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In the past I've always used 2.35" High Rollers on all my bikes except my DH bike. But now I'm running 2.1 HRs with Exception (paper thin) sidewalls on one of my bikes.
The additional speed I get from these is great but I need to run them at very high pressures, 35psi front and 40psi rear to avoid pinch flats. When the tyres are spinning fast, grip is pretty good, but when things slow down and get technical, roots and rocks they're as good as useless.
I love the light weight speed but the grip has just gotta improve. So:
-Should I just go back to 2.35";
-Should I try a thicker sidewall 2.1" at lower pressure;
-Should I try tubeless (ghetto) with the same tyres;
-Any other clever ideas?
What are you experiences?
erm, i wouldnt ghetto tubeless a specifically thin sidewalled tyre.
2.1 & 2.35 HRs look like very different tyres but ive not much experience.
try something other than HRs, or even maxxis
I need to run them at very high pressures, 35psi front and 40psi rear to avoid pinch flats
those are not very high pressures...
You won't find really skinny very grippy tyres. they're all a compromise of weight/drag/grip
I'd certainly recommend tubeless though maybe not with those tyres
Exception side walls are not up to running tube less, from experience.
They're high enough pressure that I get bugger all grip!
I've tried other tyes but always find High Rollers the best. I think it's the predictable grip/slide that I like the best and the fact they work in all conditions.
I find 2.1 HRs a completely different beast to 2.35s, and much more skittery. They're much less square in profile, which seems to exacerbate the 'no grip' zone between centre and sideknob.
A bigger tyre on the front will help with turning, and won't make it feel like you're dragging a paving slab behind you.
Ghetto also helps, both in rolling resistance for a given pressure, and overall grip.
I really need to stop over analysing tyres.
My mangled elbow and wrist would suggest that 700x25 conti gator skins at 110psi don't work too well when trying to turn on a patch of gravel that you haven't spotted when taking evasive action around some dozy driver in a car park.
Perhaps not helpful to your quandary, but I hope someone reading this might learn from my blunder.
For what it's worth, on my mtb I go for the not particularly original combination of thick-ish and grippy-ish on front and thin-ish and fast-ish rear (2.35 HR and 2.1 Ignitor or 2.0 MudX).
A tyre with thicker sidewalls run ghetto should end up similar weight to your current setup but more puncture proof at lower PSI.
Yup, I reckon I might try a normal sidewall 2.1" tyre on the rear with ghetto.
Since it's Maxxis, remember you need to add in the random factor on the sizing when comparing other brands- never used a 2.1 HR but since the 2.35 is barely bigger than 2.1 when measured, you might be surprised if you go to a brand with more honest sizing (Kenda, Schwalbe, Specialized)
Don't obsess about size though, frexample my 2.35 Smallblock is ridiculously fast, actually faster in most conditions than the 2.1 version. Rolling resistance comes from a lot of different factors.
Sorted a single ply 2.1 rear tyre and sucessfuly bodged a tubeless setup. Managed to run it fine at 32psi. I risked 28psi in the front and hoped that I didn't get a flat. Provided just the right compormise of grip and speed I was after. Just gotta hope the tubless hold up!
One thing that hadn't occured to me is that a smaller tyre needs a higher pressure in it. So even though I could run a large 2.5" tyre way down at low 20psi. This wouldn't be possible with a narrow tyre, I'd be riding on the rim at such low pressures. Obvious really, but not until you try these things do you understand.
Cheers for the advice.