These have to be the worst tyres i have ever owned when it comes to roots,
climbing innerleithen today and it became a joke everybody else had the odd
slide but me!!!!! on the ground or rocks on nearly every bloody one. Ah well
back to the slow high rollers.

maybe learn how to ride roots better?

never had a problem in nearly twenty years of riding, so unless any skill/ability i have ever had vanished over night i cant think of anything else to blame but the tyres, they just brake away at the sight of a slippy root.

So you think NNs are bad? Try again on Maxxis Ignitors…………well, actually, don’t……………………..!

Tsk… a poor workman always blames his tools, Gav!

*currently waiting for UST High Rollers to arrive*

There are hardly any roots at Inners though…

I use Nobby Nics and they work well on roots.

What pressure you running them at?

Andy after my third down i was tempted to take them of and ride on my
inner tubes, i am not saying they are bad tyres in fact most of the time
they grip pretty well, just dont show them any slippy scottish roots!

[*]http://www.wiggle.co.uk/p/Cycle/7/Continental_Mountain_King_ProTection_Folding_Tyre/5360034655/[/*] – just check the ‘recommended’ pressures on these bad boys!

35psi and there are enough roots on the first wooded climb to have me off
more than in the last years riding.

35psi – 2.25″ or 2.4″ gamo ?
and what rim ?

35psi

Did you persevere with the tubeless conversion?

I’ve never had my tyres that high since going UST; never more than 32psi – and we’re probably about the same weight at 15st or so?

lecht 2.25 on 5.1’s(on the hustler) andy put tubes back in when i fitted the
NN’s as they pissed out sealant for three days and wouldnt hold any pressure
(they are the folding evo’s rather than ust or snakeskin).

ok – i run 2.4’s and regularly swap back and forth for a big betty.
the nobby nic has a wee bit less grip but better feedback. tree roots are slipppery…never had a tyre that could hold a sucker like that in 25 years of mtb.

There are only about 3 sets of roots up that climb at the very most. They are polished to hell and I doubt that any tyres would cope with them in todays dampness.

i ran racing ralphs there in mid december and only found one small bit of roots remotely sketchy, running 40psi and i weigh 65kg.

i’ve never found a tyre thats particularly good on roots specifically

slow High Rollers?!? are you on crack? 😀

i’ve never found a tyre thats particularly good on roots specifically

I have but they have stopped making them so I’m not telling you in case they run out. 🙂 Mind you they’ve got a lot higher rolling resistance than NNs. One of my pals is a Schwalbe fan, swapping RRs and NNs depending on the season. He seems to struggle more on the roots and particularly on the ice than anybody else.

high rollers def have higher drag than the NN’s(not meaning slow on the downs),having just washed my bike i have also noticed a tear in the front tyres sidewall so the maxxis are now back on.smee nobody else came off and i ride with the same guys all the time so they were all finding it quite funny watching me getting back on after the three offs!we ride down there regularly
and i have never had a prob before(first and last time on the NN’s).

devs – maxxis mobsters? i run one on the back its pretty good on roots

You fell off riding uphill? ha ha ha!!!

seriously though, if you mean on the XC route, it’s really not your tyres (or even tyre pressure) that are to blame.

devs – maxxis mobsters? i run one on the back its pretty good on roots

Nope! Right manufacturer though. I’ll give you a clue. They start with “S” and end with “wampthing”. Brilliant on roots and in snow but you ain’t gonna win any races on them (unless it’s a wet root and snow race).

nobby nic = crap…….end of

devs, how are swampthings (a mud tyre) brilliant on roots?
A> they’re not! – Maxxis do many tyres that would be far better on roots.
Mobsters are a pretty dated DH tyre design but in the same compound would be better than a swampthing on roots IMO (but shit in snow)

tyres that will give the best grip on roots would ideally be large volume, square profile, heavy casings and soft compound run at very low pressure. knob spacing depends on what the surrounding dirt is like, but a mud tyre has less than ideal patern for gripping to roots.
swampthings are also very round in profile and have widely spaced knobs for mud clearing.

35psi

Did you persevere with the tubeless conversion?

I’ve never had my tyres that high since going UST; never more than 32psi – and we’re probably about the same weight at 15st or so?

hhahahahahahaha 3 psi……You guys kill me sometimes.

I’ve found NN’s perfectly good on roots, certainly as good as any other tyre I’ve tried.

