some opinions on good tyres. Been on Maxxis Ardents for a while now and while they roll good they’re not super grippy. My brother is an advocate of Maxxis Minion DHF and DHR but I think they may be a bit heavy duty for my riding (mostly local paths and trail centres).

It’s for 27.5 wheels, tubeless, not plus and preferably cheaper than a car tyre!

jamski

I go with a DHF 3C on the front, and a dual compound Ardent on the rear. Width all depends on your rims, my full suss has a 2.6 up front and a 2.4 rear. The winter hack has the same tyres but 2.3 (or 2.35) front and rear. Seems to suit all conditions well enough for me.

JBA

I run Specialized Purgatory Grid 2.3 front and Ground Control Grid 2.3 rear on my hard tail all year round and they work well for my use.
I have just bought a pair of 2.6" tyres in the Specialized tyre sale to try though to see if they provide a bit more comfort: a Butcher and an Eliminator, both in Grid flavour.

On the full sus I run Schwalbe Nobby Nic 2.35 Trailstar front and alternate between a Nobby Nic and a Rock Razer Pacestar on the rear.

You need to consider what your usage will be and what suits the majority of conditions and surfaces you ride on. Also be aware of the limitations of the cheaper tyre rubber compounds. They tend to be a bit more plasticky and don't grip so well in the wet.

billycool

I run Conti Trail Kings (tubeless) in the Black Chilli Compound (BCC) on my FS - very grippy but wear well. Ride with them all year round and do a lot of XC type trails as well as BPW, Afan, Peaks etc.

Can usually find them on offer for £35-£45 if you look at the right time.

The HT has Panaracer Fire XC Pro (tubeless) - bit old school but good grip, roll well and never had an issue. Been using them on and off since the 90's. Also run a Spesh Ground Control on the rear in the summer as it rolls a bit quicker.

https://www.chainreactioncycles.com/pan ... prod128775

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/groun ... 461-130665

wilkij1975

Thanks for the replies. Give me something to think about.

Riding wise it won’t be during the winter so don’t need anything to handle the heavy wet and mud of that.

dcwhite1984

I've just gone for a conti trail king 2.4 up front and a mountain king 2.3 on the rear both set up tubeless - i will keep you posted after i've managed a few rides.

steve_sordy

Ref the Conti Trail KIngs.

I agree with Billy Cool about the tyres, really excellent. But when buying, take extra care to ensure that you are buying the ones with the black chilli compound. The bcc is essential to get all the benefits of this superb tyre. If it has a wire bead, then it won't be bcc, but not all Conti kevlar beaded tyres have bcc! Why do the internet sales companies not make clear exactly what tyre is on sale!

dcwhite1984

[url][/url]

steve_sordy wrote:

Ref the Conto Trail KIngs.

I agree with Billy Cool about the tyres, really excellent. But when buying, take extra care to ensure that you are buying the ones with the black chilli compound. The bcc is essential to get all the benefits of this superb tyre. If it has a wire bead, then it won't be bcc, but not all Conti kevlar beaded tyres have bcc! Why do the internet sales companies not make clear exactly what tyre is on sale!

Brought mine from CRC, i was careful to check before i handed over the moolah.

Put them onto hunt trail wide rims and they were dead easy to set up tubeless, building up the rest of my bike at the moment so hoping to get out at some point and test it out.

steve_sordy

wilkij1975 wrote:

Thanks for the replies. Give me something to think about.

Riding-wise it won’t be during the winter so don’t need anything to handle the heavy wet and mud of that.

I bought the Conti TKs on the recco of a mate of mine for a week's ride in the Alps. Absolutely brilliant tyres. He had lent me a 2.4" tyre for the front and a 2.2" for the rear for the Alps, but when I got home I hung onto them for a while and tried them out in various combos with the tyres I already had. In the end I decided to buy two 2.2". I was faster downhill, around corners, uphill, everywhere!

I started with them in the summer and when the winter came I was fully prepared to switch them out for the mud tyres that I had in the garage. But I never did! If you are riding mostly mud, then mud tyres are essential. But of the trail is only part mud, then mud tyres can be a pain everywhere its not muddy!. It turned out that the Conti TKs (with the bcc compound) not only grip well in the dry, last for ages (except on tarmac), but they and shed mud well. OK, they will never be as good as a mud tyre in the mud. But mud tyres will never be as good as a TK when its not muddy, which is mostly! They became my all year round tyre that I was happy to ride whenever/wherever and just put up with the occasional muddy patch.

dcwhite1984

Dcwhite1984 wrote:

I've just gone for a conti trail king 2.4 up front and a mountain king 2.3 on the rear both set up tubeless - i will keep you posted after i've managed a few rides.

In response to the above, i have now given them a first ride and wow like night and day with my previous Maxxis, rolls well, loads of grip and just barrels over everything.

