High Rollers in the wet!

JayKingFunk
JayKingFunk Posts: 411
edited October 2009 in MTB general
Not sure where to post this but...

I have High Rollers front and back on my HT. Both 2.35, front is a 42a super tacky, rear is a 60a.

So far this year they've been excellent in the dry, I mean really stick like glue on fast corners and berms...in the wet however not so good!

Do you guys think it would give me a lot more grip if I reduce the PSI or should I just MTFU and buy a set of decent, narrower wet weather tyres??!

Thanks in advance, J
I love the sound my tyres make on dusty single track!

Comments

  • bomberesque
    bomberesque Posts: 1,701
    what PSI are you running?

    I find the 60a HR an awesome rear tyre and while I only have teh 42a on the front of my DH bike, that is awesome aswell (if slow rolling)

    I haven't found a problem, particularly, with them in the wet, I usually have them at about 30psi.

    fwiw my front tyre choice on my XC bike is 2.4 nobby Nic, which I find complements the HR out back quite nicely. I have the 2.1 versions on my SS, which are surprisingly good aswell (they're both a *lot* narrower in 2.1 v 2.35/2.4, more than the difference in the numbers makes them sound)
    Everything in moderation ... except beer
    Beer in moderation ... is a waste of beer

    If riding an XC race bike is like touching the trail,
    then riding a rigid singlespeed is like licking it
    ... or being punched by it, depending on the day
  • JayKingFunk
    JayKingFunk Posts: 411
    Are you running a tubeless set up then? 30psi sounds really low to me, I run mine at about 50!!

    Do you find that theres a lot more rolling resistance at 30??

    Its mainly the width I was concerned about, I thought a narrower tyre would be better in the wet but I'll try them at lower pressures first!!
    I love the sound my tyres make on dusty single track!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    50PSI? holy crap. They must be like concrete. I'm a bit of a heavy fugger at 15 and a half stone, and run my tyres at about 30-35 PSI max. Almost never get pinch flats, even on very rocky trails, large drops and the like - this applies to both my tubeless bike, and my inner-tubed one.
  • dave_hill
    dave_hill Posts: 3,877
    JayKingFunk wrote:
    I run mine at about 50!!

    There's your answer then...
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  • bomberesque
    bomberesque Posts: 1,701
    50 is really quite high

    I do run them tubeless (ghetto'd) but was running them with tubes before. It's true that I got pinch flats (hence the change to tubeless) but it wasn't unworkable.

    the relationship between tyre pressure and rolling resistance is a contentious point, as it happens. Some German guy did some testing a while back and found that, off road, rolling resistance can actually decrease with decreasing tyre pressure, but tbh the report wasn't really impressive (seems like maybe he did it for an A-level or 1st year uni experiment type of thing) and was clearly sponsored by Schwalbe (or he had access *only* to schwalbe tyres, I don't recall exactly)

    try 30-35 lbs. worst case; you hate it and pump the tyres back up again after 20minutes
    Everything in moderation ... except beer
    Beer in moderation ... is a waste of beer

    If riding an XC race bike is like touching the trail,
    then riding a rigid singlespeed is like licking it
    ... or being punched by it, depending on the day
  • passout
    passout Posts: 4,425
    30-40 psi for me.
    'Happiness serves hardly any other purpose than to make unhappiness possible' Marcel Proust.
  • grumsta
    grumsta Posts: 994
    High Rollers are very good in the wet imo - but they won't be at 50 PSI
  • Thewaylander
    Thewaylander Posts: 8,594
    not suprised you have no grip high rollers are great in the wet in rooty rocky areas like where i live..

    But 50psi is basicly 20psi way to high mate
  • scotto
    scotto Posts: 381
    bomberesque wrote:
    50 is really quite high



    the relationship between tyre pressure and rolling resistance is a contentious point, as it happens. Some German guy did some testing a while back and found that, off road, rolling resistance can actually decrease with decreasing tyre pressure, but tbh the report wasn't really impressive

    seems obvious that decreasing the air will make the tyre slower on any terrain other than soft mud?
  • Thewaylander
    Thewaylander Posts: 8,594
    not true this point has been brough up on threads before, simply go try it lol
  • wordnumb
    wordnumb Posts: 847
    scotto wrote:
    bomberesque wrote:
    50 is really quite high



    the relationship between tyre pressure and rolling resistance is a contentious point, as it happens. Some German guy did some testing a while back and found that, off road, rolling resistance can actually decrease with decreasing tyre pressure, but tbh the report wasn't really impressive

    seems obvious that decreasing the air will make the tyre slower on any terrain other than soft mud?

    Nope. What works for roadies does not necessarily apply off road where you're constantly hitting lumps.

    50 psi lol. As above, 15-25 more than you want.
  • JayKingFunk
    JayKingFunk Posts: 411
    Thanks for your advice peeps.

    My tyres are usually quite hard at 50 but they run fast as hell on dry at that!!

