Hey guys. Just wanna know generally what your best tyre combinations ( brands, size? ) are for front and back wheels! I live in a tropical climate with unpredictable wet weather and sunny dry days randomly, so would like to know what works best here. Cheers guys!

maxxis advantage 2.25 front and rear. all year.

2.4 Fat Albert EVO triple compound UST front, 2.25 Fat Albert of same flavour rear.

Works well for both wet, muddy conditions and dry, sandy days?

Yep clear ok in the mud, grippy in wet and dry conditions, a touch draggy in the Thetford sand but they’re big tyres at 30 psi, so to be expected

Highroller II front and back… 42a Supertacky front, 60a rear.

Hmm.. has anyone used this combi – Maxxis Minion DHF front and Highroller rear?

Yes

but DHF front and bald bling bling rear is my all time favourite all weather tyre combo..
the drier or wetter it becomes the more fun the bike becomes.

DHF and Blings have way better edge knob design (ie. they’re the same) than a highroller and that’s all that matters to me.

Hi roller on front.
Hi roller fitted wrong way round on back.

Works brilliantly in everything.

thanks for all your replies mmates! Can any kind soul enlighthen me.. Does wider tyres give you better “float” over all the mud, or does thinner tyres let you “cut” through all the mud, wet weather specifically?

ive tried ALOT!!

im sticking with

conti X king 2.4ust back

conti rubber queen 2.2ust up front

great combination, the RQ just floats over stuff, such a bizarre tyre, and the grip is immense in wet corners etc

HR 2.35 ST front
Rear ardent for winter and Xmark for summer.

Had tried the minion front, high roller rear combo but reckon the albert offer less drag with the comprimise of slightly less grip.

It really depends where and on what I’m riding. For my AM bike though, I’ve gone through various Maxxis and Kenda blends but I’ve picked up a pair of Panaracer Rampages and I’m quite impressed. I run a standard tyre at the back and a soft compound up front and haven’t wanted for grip or feedback at any point. They roll pretty well too.

My hardtail has Conti X-King 2.2s front and rear. They’re considerably draggier than the SB8s I ran before, but they stop better.

My lightly stressed XC bike has a Spesh Captain running ghetto at the back and an old Roll X dual compound up front. Rolling resistance or lack thereof is paramount on this bike as I commute sometimes on it too.

I’d been led to believe that the Far Alberts were terrible tyres with no grip on roots and mud and the like.

ah but which ones? the budget compound or the evo triple compound which are pretty grippy 😉

RoRo Front and Rear were an awesome combo for local woodland trails, machen steep and muddiness, and trail centres, and races – fast and grippy.

They’re fragile if you jump with them, or corner hard on them, plus they are rubbish on wet slate.

Rubber Queen 2.2 with X-King 2.2 now…. Rubber Queen as said before is shocking how much grip it has, and is seemingly not much/any slower then the RoRos.

LoCo – you should try the Trailstar compound – stickier rubber, would be right up your street.

Same as LoCo – Fat Alberts

They aren’t very good in the wet/damp though, I must admit. Keep them for the drier days.

I run 2.25 UST rear and 2.4 std. front. Both tubeless.

I’m High Roller 2.35 front and 2.1 Larsen Rear, seems ok. I fancy trying a Nic/Ralph combo next.

Had tried the minion front, high roller rear combo but reckon the albert offer less drag with the comprimise of slightly less grip.

You should try a Big betty front muddy mary rear. I found it to be a good alternative to the maxxis set up I use (I use a fat albert combo on the HT though)

Wow. So I can reckon it’s down to personal tastes and preferences aye? Do you guys like keep 2 sets of tyres – one set for wet weather, one set for dry, or do you have a all-round combi?

Anyone want to reccomend an alternative to Nics, mine are on the way out and Stan no longer reccomends them, so want something similar but different. Rubber Queens?

Same as LoCo – Fat Alberts
They aren’t very good in the wet/damp though, I must admit. Keep them for the drier days.
I run 2.25 UST rear and 2.4 std. front. Both tubeless.

Dunno how/what/where you guys that like the Fat Alberts ride, but I found them the single worst tyre I’ve ridden! Proper nasty tyres… I’ve ridden semi slicks with more grip. They didn’t work in the wet, they didn’t work in the dry, they didn’t work in soft ground and didn’t work in hard ground either! The only one thing they had going was slightly lower rolling resistance than a Rubber Queen.

