Doing an adventure race this weekend, in which the biking is a mixture of road, fire-road and bridleway.

Happy to trade some grip for speed on the road so looking for a fast rolling tyre.

Thinking possibly Conti Race Kings.

Any suggestions gratefully received.

Kenda Karma

Maxxis Crossmark 2.1

WTB Nanoraptor on the back, Panaracer Razer on the front 🙂

Maxxis Crossmark 2.1

+1

Karmas look a bit tall.

Crossmark – look too aggressive.

To give you a better idea of what I am after, I have been running Travel Contacts, but feel a need a bit more grip but still want minimal drag on the road/fireroad.

Am I asking for the impossible.

what do you mean by Karma’s a bit tall?
Crossmarks=too aggressive???????

Race kings are very fast, very light and very thin.

Karmas? Seriously draggy.

Try Schwlabe Furious Freds, Conti Twisters/Race Kings, Maxxis Maxxlights. All good!

Karma’s aint draggy.

mavic crossmark

Karmas ain’t draggy mine roll real fast

I use Race Kings or Specialized Fast Traks for speed on mixed surface events.

I’d suggest either Kenda Klimax or Fast Fred.

Race kings are quite versatile.. ran them at Whinlatter at weekend so not as fragile as people think even supersonic version

Kenda small block 8’s

.. or I picked up some Specialized Renegade tyres at weekend.. like a small block 8 tread.. 1.9.. and really light.. can’t comment on durability yet but at £25 a tyre for folding seemed cheap enough to try.

Schwalbe Rocket Ron

Kenda Klimax Lite & Short Tracker.

DMR moto, they get no love on here though.

Schwalbe Smart Sam might be a good choice. Almost continuous centre section for the fire roads and grippier outside for more challenging areas. Think you can get them in a Evo carcass which makes them light & fast.

I have a set of conti speed kings – noticeable faster rolling that the normal tyres I use

I run Larssen TT or crossmarks on bikes for all my adventure racing needs (Multi day, ARWC and 24hr races). LUST version. Quick enough, solid and reliable which generally is what you want. 10 minutes farting around fixing a puncture is wasted time.

Maxxis Aspen

Furious Fred, wouldn’t consider anything else personally. Incredibly fast tyres, improve your handling somewhat too! Cheap(er) from Germany.

I’ve still got a pair of Panaracer TrailBlaster 1.8s for when I want max speed and no grip. At under 400g each you’d struggle to find anything much lighter.

The fact that they are 10 years old and still have plenty of grip (sorry, tread) tells the story of just how rarely they are suitable…

Conti Race King, very fast, very light and my LBS had a few pairs of Supersonis they are selling cheap.

I’ve always got on well with Intense Tire System tyres in their various numbers. The ‘2’ seems about right for fast dry conditions.

At under 400g each you’d struggle to find anything much lighter.

2.1″ Rocket Rons have a vast amount more grip and come in just a whisker over 400, the 1.8″s are lighter.

Furious Freds are c300g, and work fantastically tubeless.

Thanks for all the suggestions.

However, I have in fact opted to use the Fire XC Pros off my wifes bike, as this is likely to be a one off and didnt want to lash out too much on tyres that may only get used once.

njee> do you use furious freds for xc racing? Just wondering whether to run FF on the rear and RocketR for the front

What do you use normally!? Fire XCs are 580g and slow as anything (IME of course!).

do you use furious freds for xc racing? Just wondering whether to run FF on the rear and RocketR for the front

I use one on the back a lot, very rarely use one on the front TBH. Ron/Fred is a superb combo though, tends to be what I run for most of summer.

I use one on the back a lot, very rarely use one on the front TBH. Ron/Fred is a superb combo though, tends to be what I run for most of summer.

2.1 or 2.25

Presumably 2.1 for lower weight?

Maxxis Monorail. Does what it says on the tin.

2.1, although even the 2.25″ isn’t particularly heavy.

I’ve got a Geax Saguaro on the front of my bike, very fast rolling tyre, not too bad for grip but not brilliant…

2.1″ Rocket Rons have a vast amount more grip

Can’t argue with that 😮 TrailBlasters always had less grip than a slippery thing with added vaseline…

… especially if there was any dampness around

Small Block 8’s are good and fast

As others, I like Kenda Karma…not a bad weight and can be sourced cheaply.