Which tyres...? (So confused!)

esuhl · April 2010

For the past few days I've been reading lots of discussions about bike tyres... and I am so confused/overwhelmed with the choices available that I don't know where to begin!

Can anyone suggest what sort of tyres I ought to buy? The ones on my bike at the moment are 26" x 2.25". I'm not an experienced rider, so a fairly cheap hard-wearing would probably be okay.

Most of the time I ride over very sandy scrubland, sometimes in woods with a bit of compacted dirt. I only cycle for fun, so it's usually good weather when I'm out!

I'm most concerned with having good grip when going up/down steep hills and trying to stay on the bike if I hit a sandy patch at high speed! Something that can take a bit of abuse would be good - the local chavs ensure that I end up riding over broken glass more often than I would like, and there are a surprising number of roots and pot-holes around too!

I do cycle on the road, but only to get to a nice bit of countryside - I don't really care about road performance.

Would any old knobbly tyre do? Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations! :-)

P.S. Sorry if this has been asked before - I did search and found a few suggestions, but I'm still a bit unsure as I'm pretty new to biking.

boneyjoe · April 2010

Suggest asking your local bike shop what they'd recommend. Someone there will hopefully have a fairly decent knowledge of your local trails / riding conditions and be able to recommend something suitable in your price bracket. Ensure the person you speak to has good MTB knowledge though, or you could end up with anything!

Wayupnorth · April 2010

Try Schwalbe Land Cruiser, you won't be disappointed. I have 2 bikes on these. About £9 each from Wiggle.

Northwind · April 2010

Don't worry too much about it, people on here fixate on getting the "best" but there's no such thing. Just try and avoid anything too rubbish, or too bad value, and you'll be fine. I always suggest 2.1 Kenda Nevegals, they're not the best either but they're good solid performers and On One are selling them £30 for a pair just now. Not fast, not too slow, not heavy or delicate or terrible or brilliant at anything. Sounds like you could get away fine with a faster tyre though maybe.

peter413 · April 2010

I always recomend Maxxis Minions and High Rollers and Ignitors but as has already been said, you can only get 'best' for you.

For example, Northwind rode my bike and hated the front end (to light and twitchy he said) but it works perfectly for me.

Northwind · April 2010

Strike me as a bit too much tyre for the OP's needs though. Even the skinny nevegals probably are tbh

peter413 · April 2010

Northwind wrote:

Strike me as a bit too much tyre for the OP's needs though. Even the skinny nevegals probably are tbh

I know, said them because they roll much better than the nevegals

Actually, the Ignitors will be really good I would have thought

esuhl · April 2010

Thanks for the great suggestions, everyone! In the end I went for a pair of 2.1 Kenda Tomac Nevegal DTCs, which seemed to get good reviews...

I had about 20 windows open at the time and I forgot Northwind's advice about a pair being only £30 at On One, so ended up paying £44 (D'oh! I'm kicking myself!) but I'm just so relieved to have made a decision at last!

Can't wait to give 'em a go! Thanks again!

ireland57 · April 2010

esuhl wrote:

Thanks for the great suggestions, everyone! In the end I went for a pair of 2.1 Kenda Tomac Nevegal DTCs, which seemed to get good reviews...

I had about 20 windows open at the time and I forgot Northwind's advice about a pair being only £30 at On One, so ended up paying £44 (D'oh! I'm kicking myself!) but I'm just so relieved to have made a decision at last!

Can't wait to give 'em a go! Thanks again!

I use Nevegal DTC (not called Tomac though) front and rear at present and am very happy with them.

They are noisy, take some pushing but grip very well in most conditions I've been in so far. I.e. wet/dry rock, wet/dry tree roots, hard pack, hard pack + loose on top, rocky ground, up/downhill. Bit average in sand but we don't have much of it in our rides.

They're the best of the 5-6 treads I've run so far.

nikstar1 · April 2010

Nice choice!!

Hope they work out well for you!

esuhl · May 2010

I've been out for a couple of short rides and the tyres are great on virtually any surface. The grip over exposed tree roots (where I would *always* lose a bit of traction before) is just amazing.

The only down side is cycling on tarmac where they make a fair bit of noise and seem to take more effort to keep 'em spinning. But I try to avoid tarmac as much as I can, so that's a pretty good trade off as far as I'm concerned.

I can't wait till I get the chance to go for a reaaaaaallly long ride :-)

diy · May 2010

I would second a Kenda Nevegal - its a good alround winter, summer, wet, dry tyre. If you want something a little more free rolling, then try something like a Kenda Dred Tread on the rear.

In fact if you don't mind the outlay - I would try to get a pair deal on both a Nevegal and a Dred Tread and then you have the ability to mix and match.

For example running the dred on the rear and the Nev up front will give you good control and still be fast rolling. If you find your are pretty slow descending hills and want rear grip then you can swap them around.

Alternatively Kenda Small block 8s are good, but ridiculously expensive for what they are.

specialized fast trak lk are also a good basic tyre and will last for ever.

Which tyres...? (So confused!)

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