Help me choose some tires

[JHZR2]

Hello,

It is time to replace the WTB tires on my bike. What I do is ride 70% MTB, 30% on the road for chores, going places, etc.

Therefore Id like as good a riding bike as possible on the road, but cannot give up good capabilities going uphill off-road.

The trails I ride are all a combination of dirt with sand. There is enough dirt that when it is wet, my tires can clog with a sandy mud, not good for traction when climbing. Some of the places I go have a LOT of exposed roots too - so a tough tire that will not pinch or break off lugs is important, yet it needs to be able to dig in.

I prefer continental and michelin tires, kevlar beads, 900-1000g for the rear. I get a fair amount of lift-off when climbing, so a tin bit heavier front tire (same 1000g range>) might be good too.

I run discs, so tire width isn't a big deal (I guess???).

Recommendations?

 

[JHZR2]

Looking at michelin XCR Xtrem, but want to know where they are made... Conti mountain king seems to be well-reviewed, and made in Germany, but not sure if it is aggressive enough for me. I was also looking at their "slash" mud tire, but some say it is too hard for good traction on hard, wet surfaces.

I was thinking of the XCR all around, or the mountain king front, slash rear setup... any thoughts?

 

[NYEngineer]

I recently swapped the tires on my 29er to Maxxis Ardents. Awesome tires. Don't know if they make em for 26ers.. Which do you have?

 

[JHZR2]

26.

 

[NYEngineer]

Well, I rode a demo bike over the weekend that had a small block eight tire on the rear. It looks like it woulda been a sweet pavement tire, but it offered nothing on the sandy Long Island terrain. Kenda Nevegals and Blue Streaks are great 26er tires.

 

[huffmuds9320]

My bike came with Kenda Komodo 26x2.1 tires which I think have a ok balance between grip and low rolling resistance. Since the tread is not very deep, it slips a bit on trails loose gravel. These tires are not front/rear specific though. Another tire I like is the Hutchinson Pyton. It has fairly good balance between grip and rolling resistance.

I recently got a new rear tire for my bike, the IRC Mythos XC. I did not like the IRC Mythos XC tire that much, it had noticeably more rolling resistance for street riding and off road grip wasn't as good as I expected.

 

[JHZR2]

I just bought a set of Maxxis Minion DHF/DHR tires in 26x2.35

I also bought continental "light" tubes.

The tire variet I got was the single compound, 60A durometer tires. Likely not as sticky as a 42A or 3-compound tire, but should last longer when I use it on pavement. Hopefully it rolls OK on the pavement...

Just couldn't justify $68/tire for conti mountain king, though I really wanted a German-made tire vs. china-made stuff. I wonder if there are any US-made bike tires???

 

[bmph8ter]

You really do want it all don't you? Good on the road AND in mud while working on exposed roots. LOL! Sounds like the holy grail. =) I've had really good luck with the Maxxis Crossmark lately. Not super tread heavy, so it will roll good on the pavement. The knobs are spaced out fairly well, so it shouldn't clog too bad. And, they are just squares, so there aren't lots of edged to get ripped off. Note that almost all my riding is single track, and in Arkansas it gets REAL sharp and rocky. So anything that I don't utterly destroy in a season gets high marks.

Kenda Karmas have worked good too, but they are pretty light. Also, the Schwalbe Nobby Nic is GREAT!

Just out of curiosity, why did you get a set of heavy [censored] downhill tires and then buy light tubes?

 

[JHZR2]

Thanks for the info... Yes, wanting it all, though RR on-road is my lowest priority, I guess.

Why did I get light tubes with heavy tires? Why not? Im not really using DH tires for DH riding, I guess, they just seemed to offer the best set of performance for what I needed... I figured since the lighter tubes were the same price, why not shave a few grams?

We keep our bikes in the basement, so convenience (and thus weight) is a factor. Ill likely not notice any difference, but at least Im shaving as best I can. Maybe it is worthless in the end... oh well.

P.S. I bought the smaller size minions, 2.35. They are supposedly the "mountain" ones, lighter than the 2.35 and 2.7 more DH oriented ones. We will see...

 

[SLCraig]

I can recommend Kenda Small Block Eights...

Fast rolling tire, both on and off pavement.

 

[BuickGN]

My WTB Mutano Raptor 2.4 tires are good in nearly every terrain, giving up a little in mud.

 

[JHZR2]

went out for a good ride yesterday, and it was a combination of loose sand in some places and mud in others. Tires sunk in like others, but dug enough to be able to keep going. In mud, they did great. In loose soil going up steep hills, they definitely provided better/more traction.

At 2.35, they are a bit wide for my bike, and when pedaling, I can hear them rub in some conditions on the chainstay. They allow me to push a bit more, which means that I am also closer to falling... but when they are going to let go, they indicate it pretty well...

 

[bmph8ter]

It's cool, I was just curious. Be sure you post back after 5-10 rides and let us know what you think.

 

[UG_Passat]

the Specialized Fast Trak LK Sports that came with my Rockhopper is a pretty good all-purpose tire. For some of the rail-trails I do, I do encounter parts of dirt/sand with reasonable traction. The low knobs help with rolling resistance on the asphalt (with 40 psi in the tubes). And for the steep climbs (rocky, loose, muddy, rooty, etc)--- it works fine.

The lift-off when climbing-- you can control that with your weight distribution.

I did win a set of CST Caballero at this year's JORBA Bike Fest. Look forward to trying them some time. CST and Maxxis are the same company, with CST tires more focused on the ethusiast rider, sacrifacing speed for more durability