Recommendations on tires for the local trails

[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.
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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!