Fast but safe MTB tyres

w7london

Hi all,

I've been using Smart Sams on both wheels since I got a bunch of punctures in the winter (my criteria then was: something to stop me getting punctures, no matter what the weight or speed cost is!)

But now we're getting in to better weather, I am getting a bit tired of the really poor road rolling resistance on them.

What I'm looking for will be:
Fast on the flats
Good grip on the corners
Good puncture resistance

I narrowed it down to Rock Razor and Racing Ralph. Rock Razor seems to be very fast in the centre of the tyre and nobbly at the edge. Reviews say it can be a bit scary going in to corners waiting for the nobbles to bite.

So I think the Racing Ralph might be safer for me (I have a HUGE fear of slipping on curves - I've falled off twice like that, but not on these tyres).

What do you think about that choice? Also should I put the RR on both wheels? Or keep Smart Sams on one wheel?

Thanks so much for your advice!

w7london

Ah now I also see these have great puncture protection and decent rolling.

https://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-marathon-plus-smartguard-rigid-mtb-tyre?lang=en&curr=GBP&dest=1&sku=5360756451&kpid=5360756451&utm_source=google&utm_term=&utm_campaign=Shopping+-+All+Products&utm_medium=base&gclid=Cj0KCQjwl9GCBhDvARIsAFunhsnKn6zh70-aWPPyZydHjRd93Em7CyOTjx78AnnaXdfqzPuJ5xpIWlEaAl54EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

mully79

What terrain are you riding on ? Tarmac, gravel, mud, hardpack, loamy, rocky ?

The answer to punctures is converting to tubeless.

w7london

Mostly tarmac with a bit of gravel.

I have thought about tubeless, but I'd rather rely on a tyre/tube combo to help avoid punctures. Smart Sam is doing very well in that respect.

mully79

I ran schwalbe hurricanes on my commuter. i quite liked the solid central strip for road and slight knobbles for corners.
Theyre probably more commuter tyres than your current style.

JBA

What bike and what size wheels?
If all your riding is road and gravel then you’ll be better off fitting gravel tyres rather than MTB tyres. They will be lighter and roll faster.

steve_sordy

w7london said:

Mostly tarmac with a bit of gravel.

I have thought about tubeless, but I'd rather rely on a tyre/tube combo to help avoid punctures. Smart Sam is doing very well in that respect.

Going tubeless will not stop you getting punctures, but in combination with a sealant, you will stop getting flats. The only time you will get a flat when you are running tubeless is when you would have got a flat anyway even with a tube, like a tear on the side wall or a tyre failure on the bead.

Pretty much any tyre can be made tubeless and most rims these days are already tubeless ready. But you must use a sealant, that's the key!

Early on, I was having a flat tyre on average every 14 miles. On my journey towards tubeless, my first step was to put sealant in my existing tubes,. I never got another flat for years. My next step was to buy tubes with sealant already in them (by Slime), but the tubes are heavy, at least twice the normal weight.

But then I bought a bike that was "tubeless ready" (often known as TLR), so I took the next step and went fully tubeless. Wow what an amazing difference! Not only did I retain the lack of flats, but the wheels are lighter and I could run lower pressures (no snakebite punctures to worry about). The lower pressure gave me reduced rolling resistance over rough ground, better comfort, reduced vibration through the bars, and a much better ride feel. I could go faster and with less effort.

The key thing to realise is that unless you use tyres with a puncture proof lining, then you will still get punctures with tubeless, just no flats. My record is over two dozen punctures, that I could see, on each tyre! But no inconvenient flats!

Since I went tubeless about 10-11 years ago, I have had three flats. Two were caused by a batch of faulty tyres, where the bead tore in the same place on each tyre at around the same distance covered Not even a tube could have helped with those. The third was when the tyre ran out of sealant, which was my fault.

Yes, I could have put thicker and heavier tyres on, with DH tubes, and maybe also Cushcore inserts, but you can probably imagine what that does to the feel of the bike.

Go tubeless - it really is worth the effort.

Warning! Converting to tubeless is a bit harder than a expert makes it look, but a lot easier than a beginner makes it look. Once you have done a few, you will have joined the expert class.

w7london

It's a Rockrider ST120 with 27.5 wheels.

So now it seems I'm down to three options:
Racing Ralph
Marathon
Hurricane

w7london

Are the marathon plus or hurricane going to give me enough speed on tarmac (compared to smart sam)?