    I'm wondering if my pressure gauge is off, I basically go by the one thats fitted to my track pump which is a Joe Blow 2. The pump works very well though and I haven't had it long or used it loads either!!

    I'll give it a go at 30ish and see!!

    J
    I love the sound my tyres make on dusty single track!
  • scotto
    scotto Posts: 381
    wordnumb wrote:
    scotto wrote:
    bomberesque wrote:
    50 is really quite high



    the relationship between tyre pressure and rolling resistance is a contentious point, as it happens. Some German guy did some testing a while back and found that, off road, rolling resistance can actually decrease with decreasing tyre pressure, but tbh the report wasn't really impressive

    seems obvious that decreasing the air will make the tyre slower on any terrain other than soft mud?

    Nope. What works for roadies does not necessarily apply off road where you're constantly hitting lumps.

    50 psi lol. As above, 15-25 more than you want.

    yes I ride a 35, but when I ran 50 on hardpack areas it was quicker, i am sure of it :-)
  • grumsta
    grumsta Posts: 994
    yes I ride a 35, but when I ran 50 on hardpack areas it was quicker, i am sure of it

    Yeah running 23c tyres at 100 PSI on a road is faster too, what's your point? :)
  • Thewaylander
    Thewaylander Posts: 8,594
    scotto wrote:
    wordnumb wrote:
    scotto wrote:
    bomberesque wrote:
    50 is really quite high



    the relationship between tyre pressure and rolling resistance is a contentious point, as it happens. Some German guy did some testing a while back and found that, off road, rolling resistance can actually decrease with decreasing tyre pressure, but tbh the report wasn't really impressive

    seems obvious that decreasing the air will make the tyre slower on any terrain other than soft mud?

    Nope. What works for roadies does not necessarily apply off road where you're constantly hitting lumps.

    50 psi lol. As above, 15-25 more than you want.

    yes I ride a 35, but when I ran 50 on hardpack areas it was quicker, i am sure of it :-)

    I have little hardpack trail where i ride, mostly its rocks and roots and more rocks, as most Welshies know, in this case 50psi is slow cos your crashe most of the day 30psi is fast as i haven't crashed :p
  • DVV
    DVV Posts: 126
    I would suggest trying 35psi first to see how it feels. I run 35 front and 40 back, but that's partly because the terrain near me isn't that exciting. For more 'technical' riding I would drop another 5psi off both front and back.

    Also, I personally wouldn't decide whether you are slower or not on the basis of fireroads. The tires might feel slower on fireroads/roads, but faster on rough terrain for example.

    For me the whole point of the ride is to enjoy the off road stuff, so I don't tune my bike set up to the boring road bits in between.
  • fletch8928
    fletch8928 Posts: 794
    I took a load of pressure out of my tyres yesterday, bumbling aliong a well known route first large hump slab of rock and the front washed out (Nobby Nic). Swore and hit the valve, no problems after that except the filthly gloop that ground me to a halt. I was running at 42/3 psi got home and was down at 34. I have my new pressure for the winter
    fly like a mouse, run like a cushion be the small bookcase!
  • The Spiderman
    The Spiderman Posts: 5,625
    I went out the other night without checking my tyres.Whilst out I noticed that my bike had a lovely,supple feel and I wasn`t being pummelled as much as normal,though the back did get a bit squrelly on tight truns

    Got back to discover I`d been running my tyres at 20psi! :lol:

    Lower pressure is the answer,try it.

    Normally run mine at 35,ish.
    2006 Giant XTC
    2010 Giant Defy Advanced
    2016 Boardman Pro 29er
    2016 Pinnacle Lithium 4
    2017 Canondale Supersix Evo
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I really miss my old IRC Kujos, they were built like a tank, so you could run them with virtually no air at all in them. I used to tear up the quarreis with around 15-20PSI, and never pinch flatted.
  • Splasher
    Splasher Posts: 1,528
    yeehaamcgee wrote:
    I really miss my old IRC Kujos, they were built like a tank, so you could run them with virtually no air at all in them. I used to tear up the quarreis with around 15-20PSI, and never pinch flatted.

    Have you tried Maxxis dual plys? Similarly tough, similarly heavy though.
    "Internet Forums - an amazing world where outright falsehoods become cyber-facts with a few witty key taps and a carefully placed emoticon."
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    I've tried high roller dual ply. Not quite as tough, and much, MUCH heavier than my old Kujos. :(
  • lesz42
    lesz42 Posts: 690
    at llandegla, running nevegal 2.1, at 30 psi it can get to the first berm in 24 min, at 60 psi (max) its about 20 sec faster?


    rest of the trail at 60 psi on a HT, is scary :( and only a little faster
    Giant Trance X0 (08) Reverb, Hope Hoops 5.1D, XT brakes, RQ BC, Works Components headset 1.5
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    riiight. :roll:
  • Hercule Q
    Hercule Q Posts: 2,781
    i usually run about 25psi lovely and fast
    pinkbike
    Blurring the line between bravery and stupidity since 1986!

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