Hi all,
I will be heading up to Fort Bill to ride the red and downhill routes in Aug.
I ride a Five with 36s which should be more than capable of getting me down the hill.
It is my main do it all bike, so at the moment has a Chunky Monkey on the front and a 2.25 Ardent EXO on the back.
Watching the race runs from Sunday has made me realise how tough on tyres these tracks are. Also finesse is not really a word I would use to describe my riding style . . .
So any recommendations on some cheap tyres to last me a weekend, give me some good grip and hopefully survive the experience?
I am considering another CM on the back, Super gravity HD from BikeDiscount or Highroller/Minion. But would obviously like feedback from people who have experienced the uplift tracks and tyres for themselves.
Thanks,
Si

Sub £20 proper downhill tyre
on one high roller dual ply linky

Sub £20 proper downhill tyre
on one high roller dual ply linky

Unbelievable price. I like when you can buy consumables at prices that don’t make you wince. That’s me sorted for France!

High Rollers will do the job nicely on the DH track, 60a compound should be grand, maybe a super tacky on the front if it’s slippery on the rocks.

Michelin descent tyres are cheap on crc at the moment, less than 18 quid each.
No idea what they are like though.

Having sealed bearings to keep the cement out is what you should really worry about.

Dual ply Minion DHF up front, pick yer size, and a Hans Dampf on the arse. Or a 60a High Roller.

Works.

Remember…. It’s like evil grey sand and it hurts bits.

Simon 🙂

I have tried single plys up front, burst them.

Normal spec 2 ply DH tyres are fine, maybe add a few more PSI than normal.

Super duty casing tyres (1.6kg) 🙂 awesome but could be overkill.

This is for me and my weight and riding, normal 20psi front, 25 rear, for the Fort i go to 25front and 30-35 rear. It’s a fast and rocky track so i up the PSI to suit.

A mini pump and spare tube saves a long walk down if you burst one, or risk trashing the rim and roll down.
Full face helmet and any armour you have, it’s a bit hard on most of the track if you crash.

The red run boardwalks….. yeah….i jumped the little table with a bit of a cross wind and got blown of it into the bog 🙂

The black run is good whatever the weather, you won’t be riding the muddy section through the woods and over the gap jump as that’s kept safe for WC use.

High rollers are popular, the soft race compound tyres get ruined on the rear, all that nice grippy granite to roll over.

Used Conti Kaiser, WTB Prowler MXs, Spesh Chunders, Big bettys and Muddy Marys, the Marys weren’t so keen on the flat turns up top, but ace for the rest of the track. The super duty MX prowler was so good i used it again even though most of the knobs got peeled off 🙂 it still gripped…. still got it somewhere, totally ruined.

On your first run of the black/wc just go easy, and if unsure pull off the track and have a quick look before you leap/crash.
Make sure your brakes are in good order, it’s real easy to get speed in places 🙂

The faster you go the smoother it gets, that will make sense after you have done it. Don’t expect to be down in 5mins, expect 15-20mins for first couple of runs, most non world cup riders are happy around the 8-10min mark, unless racing, but your not on a world cup bike.
It has been rigid raced, loads of hardtails play there, even seen a FSR Stumpjumper racing it alongside big DH bikes.

Don’t touch the back brake going through the deer fence crossing, it tends to end badly as it’s slippy over the cattle grid.
This is also the spot to stop to shake out all that arm pump, you can see riders coming down behind and they can see you.

You might walk funny the day after, this is common, so maybe don’t plan much for the day after.

It’s a great day out, caff up top, caff at the bottom (with bar) gondola uplift, bike and armour rental there as well.

Northwind has a large number of race runs on a variety of bikes as well, he might chip in with tyre faves 🙂

Great price that, I don’t like the skinny highrollers but still, for £20 I could like ’em more!

Not much to add to Ace’s post… Yeah I’ve ridden it a fair bit but not all that well or fast, so bear that in mind. Sticky compound and not overly tready, I reckon- grip on rocks and hardpack, on the public dh route there’s not that much mud and it’s mostly in the crap bit that bypasses the world cup woods so not worth planning for. Dualply, just makes sense- I’ve used Specialized SX and that was fine too but I ride pretty light (and did I mention slow?). Sensible tyre pressures and tubes will help (and you get funny looks, but I carry a pack with a tube and a pump, to avoid spoiled runs)

(I’ve done a few runs on XC singleplys, and didn’t flat but I babied them. Bad option. Slant 6 especially did not work! Last time, I flatted a dualply highroller hard enough to also flat the wheel, ooops)

And yep I agree, take first run slowly, it actually all rolls but some of it you basically can’t see what’s about to happen til it happens. Basically from the long woodwork, until you get near the woods and the trail goes from grey to brown, be more cautious, it’s more straightforward after that.

Red run is actually pretty hard, but more “trailcentry” in that you can see what’s going on. Though there’s a couple of real traps in it where if you take a wrong line or ride certain sections slowly, it can bite ridiculously hard. Careful on the wood!

And yeah, the main track material is made of a mix of beadblasting grit and broken glass, it burrrns 😆 I’ve come away from the endurance races with huge patches of skin missing just from mud abrading, not even crashes. Bloody ouch. I spend time on each gondola trip doing some basic Northwind maintenance.

All in all- just go for it, have a blast, don’t overthink… It’s great fun. Don’t piss about though, most people seem to spend half their day in the carpark! Rest and eat on the lift!

Oh, Pro Tip- you can cut between the red and dh routes near the big wallride, and further down I think you can now join the new trails from the puggy line- which the red crosses, and the dh goes over- you can turn off just before the big bridge. Just in case you decide you don’t like certain sections. Motorway kind of bores me as I can’t jump it properly frinstance!

Ugh, the Red -from the wallride- is divine. I love it.

I’m just back from the WC and it was nice to be able to do that bottom section from a quite short push up.

The new green xc is a riot too btw, definitely get on that for a warm up if you can be bothered with a climb. All ultra swoopy bermy niceness and little doubles.

Edit: Re Northwinds bit about crossing the new trails.

Thanks for the replies.
Cheap Highrollers look like the way forward, and the riding/ route advice is great.
Not going to try and be heroic, just enjoy the weekend and try not to mince too badly 🙂