[Closed] Lets discuss the dark topic of MTB tyres...

Ardent is faster rolling but I prefer what you already have.
Chunky Monkey is a good cheap alternative

Darling, Maxxis are SO last year.

It's all gone Schwalbe now, they have such funny names.
Damp Hands are very fashionable these days, as are Overpriced Olivers, Marketing Malcoms, Ad Budget Adams and Me Too Maurices.
Rip Off Rogers not so much.

I get mine from On One these days, in all seriousness.
Great tyres, excellent value.

Post of the week from Rusty.

Damp Hands is my favourite tyre ever, but the good ones are so expensive I let it go and buy High Rollers whenever they're cheap.

😆

If ypu're having ardents, bear in mind the quite wide bare strip that means a gently-leant ardent can be skiddy (whereas a fully-leant one is pretty grippy)

Or use the Moaning Minnies as Rusty suggests

DHF/DHF or DHF/HR for the win. Tried other brands like Scwalbe and Specialized and not got on with them. I just prefer the reliability and predictability of Maxxis. I like how Kenda Nevagals ride in the dry, but they seem to have delicate sidewalls

Muddy Mary front and DHF on the rear?

I've been wondering what other combinations people like and why?

much lighter tyres,

what are you riding? DH - minions and high hollers for anything else would make me want to off myself

RaRa and Thunder Burts, or the odd Hans for the front

Schwable a can be had at a good price from the german retailers, cheaper than the higher spec Maxxis.

Loving my chunky monkey/ smorgasbord combo. CM is proper huger though

X kings 'cos they is fast.

If in doubt, Specialized Butcher, yet to meet anything they can't do pretty well.

Schwalbe have become unexpectedly popular, on account of having been first to really get into 650b, and (unusually) actually having one good tyre to sell. But normal service will be resumed I'm sure.

Everyone was raving at the EWS about some new WTB tyre. Saw a lot of riders with them.

Everyone was raving at the EWS about some new WTB tyre. Saw a lot of riders with them.

I'm now running Ardent EXO 2.25 rear and High Roller II EXO 2.3 front.

Was running Ardents both ends, but decided that I could compromise rolling a bit more and Ardents are £20 more than HRiis!
I really like it. The way the Ardent slips then grips is really fun.

Depends what you are riding, shirley?

I've got Spesh Fast Traks on my Inbred because I took them off my Wife's bike (for slicks) and needed some new tyres. Pretty slidey on gravelly hard pack stuff or mud or dusty trails or......actually, they're just pretty slidey....! 😀

On the Stumpjumper, I've got a Purgatory front and Sauserwind back that works fantastically for the riding I do.

Surly Nate's for me, unless it's snowing which means I'll fit the Bud on the front. Lovely and grippy 😀

The STW approved combination of Purgatory rear / Butcher front for me, all year round, all weathers, all surfaces

It really depends on where you live and the composition of the soil.

Where I live it's chalk...I bloody hate chalk, especially when it's wet.

The holy grail for me is a tyre that will grip on chalk and won't clog with mud for six months of the year.

Brant?

I've had good results with Spesh Storms, however even these clog up quickly during the colder months.

Vigilantes are awesome as is a nice Onza combination - Ibex 2.4 front, and either a 2.25 rear or a Canis 2.25 rear for dryer weather.

PJM1974 - Member

Where I live it's chalk...I bloody hate chalk, especially when it's wet.

The holy grail for me is a tyre that will grip on chalk and won't clog with mud for six months of the year.

Ice spikers

Ice spikers

I've actively considered it.

PJM1974 - have you tried Bontrager mud-X?
I know a couple of people who ran them all year around.

+1 for WTB Vigilantes. 3 rides in and impressed so far.

Just a simple design of nobbles that arc round in a round tyre shape. All seems to make sense !

High Roller front, Larsen TT rear..

Mostly Small Block 8s for this weather.

Farmer Johns for the win

Had some really good experiences of schwalbe lately and as said get them from bike-discount.de for a good price. Run magic marys as soon as rain goes anywhere near the wyre forest and they mean I can still ride it like its dry. Trying out a purgatory on the rear of the bronson atm, seems to be okay but its hard to judge atm as its so much rain then dry then rain and i bought it to be a 'dry' tyre.

Can't believe no-one's said Conti Vert Pros yet...

Seriously, I'm a big fan of WTB tyres, in their DNA compound. Also Geax tyres are very underrated. Saguaros are great in everything but deepest winter and AKAs are much better than I expected but dry weather only really. Well made and good value.

Is it not all a bit Princess and the Pea?

Minion DHF on the front and a conti baron on the rear,hasn't failed me yet,was going to put an ardent on for £39 but got 2 tyres for that price on my van.........

Can you all seriously tell the difference ??
and your asking it to work in a vast range of terrains and conditions
I doubt any one could do a blind tasting and tell which tyre is which

Its a bike tyre
not a racing car tyre

Spin - Member

Is it not all a bit Princess and the Pea?

Depends.

If I couldn't tell the difference between a High Roller on the front (which I hate because of the gap between the centre and side tread) and, say an Ignitor or XR4 (which I love for their predictaility) I'd buy a £100 bike with plastic tyres and be happy as owt.

The marketing driven fashion in tyre manufacture and design is absolutely hilarious though, isn't it?
A huge ad spend, a nice logo and a wacky name seem to be all that's needed to justify a near 100% price increase over a six year growth period.

