After 5 years…i’ve paid my dues on here and I think I’ve earned the right to finally ask!

So i currently run a 2.2 racing ralph pace star on both front and back of the XC bike. After 3 rides it transpires this was possibly the daftest tire choice available, as on the front the ralph is borderline dangerous

So can anyone suggest a fast roliing but reasonabley grippy front tyre for an xc bike in 29er favour…cost not really an issue thankfully..weight is a consideration however, i’m looking for it to be around 600g…oh and it needs to run tubeless

ta

Rocket Ron Pacestar. Perfect match, job done.

Nobby nick 2.25. 650gms i think?

is a ron not even less grippy than a ralph?

nic is under consideration but wasnt sure what else was out there

is a ron not even less grippy than a ralph?

No. Its more “spiky” with bigger knobs, better on the front for anything other than small gravel. It digs in more especially on the edges. There’s a reason the combo is common one the XC circuit.

About a million xc racers before you say Ralph is fine on the front.

However for a bit more bite in mixed conditions a Rocket Ron, Conti X-King, Bontrager XR2, Vittoria Barzo, Maxxis Ardent Race.

What pressure are you running?

I’ve had RR on the front with no problem other than being a little sketchy (currently using a Nobby Nic but that’s mostly laziness). They’re not really suitable if it’s wet and slithery but in this weather they should be great.

I’ve run the 29er Racing Ralph / Rocket Ron combo for ages, brilliant for XC and trail riding.

Is a Ralph available in a trail star version? Mine is pace star

I like the Ron- still not very grippy but it’s much more predictable and easier to trust, easy decision for me between that and the ralph which I just did not like. Quite liked the X-King too except for the sizing, if I wanted a 2.2 I’d have bought the 2.2 not the 2.4…

Not a proper XC rider though so I think I tend towards grip where others would want more speed.

Lots of love for the ron on here

2 questions –

Is it pacestar/trailstar, or just pace star?

Are they as short lived as everyone on the web makes out?

is this the one to go for?

Looks good. They do wear Schwalbe style and arent the best in rocks but if you are using Ralphs you know this already. So pacestar TL Easy snakeskin IMO is he best one.

Schwalbes are reinforced with acronyms, always make sure you get the one with the most TLAs for added durability and effectiveness.

im at t..’m also replaceing the nic on the trail bike with a minion. For a mincer will the dual compound version be ok, or do I need to go 3 c

On the front? 3C imo, the dual is a good rear but it can be a wee bit skiddy-if it can’t bite in, it’s not that grippy- wet stone, even hardpack trails. And because it’s much grippier when it can dig in, that means the change can seriously catch you out. Softer rubber fixes that and means it works well on more surfaces.

Buuut, I’d also say, are you happy with the Nic? Because the Minion is a much knobblier, much gripper tyre. It might be there’s a halfway house that works for you.

Whats a good half way house. Not really used the nice but it doesn’t inspire confidence.

I’m looking for something that can corner predictably but also roll well..

Got some super tacky hr2s on the big bike, so more trail orientated really and tubeless compatible. I read good things about the minion and had one on the big bike for a bit, but version I had was a pig to pedal

I notice someone asked about pressure. This would be my first question too. I found Ralphs sketchy if you run them with too high a pressure. I used to run them tubed years ago at 30psi and hated them. 23 psi tubeless they’re lovely.

If the OP hasn’t already played around with pressures, I’d go for that first

🙂

I’ve run ron front ralph rear for a few sets of tyres now, I like them.

I wouldn’t use a ralph as a front tyre though. I’d say nic or Ron on the front. Evo trail star flavour.

EVO pace star for rear.

If you like the HR try the DHF 2.3 width. Corner predictably – tick. Roll fast – err not as bad as you would think. No where near as bad as the 2.5 width. Around 850 grams. I run then most of the year of a xc/trail 29’er with ardent on the back then switch into an icon rear ardent front when I feel like having regular near death experiences or rolling fast.

but mrs p runs RR F+R and if I pump them up too hard she complains about it not feeling”right” I then let them down to 18psi (she weighs 50kg) and she’s happy again.

I run my tyres around 23 psi tubeless and weigh 80 kg.

I think the Ron is looking like the front tyre for the xc bike (appears to only come in pace star?) but also looking at an ardent. Its nearly impossible to understand which model is what however, and what weighs what.

Re the trail bike, still open to suggestions of whats good that sits somewhere between a nic and and minion. Hans damf use to be popular on here? Or what about something like a butcher control for all round use?

Butcher is a good all round front tyre. I used grid, control casing is noticeably thinner and no doubt lighter. Control casing purgatory on rear of my HT is surviving so far. Butcher is almost the same tread pattern as the minion DHF.

Trailstar does wear quite fast but I’d go for whatever the least nobbly trailstar tyre you could get on the front to go with RR pacestar on the rear.

Rocket ron/Racing Ralph works fine for me in summer, but is noticeably sketchier over wet roots than the MM/NN (TS/PS) is.

Trailstar wears quite fast, it’s noticeable that there’s a bit of wear on the front after about 900 miles, but I like that as it makes me feel hardcore getting wear on the front tyre, particularly the edge nobs.

Going against the flow a little here, but I’d definitely steer clear of a Ron on the front. They do bite a little better in soft conditions than Ralphs, but they’re so unpredictable – just let go with no warning. I’d much rather use a Ralph on the front, but if you’re not racing you might as well go with something a little meatier. Maxxis Ikons are excellent as an XC front tyre, although a little slow.

tpbiker – Member

Re the trail bike, still open to suggestions of whats good that sits somewhere between a nic and and minion. Hans damf use to be popular on here? Or what about something like a butcher control for all round use?

Oh sorry, I missed that. Hans Dampf is shite. Butcher Control is like a grippier DHF dual but with fairly puny sidewalls. But I still find the rubber a wee bit hard for the front.

It’s actually quite tricky because the DHF (and DHR2) are such damn good tyres, they overlap a long way out of their real territory. Like, the highroller should be the inbetweener option but in practice it’s a lot less grippy for not a lot less drag, it’s in the right “place” but it’s a worse tyre.

I would be thinking maybe Onza Ibex sticky version. Trailboss highgrip might do it, not tried that but it’s the sort of combo I’d be looking at- faster tread but still soft rubber.

2,4 mountainking 2 bc seems to get great reviews as an all rounder?

@ MKII – Depends what surfaces you are riding and the width of your rims. On ‘normal’ width rims the side knobs are so far down the sidewall they are useless, and on hardpack they have no surface area so are sketchy as hell.
Very much a soft conditions tyre imo, and they are fairly good at that.
Opposite @Northwind on HansDampf, i find it quite versatile and works well enough for me in a range of conditions. I’m happy to trade a bit of grip that a Mary or something from Maxxis would give for better rolling speed.

I’m changing my fast rolling Specialized Purgatory/Ground control for something that suits my riding for soon if you want them?

The purgatory is probably not going to be much of an improvement on the nic.

Or are we now talking about replacing the Ralph on the xc bike?