So I’m having a bit of a crisis with tyres. I’ve always (in my relatively short mountainbiking career) been one to just put two of the same tyre on front and back and get on with it, but recently as my riding has progressed and I’m riding more technical stuff, I’m having a few problems.

I see new bikes coming with two different tyres, for example the Canyon Nerve AM 9 comes with a Nobby Nic on the back on a Fat Albert on the front, so I was wondering, is there certain characteristics a front or rear tyre ‘should’ have?

P.S. I know, yes, it’s probably technique 😉

front tyres should be good at steering, rear tyres should be good at putting power down.

both should be good at braking.

What is it that makes a tyre good at steering or braking though?

good steering suggests minimal lateral slip
good drive suggests minimal longitudinal slip in the direction of wheel rotation
good braking suggests minimal longitudinal slip in reverse direction to wheel rotation

?

My fronts are generally wider and have more nobbles on.
My rear will be robust enough to avoid punctures, nobbly enough to hold traction but as fast rolling as possible.

I always think maximum grip on front and a compromise between grip/speed on the rear.

It comes with a fetter tire on the front for maximum grip, generally where ever the front goes, the rear will follow.

It has a skinnier tire on the back for less rolling resistance. You have more weight over the back of the bike so it will naturally have more grip.

You really want the grippiest tyre up front. If you’re riding in filth then that’s likely to be the one with the larger spikes. In dry weather it’ll be the one with the wider carcass but as you’ve already guessed this isn’t always the case!

Some tyres come in specific front or rear versions (Maxxis Minion), Panaracer Fires have a bi-directional tread.

It’s better to have the faster rolling tyre at the back. This will usually have a shallower tread and be slightly narrower.

Of course someone will pop up and tell me that I’ve gotten it completely wrong in a minute.

Was out in quite sloppy mud today on some short downhill type trails with a Fire XC on the front and Mountain King on the back. Didn’t find it that much fun tbh 😆

A large, grippy front tyre is very confidence-inspiring on the rocks IME – really makes a difference when you can plant the front end down with authoritaaah.

I don’t tend to ride my bike very fast as a general rule, so worry less about the rear. Makes perfect sense what others are saying though – fast rolling with enough grip for acceleration.

haven’t read the thread.

i’m a big fan of different tyres front and rear. having said that; rear tyres are less important; if it works on the front it’ll be fine for the rear.

i generally run a faster tyre on the rear. currently got high roller front and a larsen tt rear. when it’s dryer i like a semi slick for a more drifty back end. 😀

The rear tyre is IMPORTANT, just not as much for safety. But if I cant put my POWAH! down, im not going anywhere!

On the HT I’ve got a Panaracer Ciner 2.25″ on front and an IRC Mythos 2.1″ on back.
On the FS I’ve got a Highroller 2.35″ on front and a Conti Baron 2.35″ on the back (not actually ridden it yet!).
In summer I tend to ride whatever I have thats light and fast rolling in arounf 2.3″ F & R.
Spring autumn I’ve intermediate stuff on the bike (i.e. whatever is in the shed that isn’t slick or massive knobs.)

Once upon a time I was happy riding around on a 1.95 ground control F&R. I was happier then. *sighs*

Normally I run different tyres front/rear, as others have said – except when its winter/mud etc. Currently Mud X’s both ends, although the rear is on its 3rd season, whereas the front is 2nd season.

Last year I ran an Ardent front and a Larsen rear, from March to November – as we barely had rain/mud.

I run Ardent front Crossmark rear.

Back in the day, front/rear specific tyres were all the range and the aim is well illustrated by these

Panaracer Smoke and Dart.

Smoke is the rear tyre with the steam boat paddle style tread for getting MAX POWER down.
Dart is the front tyre, with the arrow shaped tread, with lots of lateral edge for the steeringness.

iirc Bontrager Jones’ were the first to use the idea of having a smaller carcass on the rear tyre.

I put a sharp, new tyre on the front. When it starts to lose it’s bite I put it on the back and wear it away through the summer.

Although the rear tyre needs traction, that type of tread makes it slower rolling, which is more of an issue on the back than the front, and though smaller volume than the front is the norm, high volume is good on a hardtail. And although the front tyre is very much about cornering it’s also the dominant braking wheel (look at the rotor sizes) especially on a hardtail.

I’m rather confused about tyres myself! Back on my trusty XR4 (huge) 2.2 front (newer) and rear (older) which seem to do a pretty good job of everything as long as you have enough frame clearance and patience in sticky mud (I lost patience with the Swamp Things when the mud started to dry out). If you trust their grip (in whichever direction), their toughness and don’t mind their rolling resistance then you’re sorted, whatever you’re running (assuming you’re not racing in which case I’d be ultra pernickety).

I don’t think that’s a Smoke… Not the one I remember anyway.

I’ve been away from the scene for a while (see my ‘Everything’s changed!’ thread) but I always thought the ideal to be an arrow shaped tread on the front for steering and a paddle shaped tread on the back for drive traction – much like the Panaracer Smoke & Dart in themanfromdelmonte’s picture above. Indeed, if I could find somewhere selling a kevlar beaded NOS set of these I’d snap their arm off! A more modern tyre (but probably still considered Jurassic these days!) is the WTB Velociraptor, they are front and rear specific and have a very similar tread pattern to the Smoke & Dart.