Forum menu
... and their performance on wet and muddy rock/roots?
With the weather changing I thought I'd give them a go and swapped out my Mud-X for the Rons which I thought should not only be much faster but also offer better grip than something like Ralphs as the trails rarely fully dry out around here. I know they will never be a full on mud tyre but I'd hoped they'd be a middle ground between muds and slicker summer tyres.
In terms of speed, there is very little in it between the Rons and Ralphs and both roll much quicker than the Mud-X. They are also ridiculously light at 838g for the pair.
That is the end of the positives though and to be honest I feel they offer little if any additional grip over Ralphs in wetter conditions. The seem especially treacherous on vaguely damp rock or roots, and more so than the Ralphs which will never be good in deeper mud but are at least predictable and controllable on wet rocks/ roots often found under tree cover even if most of the other trails are dry.
I am 75kg and was running them lower than I'd like at 24 and 28 psi. Regardless of pressure they seem to want to slide out on anything vaguely damp unless you are 100% perpendicular to the object. My feeling is that the sidewalls seem to deform easily but the tread area barely deforms even at lower pressures unlike something a bit more flexible like the Ralphs. So, even with lower pressures you still seem to end up with the same quite rounded, very firm surface contacting the trail. The compund also seems quite plasticy and shiny and easily slides out on my wooden floor at home at very upright lean angles where the Ralphs do not.
Does this sound fairly normal for Rons? Most people seem to like them for damp, but mot full on mud tyre, XC racing yet I'm struggling to see why I choose these instead of either a Dan (mostly wet ride) or a Ralph (mostly dry ride). Please tell me I'm missing something with these tyres 😀
I think they are a great tyre . The expensive £50 version is a different beast to the cheap £26 version as the rubber compound is different . I also know people who bought the 2.1 version and struggled but got the 2.25 version and found them significantly better.
There are different compounds maybe you don't have the evo? Have never ridden the cheaper versions but I'm told they are not very nice. I generally ride 2.1 ron front ralph back and for me they are perfectly adequate grip wise. Nothing grips wet roots well, and I think they are fine on wet rock.
I do however pinch puncture a lot and have to run at around 45psi on rougher tracks. Recently tried a NN / RRa in 2.25 snakeskin at wales, and still managed to pinch both tyres. I think if you ride these light weight tyres hard you need to be tubeless.
Nope, nothing obvious like that unfortunately. They are the 2.1, Evo, Pacestar TLR version run tubeless. 24 psi front, 28 psi rear at 75kg. I'd be hesitant to drop the pressure any more, but as above, the problem seems to be the lack of deformation in the tread at any pressure.
The 2.1 to 2.25 difference is an interesting thought but I don't want to spend the money if they turn out to be just as lethal on damp stuff that isn't deepish mud (i.e. slick rock/ roots). Grip on muddy, grassy type terrain is fine and I guess this is where they have the edge on the Ralphs. I'm finding the Rons damn scary on wet rocks and that is even compared to Raplhs! They just seem to break away and slide out very, very quickly 😕
Majority of racers ride this combo so it could be your technique needs some work?
Maybe spend a few weeks riding cont speed kings on the front (lethal at the right angle...) and then back to the Ron?!
I run 2.25 evo's year round, they are crap in deep mud, but as I hate mud I don't ride in those places. Light and give enough grip, not the most durable of tyres but they are light so what can you expect.
Majority of racers ride this combo so it could be your technique needs some work?
We can all have some help with technique, I don't doubt that 😀
However, I am coming at this with Ralphs as my reference point, which I get on great with in similar conditions. I expected Rons to add something grip-wise above Ralphs which they don't seem to do. Ridden the same and in the same conditions the Rons seem fractionally better as the mud get slightly deeper, but with a thin greasy layer coating the trails the Ralphs seem far grippier.
Maybe the 2.25 on the front is worth a try otherwise I think I'll just stick to Dans or Ralphs. I guess it comes down to the trail type but they just aren't doing it for me after a month of riding 😕
I've got a 2.35 waiting in the garage for tubeless faffing. About the same size as the 2.2 Captain it's replacing. Will report back...
If its a 29er version you're looking for then check out my recent for sale add. 29x2.25 going cheap
Cheers for the offer, but I'm still in the stoneage with 559's