The front looks huge for a 2.4 to the point my mate commented "oh you've gone plus size" They are sitting on hunt trail wide 30mm internal rims set up tubeless rear is 25psi front is 30psi.

Can't wait to get back out on them now.

robertpb

Are you sure about those tyre pressures 25 rear 30 front should be the other way round and lower, low 20's front 3psi more in the rear.

steve_sordy

robertpb wrote:

Are you sure about those tyre pressures 25 rear 30 front should be the other way round and lower, low 20's front 3psi more in the rear.

I agree the higher pressure is normally at the rear and I also agree with your 3psi more in the rear advice as a guideline. But as we don't know how much the OP and his bike weigh it's difficult to suggest precise pressures for the tyres.

Also as the front tyres are so much wider than the rear then the pressure gap should be even more than 3psi.

robertpb

I never go by the stated size, I measure with a vernier. This works as a better way to get the difference in pressure.

eg my maxxis minion DHR 650b 2.4 WT is 58mm at the carcass on a 30mm rim but on my 26" bike a Magic Mary 2.35 is 62mm at the carcass on 23mm rims, both front wheels at 20psi. The Continental MK 26" on the rear at 24psi is only 58mm on 23mm rims. As you can see I have 4psi difference for the rear to compensate for the smaller volume instead of 3psi.

dcwhite1984

robertpb wrote:

Are you sure about those tyre pressures 25 rear 30 front should be the other way round and lower, low 20's front 3psi more in the rear.

Yeah i typed it the wrong way round so 30 rear 25 front, i'm also 95kg's with kit to go on top of that so i'm not the lightest.

dcwhite1984

robertpb wrote:

I never go by the stated size, I measure with a vernier. This works as a better way to get the difference in pressure.

eg my maxxis minion DHR 650b 2.4 WT is 58mm at the carcass on a 30mm rim but on my 26" bike a Magic Mary 2.35 is 62mm at the carcass on 23mm rims, both front wheels at 20psi. The Continental MK 26" on the rear at 24psi is only 58mm on 23mm rims. As you can see I have 4psi difference for the rear to compensate for the smaller volume instead of 3psi.

Thats too much effort for me, i pumps em up and go ride not too much forethought goes into it all to be honest.

Midnight

Dcwhite1984 wrote:

robertpb wrote:

I never go by the stated size, I measure with a vernier. This works as a better way to get the difference in pressure.

eg my maxxis minion DHR 650b 2.4 WT is 58mm at the carcass on a 30mm rim but on my 26" bike a Magic Mary 2.35 is 62mm at the carcass on 23mm rims, both front wheels at 20psi. The Continental MK 26" on the rear at 24psi is only 58mm on 23mm rims. As you can see I have 4psi difference for the rear to compensate for the smaller volume instead of 3psi.

Thats too much effort for me, i pumps em up and go ride not too much forethought goes into it all to be honest.

Tyre pressures, blimy, I do what I did as a teenager going to school, if it is hard it is pumped up

robertpb

Midnight wrote:

Dcwhite1984 wrote:

robertpb wrote:

I never go by the stated size, I measure with a vernier. This works as a better way to get the difference in pressure.

eg my maxxis minion DHR 650b 2.4 WT is 58mm at the carcass on a 30mm rim but on my 26" bike a Magic Mary 2.35 is 62mm at the carcass on 23mm rims, both front wheels at 20psi. The Continental MK 26" on the rear at 24psi is only 58mm on 23mm rims. As you can see I have 4psi difference for the rear to compensate for the smaller volume instead of 3psi.

Thats too much effort for me, i pumps em up and go ride not too much forethought goes into it all to be honest.

Tyre pressures, blimy, I do what I did as a teenager going to school, if it is hard it is pumped up

If you are doing that then you are not getting the best from your tyres, too hard and you increase rolling resistance and lose grip, plus the tyre will not track the ground as well. Most tyres only have a small sweet spot for the given weight of the rider, some can be as little as 4psi.

Why not set the tyres up properly, you set the suspension up correctly which takes far more time, takes me less than a minute to measure a tyre and set the pressure, once done that's it for the life of the tyre.

layers

I recently tested dhf minions back to back with hans damf / nobby nic combo and found the Maxxis to be much more grippy in loamy/ sandy terrain but the Schwalbes were great in harder packed and seemed a little faster rolling.

robertpb

layers wrote:

I recently tested dhf minions back to back with hans damf / nobby nic combo and found the Maxxis to be much more grippy in loamy/ sandy terrain but the Schwalbes were great in harder packed and seemed a little faster rolling.

But you are not testing like for like, a dhf or dhr is only comperable to a Magic Mary. I have a Magic Mary 2.35 on one bike and a 2.4 dhr minion WT on another, both on the front, the Mary is the bigger of the two, in loose muck the Mary is the better.