Maybe it’s just that all the other tyres I’ve tried are pretty much the same, as it couldn’t be anything to do with rider skill could it? I mean, it couldn’t be. Must be the tyres.

nickc – why ?
nothing wrong with accuracy, even if it’s not discernible…..

even if it’s not discernible…..

Whatever, nickc. 🙄

All I know is that 32psi is the lowest pressure on my pump that I can get my rear UST Albert down to before it starts squirming and hitting the rim on rocky descents…

What I can never understand is that people trust, for example, Continental to design and construct a tyre yet don’t trust them to set the best running PSI.

Eg Mountain King, Conti say to run at 50PSI, I talk to folk who run at 32PSI and then complain that the sidewall are ripping.

I could massively improve the grip on my car tyres by running them at 10PSI but this would effect other parts of their performance.

OR Conti and other manufacturers know jacksh*t about the pressure their products should be used at – if thats the case why would you want to use a tread pattern and compound they think should be good – its likely that they know jack about those variables too.

devs, how are swampthings (a mud tyre) brilliant on roots?
A> they’re not! – Maxxis do many tyres that would be far better on roots.

No you are absolutely right. They are rubbish. I made the roots bit up after buying them and then feeling embarrassed about how poorly they were performing in my local forest where I ride 70 miles a week. If only I had thought about trying some other tyres first, I would have been better placed to make my judgement. How foolish of me, thanks for bringing it to my attention.

Eg Mountain King, Conti say to run at 50PSI

No, they don’t. Conti say the tyre can be run UP TO 50psi, not AT 50psi

it says 50psi recommended, can be run upto 60psi

hhahahahahahaha 3 psi……You guys kill me sometimes.

5psi is the difference between the sidewall of a NN on the front collapsing under cornering and chucking you over the bars and gripping perfectly (25psi vs 30psi) – I speak from repeated painful experience. I imagine 3 psi is noticable in some circumstances.

Obviously it wasn’t really the tyres , why cant mtb gods like pk ripper and gw be there to show me how to ride roots etc,(that are absolutely no problem normally)when i need them, sitting now i know i was having an off day but as i said originally in my opinion these tyres were sliding out far easier than the conti’s, kendas and specialized that my mates were riding.

Stick to maxxis tyres if you want grip IMO. I’ve tried the swampthings, mobsters and high rollers in 2 compounds and theyre all pretty damn good compared to the others i’ve had on. besides most of us won’t really be good enough riders to push a tyre to it’s limits but i’ve seen what the pros can do on a high roller and if it’s good enough for them it’s good enough for me.

No tyres will shine on wet roots.
tyres that claim to be fast rolling and ultra grippy will always be a jack of all trades (master of none).

Ride the roots quicker, less time for them to slip

nickc – Member

Eg Mountain King, Conti say to run at 50PSI

No, they don’t. Conti say the tyre can be run UP TO 50psi, not AT 50psi

I know my English can be bad but not that bad.

Conti site definately says ‘Recomended Pressure 50psi’

http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/ti%20mountainking.shtml

i don’t see a problem with nobby nics. its my grippy/muddy/winter tyre.

and i didn’t have any problem on any roots or the like at inners today…

Gamo – I was only about a mile away, riding proper roots 😉
next time, get my No from Andy and I’ll come along and show you 😛

Devs – swampys are fine on roots, especially in softer compounds but there honestly are better options.

Devs – swampys are fine on roots, especially in softer compounds but there honestly are better options.

I haven’t found one. Most folk round these here parts ride HR as they seem to be the best all rounder and you can trust them on the wet roots. Now I’m not going to claim that my forest is better than yours but all our trails are natural and I cannot think of a better place to test tyres on roots. It’s kind of strange too that you mention the mobster, which, according to the Maxxis blurb is for hardpack yet they specifically mention wet roots in the blurb for the Swampies.
Also, contrary to your thinking, it would appear that the second (or first in their opinion) most effective wet root tyre in this parish is the Mud X. And yet we have no mud on these here sandy parts. Who’da thunk them marketing folks could get things so wrong huh?

How can a tyre manufacturer give a tyre a single recommended pressure? Ideal tyre pressure has to take into account the weight of the rider and the bike. That’s why car tyres have different recommended pressures that are dependent on how laden the car is, whether it’s towing something, etc.

If Conti are giving a single recommended tyre pressure then that is probably a pressure that they feel will best protect the tyre regardless of how heavy the rider or bike is. Therefore if you don’t weigh 20st the best pressure for you will probably be less than 50psi.