Recommendations on tires for the local trails

[Tapper881]

All,

I'm thinking about swapping tires, and as a FORC'n newbie I was hoping some of the more experienced riders could share their thoughts/opinions on what works well on the local trails. Most of my time is spent at Sunder, Sylvan, and an occasional trip up north to Kettle.

Anyway, I appreciate any info the group would be willing to share.

--Tapper

[Russhole]

A lot of guys are rollin' Kenda small block or something similar. The low profile knob is good for gripping hard pack. I'm going to purchase a couple of these myself when it dries up.
I've read a review that say they aren't so good in mud but grab best on hard pack.
The other reivew winner was, I think, Rubber Queen. They said this is the best all around tire. It's good from hard pack to wet tree roots.

[Byke Dood]

Continental rubber queen


they look like a good tire.


http://www.conti-online.com/generator/www/de/en/continental/bicycle/themes/mtb/downhill_freeride/rubberqueeneng/rubber_queen_en.html

[Gunchie]

A good dry weather tire will do the trick. Who cares if they don't work will in wet conditions because when the trails are wet you better not be riding on them. I like my small block 8's myself, but the options are endless.

[Byke Dood]

H mmm for racing would go with the 8's


small block: http://www.competitivecyclist.com/mountain-bikes/product-components/2010-kenda-small-block-8-tire-3368.603.0.html

[AG]

I had a set of 8's got to say, hated them. Ran them early this year with different trail conditions and different psi. I am here to tell you I will never run them again. They pushed through the turns when the trails were dry and when the trails were tacky they slide skis. Slick Rock Moad is the best place for the tires. I tried a few different tire combos this past year and always went back to something with knobs. My Serac IRC always seemed to work 90% of the time.

[mtnbkn1]

try out some bontrager tires. They have a 30 day test ride period that if you aren't happy, we try something else. how can you beat that? I personally like the XDX's, but also like the 29-3's on the hifi. By the way... 26 or 29? Did we get to that yet?

[jimithng23]

The small block works really well as a rear tire around here. I prefer something with more grip up front, as I pushed through a few corners with the SB8 up front. the Kenda Nevegal is a favorite of mine, I never had a problem with traction, but it is a slower tire and pretty heavy.

Everybody is going to have different experiences with the same tires, it's all about experimenting to find out what works best for *you*

[Dirt]

My Serac IRC always seemed to work 90% of the time.

60% of the time, it works...every time! Good one, AG.
How can anyone review SB8's from riding last year? It was NEVER dry. Hard pack? Yeah right. I have a feeling the SB8's will rock when it's truly dry. However, I think it sucks to have to switch tires just b/c the trails are tacky. I wish I bought a more versatile tire. No recommendation except don't buy the SB8's unless you plan on buying multiple sets of tires.

BTW, SB8's at Ray's? That seems like a good idea to me. Am I wrong?

[Gunchie]

Can't go wrong with the Kenda Nevegal. The rolling resistance isn't great, but you'll be hard pressed to break them loose. One of my favorite trail bike tires for sure. Yeah, the SB8 should work just fine at Ray's.

[dru_b]

i rode sb8's on the xtc all summer last year. can't say that i love em, can't say that i hate em. i WILL say that the sidewalls are super thin and cut VERY easily. i went through 2 tires in about a month at sylvan later in the year. they completely suck in ANY type of soggy stuff as traction is very limited. i have also pushed them through the corners a few times, once leading to rim bend (which was repairable, so nothing major).

i cannot say what i would go to other than those as i havent ridden many others. hard to "try out" tires, unless you know someone who has many and will let you borrow a few pairs.....

[DH001]

I use the Michelin XC Dry2 and Panaracer Fire XC Pro tires; sometimes I mix and match them depending on conditions.

The Dry2s have much lower rolling resistance than the Fire XCs and work well on hard packed dry surfaces (duh right?). They tend to wash out easily when cornering in small gravel and sandy/dusty conditions and once the side knobs wear enough to loose their edges the cornering traction becomes severely compromised. Surface dependent, braking traction is good. I have had mine for about two seasons and they are in need of replacement. They are terrible for slime, mud, or wet rocks/roots; I made the mistake of using these at Blue Mound in slimy conditions. I have ridden these tires at Kettle in the dry and they worked well on the rocky sections and ok in the sandy bits. I use these tires most of the time.

I use Fire XCs exclusively when it is wet and/or extra traction is required (slimy hills, roots, wet rocks, snow) and they do the job. I used these tires at the 09 Sylvan swamp fest and I didn't have traction issues. Rolling resistance is high however and I can easily feel it when riding on hard packed surfaces. During hard cornering on hard surfaces there is noticeable "knob walk" with these tires. I have also lightly used these for about 2 seasons and the knobs are only slightly worn.

