I went tubeless this weekend (finally) with 2.2 Jones ACx 29er tyres.
I rode the Red Route at Dalby on Sunday and I have to say what an excellent tyre choice I seem to have made!
Never a moment's hesitation on those slippery wet stones that litter Dalby's trails, never once did she spin-up, and she didn't seem to drag as I had expected them to nor slide about under load or cornering forces.
Really very impressed.
Now I will stick with these for 1/2 the year and Racing Ralf's for the dryer months.
Sorted!
Yup, they're good tyres...
Run the 2.2's on my XC full sus bike, the 2.35's (MUCH bigger than the 0.15" difference suggests) on my long travel freeride bike, and some Mud X's in 2" flavour on my hardtail for the winter with Jones XR's for summer.
Bontrager tyres highly under-rated IMO, and also they're great for running tubeless as they seal very reliably, whether on proper UST rims, or with rimstrips, or ghetto...
I had the XR's on her for 3 months and then tried the RRalfs.
WOW!
I was quicker everywhere on the RR, by quite a margin too, even though they're a huge looking tyre and 2.2, up from the 1.8 XR.
Maybe consider the RR next year MaverickBoy as I'd not have credited the RR with such a difference in speed, grip, and extra cushioning (it's a HT). Being a 2.2, it rails the berms with such confidence where as with the 1.8's, they're so skinny you'd be hard pressed to have such committed fun on say Spooky Wood's decent up at Gletress.
The Jones XR's I run in the summer are 2.25" and not 1.8"... That would just be silly! 😉
Bontrager tyres highly under-rated IMO, and also they're great for running tubeless as they seal very reliably, whether on proper UST rims, or with rimstrips, or ghetto...
They have changed then - Bonty Jones ACX were not recommended for ghetto tubeless in 29er - which I read on the internet [i]after[/i] my very own 'Stan's Money Shot' - walked into my garage to find a blown tyre and Stan's Spooge all over the place.
Not really sure what the ghetto tubeless is TBH. Mine are tubelesss ready on Bonty X lite (?) rims. Big Bear Bikes in Pickering set them up whilst they were fixing a wheel bearing. Should have had them take the Fox 29er FF out from 80 to 100mm whilst it was there. DOH!
The XR is a flat profile that I could see, meaning almost all of the 1.8 has contact with the trail.
Looking at the RR it's a continuous curve from edge to edge, meaning that only a small amount of tread is in contact with the trail, unless it's very wet / boggy / soft - that's why it is so fast and when it slips, it's really predictable.
Anyhow, later I'm going to try the ACx out on my local 2hr ride as that will tell me more about them; but they never once slipped or failed to find grip at Dalby with no real decernable side effects (notably no loss of speed) which I've noticed is very obvious with the 2.3 Conti Verticals, which is like riding with the brakes on!