Off to Moab in 10 days and just discovered a split in side wall of current nobby nic. I thought this may be a good reason to switch to something particularly suited to the desert rather than just general purpose.

Lots of rock & sand so anything is good really. Ive ridden there with tubeless Rocket Rons with no problem. Have fun – Moab is wild!

Something vaguely resistant to very big cactus thorns!

Slicks for slickrock!

Big (light) semi-slick-ish tyres with (heavy) slime filled tubes.

big fat slicks for the Slickrock areas. It’s mostly grippy sandstone/concrete type stuff. Something like this DMR one would work

For the other trails, i would go with something in super tacky, with tubless/slime type affair. It’s not really that rough, just big flat slabs of rock, with sometimes sharp edges. Minions/high rollers?

Thanks everyone. I had a feeling High Rollers would get a mention at some point. I think Schwalbes are a bit thin skinned.

I got away fine with single ply Minions F and High Rollers 2.35 earlier this year. It was still plenty snow on Porc Rim with the odd flurry out in the desert but still hit 70 in the afternoon. The main Slickrock trail is ok but I thought amasa back and Porc Rim were great fun.

Did a lot of riding around Moab town with the locals which was amazing…some wild stuff. Enjoy!

Yep, go thick skinned. Thorns and pinch flats are the big concerns.
Most things will grip on the slick rock sections but softer rubber is going to wear pretty quickly – it’s like riding on sand paper.
Few things will ‘grip’ through the sandy sections.
Steps, drops and rocks are the main features so something tough and fat is what I’d recommend.

Of course, you can ride all the trails on a cyclo cross bike and you should MTFU and all of that stuff…..

My Maxxis Ardent 2.3″ LUST worked well for me a few weeks back in Moab – good grip and dont wear out too quickly on rock

more pics on this site

Whole Enchilda part 1

whole enchilda part 2

Make sure you do the whole enchilda – and dont forget to check out Fruita & GrandJunction for some sweet singletrack – as opposed to moab doubletrack

I think the slick thing is over stated. Even the slick rock trail has sand

Don’t bother with slicks – the Slickrock is super-grippy and you get grip with anything.

I slashed the sidewall of a brand new folding Maxxis on a sharp rock – which seems a regular occurrence.

Take anything that has a slightly thicker sidewall.

i always thort nobby nics were good (seen as they are abit pricey ( i had a nobby nic on rear wheel on my full sus.. (dint last very long at all…
i have second hand Kenda tyre (proper knobbly) from my hardtail bike..took it off and put it on my full sus….cant remember where i bought the Kenda from but i cant wear it out at all…. it just says ‘Kenda’ on the tyre- well knobbly , specially for the gloop mud now in winter…

I turned up with 1.8″ Fire XC Pros (a few years back) and basically got laughed into some shop-spare 2.3″ WTBs. Something wide that you can run at reasonably low pressure that’s resistant to thorns and the odd sharp bit of rock seems to be the consensus. Tubeless with slime could be a start, but make sure you carry some spare tubes!

How you getting there, btw? I’m trying to work out if I can make it down there from Toronto for a few days, but not sure where to fly into…
Oooh, and check out Bartlett Wash for some general rock playground action.

So I was lucky enough to ride slickrock yesterday, I was on a hire bike which had 2.4 tyres nobbie nics and continental 2.4 mountain kings on.
The reason for so much water is the altitude and heat. The trail is at 1400m and it doesn’t rain so much there is also no shade on the slickrock trail.
Hope you enjoy it
Nick