Looking at a tires tread pattern can give insight to how the tire will perform. Small short closely spaced central knobs are usually advantageous for dry conditions and low rolling resistance, large tall widely spaced knobs are good for shedding mud and digging in to the soil in loose conditions, and aggressive side knobs will give increased cornering traction in loose conditions.

With that said, tire choice is highly dependent on riding style and everyone is going to have different ideas on what is right for them.

[Gunchie]

With that said, tire choice is highly dependent on riding style and everyone is going to have different ideas on what is right for them.


Well put.

[Vibrato]

Been through pirhanas, werewulfs, veloci-rapters,nevagals, fire xc, jones xc, irc serac's etc and I personally feel like I'm still searchiing for my favorite tire. The lightest tires were the jonses at 440 grams each, they work on pavement and clean hardpack but if you leave the ground they'll pinch when you land. Did this during my weight weenie phase and started breaking stuff every ride.

I have always had a severe problem with tires rolling over on me in hard corners or puking the tube when landing no matter the pressure, of course I'm on my 3rd frame, too, so it's not like they're being babied.

Very Late fall I just put on tubelwess ready (NOT UST) Conti Mountain Kings with the black chili compound and kevlar reinforced sidewalls on tubeless, 2.4 in front and 2.2 in back.-Quite spendy, not as heavy as you might think for tires this size.

So far I like the sidewall action and the traction is good. I have concerns about knob walk on the 2.4 because the knobs are quite tall and may flex more than I like, but the confidence in the sidewall action is what I have been looking for in most tires and these seem great so far.

From reading and experience, I think for the majority of riders tires are like beer, you just want one that doesn't suck for your riding style. the level of traction for every tire listed in this thread is prolly real close to each other for people who ride a certain way.

Buy a tire that has sidewalls that will handle your weight and abuse, get a brand that has bee used locally, and ride dat bastud like it owes you big money.
********
The old coot from Mountain bike mag had some good advice for all riders about tires- he says over time we don't check pressure, or we add some for this ride not realizing we added some for this ride the last time we were there, lose some for that ride not realizing ..., pretty soon we can't remember what pressure worked the best for us.

So, pump a little higher pressure than what you think you want, start taking out 2 pounds of pressure every ride until it starts getting worse, then add 2 pounds and go. This'll make the most out of whatever tire you buy!

[Russhole]

2 more cents from me... My bike came with Bontrager Jones tires on it and I hated them. If the trail was moist at all, my front tire kept sliding out and coming up out of a creek crossing they were slick as snot. I ended up buying some big knobby tires, Michellin Mounaint AT expert, and they did really well for me, although I found it's the opposite of what more experienced riders are going for. I don't care, I like 'em and that's what matters. As stated above, there is no one right tire. With that said, the Kenda Nevegal is listed as the #1 tire 4 years running by Mountain Bike Action Magazine. With all the different reviews above, I guess I'm going to rethink the small blocks.

[jimithng23]

@russhole - I've been running the Nev as a front tire for nearly a year and I love it. IMO, its a little too much for a rear for our local trails. the SB8 has great traction around here *as a rear tire* in my experience.

it seems as though the trend is to try to run as low pressure as you can get away with to get maximum traction...that's why you're seeing more and more riders going to the 2.4 up front - more volume, lower pressure = greater traction with minimal loss in rolling resistance.

be weary of larger publications like MBA and their recommendations. I would be willing to be a good amount of money that in the issue saying the Nevegal is the best tire, Kenda took out a few full page ads - gotta support your biggest advertisers!

what I'm liking about this thread - everyone is talking about a common theme: find what works for *you* and stick with it. what works for Vibrato and his riding style, may not work for AG, but may work for you, and so on.

there are simply too many variables to make a blanket statement on tires.

[Gunchie]

what I'm liking about this thread - everyone is talking about a common theme: find what works for *you* and stick with it. what works for Vibrato and his riding style, may not work for AG, but may work for you, and so on.



Yep. If this were MTBR someone would be complaining and throwing a fit. Tapper881, I feel your pain. I just converted one of my bikes into tubeless using the stan's kit and found out two of my tires needed to be patched on the sidewalls. Now I'm rethinking my choice of tires for the terrain I'm in and what tire should I choose. Trust me, you can spend a lot of time researching what tire to buy. Nevegal in front and SB8 in back sounds pretty solid though.

[Tapper881]

All,

Thanks for the discussion -- I didn't expect that all the FORCers would be running the same rubber... I agree that riding style and personal preferences play a big roll, but I appreciate you guys sharing your thoughts... I'm thinking Nev up front and SB8 on the back side may be a good starting point.

Thanks again for the advise!
--Tapper