Tyres are now fashion items for a special type of idiot who buys by brand rather then purpose or design.

Same as all those Taiwanese made 'American' frames that people seem to be prepared to pay a fortume for because they have the name of the Californian equivalent of Southport on the downtube.

If you can't tell the difference between the huge variety of MTB tyres then I suggest you stop posting here and ride some bikes until you can!

Everyone who moans about the cost of tyres never mentions the lifespan. Some of my more expensive tyres last far longer than other similarly sticky compound tyres which are less expensive - but worse value in £ per mile (or more accurately £ per turn). But forums are such fine places for those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing...

chiefgrooveguru - Member

But forums are such fine places for those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing...

Steady on.

Maxxis tyres were nearly half the price they are now five or six years ago.
Their market share has improved massively, no new innovations have been introduced, so explain the cynical, '**** you' price incease?
Why? Because they can.

Some of my more expensive tyres last far longer than other similarly sticky compound tyres which are less expensive.

Be specific. this is really interesting. (Well, to me, anyway. Sad, isn't it?) 🙂
So how are the compounds different?
What makes the more expensive, equally sticky tyres last longer?

But forums are such fine places for those who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing...

Having seen people ride twice as fast as me on bald old tyres it's definitely not tyre/tread or compound you want to worry about.

Having seen people ride twice as fast as me on bald old tyres it's definitely not tyre/tread or compound you want to worry about.

For most people most of the time this is correct.

Can you all seriously tell the difference ??

I'm very fussy about my front tyre too, the Minion suits me perfectly. I've tried lots of others but I like the consistent edge and the squarish profile. Anything I've used that's rounded has given way when leaned over.

The other thing is tubeless reliability. I've split and ripped my way through lots of brands, but keep going back to a Maxxis on the rear. Even the Minion I use on the front, that isn't a tubeless tyre, fares better than lots of tubeless specific tyres I've tried.

Van Halen - Member

Having seen people ride twice as fast as me on bald old tyres it's definitely not tyre/tread or compound you want to worry about.

I couldn't care less about other people.

I feel happier, safer and more confident on a roundish tyre with fairly equally spaced knobs, high volume, as wide as my frame will allow and a softish compound.

IMHO.......

Depends on the riding

In the dry you can get away with anything

The wetter and steeper it gets the more it matters,

Also Its the front tyre that matters the most, 70 : 30 important ?

Expensive tyres can be good but sticky = draggy and fast wearing

And budget compounds -schwable performance im looking at you - are best avoided

Finally life is too short for flimsy sidewalls

HR2s were good at the ews.
Hans dampfs f ardent r for trail centres

But all said and done once Brant brings out monkey / smorgs in 650b imm all over them puppies

Too right you can!

Out of curiosity how would you describe your ability / level?

Fast riders are always faster. Great cornering technique generates tons of extra grip by forcing the tyre into the ground right when the lateral forces are highest, leaning the tyre just so and balancing the front/rear weighting - when I'm having a good day I'm way quicker around corners than on a bad day and that's on the same tyres and my cornering technique is far from great! But that doesn't stop me being consistently quicker on better tyres and having more good days when I have tyres that I trust more. And still getting owned by better riders on worse bikes with bald tyres... 😉

I've found the black chili compounds used in the Trail King / Rubber Queen and Baron have very good wear rates. The carbon black additive in them is in rods rather than granules which means they hold together far better whilst flexing well to give the grip - the Baron is similar to a super tacky Maxxis and wears less than half as quickly. The RQ/TK is a bit less sticky but not far behind and wears even better. And they roll faster, especially the RQ/TK.

Are the cost comparisons based on like for like tyres and is it really a doubling of sale price in six years?

Geax gato on the front is immense, run it soft, twinned with a sagguro on the back, beautiful.

chiefgrooveguru - Member
I've found the black chili compounds used in the Trail King / Rubber Queen and Baron have very good wear rates. The carbon black additive in them is in rods rather than granules which means they hold together far better whilst flexing well to give the grip - the Baron is similar to a super tacky Maxxis and wears less than half as quickly. The RQ/TK is a bit less sticky but not far behind and wears even better. And they roll faster, especially the RQ/TK.

Interesting - so for tyres with a specific durometer you are getting significantly higher wear rates from one company than with another?

Is this carbon rod technology significantly more expensive?
Do Schwalbe have a patent?
I've not seen this advantage emphasized in any advertising - genuine longer life with the same grip would appear to be a major marketing advantage - I'd be tempted to try it if they can provide genuine data.

Spin - Member

Too right you can!

Out of curiosity how would you describe your ability / level?

FFS, what has ability got to do with it?
If you can tell the difference between tyres, you can tell the difference - better riders can ride anything, as we know.

But to suggest some sort of correlation between ultimate ability and sensitivity to bike setup contradicts not only my personal experience but that of the majority of people I've spoken to:
Some are sensitive to setup - some not.
Bugger all to do with ultimate ability.

Spin - rather than blow my own trumpet, it's easier to say I'm on my limit when riding my two main trails, so notice any changes to my bike setup whether it's to do with my tyres or anything else. Strava doesn't help, neither does riding with folk who've been riding well for years.

Edit - I think anyone would notice a difference when trying to ride up some technical climbs, especially if it's rocky, rooty, wet or all of those.