Lookin for new tyres and there are sooo many to choose from where do you start??
I ride mainly forest singletrack and downhill that is soft and wet a lot of the time. Lots of roots and parts of rock garden test my tyres.
Anyone recommend good allround tyres that would suit? I’ve been looking at Continental mountain kings – any good?

Conti Vert Pros.

😉

Checked out the vert pro’s, look good and you can get them at a good price.

*Whooooooosh!*

😉

Maxxis High Rollers?

What I’ve started doing is leaving different tyres around my favourite ride so I can swap them during a ride for the best experiance. so duel plys for the downhill, I like maxxis high rollers, then for the flatter roadie bits I’ll switch to some semi slicks.. And for a climb on rock I’ll use nevegal blue grooves.
I’ll only use conti vert pros after 15.47 on the 3rd Tuesday in june, and then only for 154 minutes.. That’s all they ware good for.

Conti Barons

Wow Martyn, I thought people were trustworthy in my neck of the woods! Leaving all that rubber out on the trail and it never goes walkies – astounding! A clever but costly way to perfect traction…

CaptainFlashheart – Member

Conti Vert Pros.

Front or rear?

I’m looking for a good rear tyre and Nobby Nics have gone up to nearly fifty quid for the snakeskin version.

Nobby Nics look to be a pretty safe choice. I’ve tried Mountain kings and wasn’t partically impressed at all, lost grip ramdomly and rubbish in the wet however rolled well on hardpack. Tried Conti Barons next which were a near perfect winter tyre with so much grip however were far too draggy in the dry. I’m currently running a Specialized S-works Purgatory up front and an S-Works Captain out the back. So far, perfect all round tyre, Grippy, predictable and the captain rolls really fast.

Wow Martyn, I thought people were trustworthy in my neck of the woods! Leaving all that rubber out on the trail and it never goes walkies – astounding! A clever but costly way to perfect traction…

I hide them….I’m not stupid

Nobby Nics – in snakeskin! Must admit, when I first read it I thought someone was taking the piddle! Just looked at them though and they seem pretty good. Think I’d go for the croc skin edition though!! 😉

All these suggestions sound a bit too lightweight for what you appear to want them for. I’d say go with something that has a bit more grip and stronger sidewalls i.e. high rollers (super tacky front, maxxpro rear), Schwalbe Hans Dampf, Conti Barons etc.

Tyres are an expensive nightmare until you find the ones you like. What may work for me, and the trails I ride, may not suit you at all, and vice versa. Not many tyres are good at varied terrain either, so this needs to be taken into consideration… Do you want several very specialist tyres, or one set that are a jack of all trades? Then you must not forget construction. Some people get on fine with paper thin sidewalled tyres like Schwalbe Rocket Ron’s, some people ride dual ply Maxxis on their XC bike.

It’s all a compromise. The thing is, finding the best compromise for you.

Personally, for me, it’s the Conti Rubber Queens in 2.2″ flavour. They’re massively expensive yes, but they really are exceptionally good at pretty much most things I’ve found. Just not particularly quick, so if you do a lot of road riding, or hardpack, then something faster (at least on the back) would suit better.

What rims are these tyres for? And maybe what frame and fork for clearance?
Could be some suggestions are too fat to fit, or too fat that they’ll sit too round on your rims if they’re a bit narrow

Also what have you ridden before and which version? How do you get on with them?

Any maximum budget?

Do you actually ride downhill, or just down hills? Will make a big difference.

Got Stan’s Flow rims, Fox float 140mm, Mountain cycle Battery frame. Run Geax Sturdy 2.2 and Geax Saguaro rear. I find them ok, crap in the wet though. They came with my other bike that I want to get up and running again, so looking at new tyres for the Battery. I ride trail and downhill tracks locally, more trail though.

If you’re interested I’ve just bought a pair of Maxxis High Rollers XC, 2.1 26inch. I’ve only used them a couple of times and I think they are a bit too narrow for me. They cost £45 but I’ll sell them for £25 if you’re interested..

Recently tried a pair of new 2012 Bontrager XR4 2.2 Team Issue Tubeless ready. Have been extremely pleasantly suprised by them so far. Running them on a slack aggressive 150mm bike on Stans Flows. Loads of grip but I find them very fast rolling after years on Maxxis. In dry, wet and very rough, rocky terrain they have been flawless. Zero air loss, tough sidewalls, lightish and superb grip. Can’t comment on mud ability or durability but at £34.99 I think they are a real find.

I looked through sooo many different reviews of combos and finally made a decision…..
A lot of my riding is wet forest floor stuff even in summer (typical British summer = wet!). So I went for Maxxis Minions dh front and rear super tacky – also super deal at CRC.
Put them on and went for spin along the street and thought it was like riding through treacle compared to my other rubber!! Just been to Hamsterley today and these bad boys showed what they are made for,the faster and harder you push them the more they seem to grip!! Well chuffed!