Before anyone decries “you must’ve had the cheap version”, I had the all singing all dancing Triple Compound Double Defense (to be fair the sidewalls were nice and strong and sealed well tubeless) version. Run a Crossmark 2.25″ on the back of my full sus now and it has oodles more grip ironically! Rubber Queens for instance, are in a different league. Same with Minion DHF’s even in 60a.

I’m with GW, it’s all about the edge grip, I’ll happily run a near bald rear tyre in the centre as long as it rails the corners well cos of good edge bite.

I’d been led to believe that the Far Alberts were terrible tyres with no grip on roots and mud and the like.

Bloody awful mate! The Bikeradar review gave them 2 stars out of 5… I’d say that was being generous, and 1 of those stars at least was cos they do have a very well constructed carcass and are light for their size.

The £9.99 a go Michelin Dry2’s in 2.3″ from On One are infinitely better in just about all conditions, and they’re designed to be dry use only.

Rubber Queens are the nuts though. The Michelin Wild Rock’r in 2.25″ is pretty impressive though too, got one of those in the go now and it’s pretty good. Just about to try a cheap 2.25″ UST Racing Ralph from On one out too, hope it’s not as bad as the bloody Fat Albert was, otherwise it won’t last long…

Another Rubber Queen F / X King R user here (although mine are both 2.2). As said the Black Chilli RQ has silly grip and the X King rolls plenty fast enough – I also really like its utterly predictable (so far) breakaway point.

This combination running tubeless just edges IMHO my previous Michelin Wild Grip’r 2.25 F / Wild Race’r 2.1 R pairing.

I found both of these combinations pretty good in all but the wettest and/or muddiest situations.

slainte 😀 rob

full suss, 2.35 high roller front, 2.1 crossmark rear

rigid, 2.4 ardent front, 2.25 crossmark rear

Deknobbled Nevegal 2.35 stick-e for the front, and slant 6 2.2 on the rear, would be my favourite allround combo I reckon.

Does wider tyres give you better “float” over all the mud, or does thinner tyres let you “cut” through all the mud, wet weather specifically?

Float doesn’t work because you just skid on the surface.

Go thin and cut through.

For full on mud, Trailrakers. For variable wet conditions, Bontrager Mud X.

Does no one use tyres F&R from different brands?

I thought I’d throw a question in here rather than creating another “wot tire” thread.

I picked up some folding Kenda Karma 2.3 DTCs last year for 8 quid a pop and replaced the horrible oem efforts on my Rockrider 8.1. For the price they’ve been light, roll very well, but I can see why they’re sold as a race tyre.

Problem is they can be a bit sketchy in the wet and/or at speed. I just want something that’s going to feel like it’s got a bit more grip and going to wash out less on corners. I know better technique would also help but I’m working on that as well…. I’ve seen some Kenda Nevegal 2.3 DSTs for £20, is it a decent option to bung one of these on the front?

Muchos Gracias

The answers can be so different depending on your riding style, and the surface upon which you ride, which is why there’s always a top five but never really a top one.

Experiment and find what you like wherever it is you ride, for me I find a Nic/Nic or Nic/Ralph combo beats anything I’ve ever ridden helped by the basis I have every confidence in them with my riding style.

For you it may be different.

Bloody awful mate! The Bikeradar review gave them 2 stars out of 5… I’d say that was being generous, and 1 of those stars at least was cos they do have a very well constructed carcass and are light for their size.

Curious, I’ve used the standard Alberts(2.25″) from Wales, Surrey to the Alps, and they were good.

The £9.99 a go Michelin Dry2’s in 2.3″ from On One are infinitely better in just about all conditions, and they’re designed to be dry use only.

Those tyres do squirm a bit.

Been using the old faithful Schwalbe NN/RR combo.

Bontrager FR3 for dry to mixed conditions.

Currenly using Fat albert evo 2.4 front and Mountain King 2.2 back really getting on well but will swap for High roller ST front and back with the rear reversed for alps in a few weeks

Specialized Eskar Control dual ply 2.35 all year round.

Janesy – Member
Does no one use tyres F&R from different brands?

Yep – 2.4 Conti Rubber Queen on the front and 2.25 Maxxis crossmark on the back. Best combo I’ve tried yet.

Tailrakers in the mud.
2.25″ Racing Ralphs or Spesh Eskar 2.3″ in the not-mud.

Asda. Front & Back for over 2 years 🙂 Best all rounder I’ve ever had.

Every condition.

Run my 2.25 Fat Albert UST @ 19-23 psi and stick like a sticky thing stuck to something else quite sticky, but we are all different

Think I’ve settled on a Advantage 2.25 up front and a CrossMark on the rear.

Super sodding quick, and drifty 😀

High roller on the front , advantage on the back, aving it