[Closed] Plus tyres...tell me the truth.

Do you guys ever look on mtbr?

They were a decade ahead with 29er's and have a big (think USA big) + fan base. Plus is not going to go away, and it works

There's not a decent UK choice for + tyres, especially mud ones

I think most people have come to pretty much the same conclusion, so does anyone else think that plus size tyres for 650b and/or full suspension might go the way of the dinosaur, 142+, SCS and Overdrive?

I'm struggling to see major benefits on a long travel full suss, but on a hardtail I'm sold. There are downsides, but to me the major upside is the fun factor - they're great fun.

I expect we'll settle on a norm of about 2.4-2.6, with some specialist - and probably hardtail - frames keeping clearance up to about 3".

Do you guys ever look on mtbr?

Not if I can avoid it. The 'recommend what you ride' is even more prevalent than on here, which is really useful when there's loud Americans that have never ridden outside SoCal or Texas. 😉

bonesetter - Member

Plus is not going to go away, and it works

If you look at the industry moves, it's not going away but I think it's going to quietly shrink so that 2.6 is sold as "Plus", even though it's really just a normal tyre

roverpig - Member

There seems to be a consensus that plus tyres are not good in the slop, but I wonder whether this is more a feature of the tyres that are available than the size.

Well partly, but float is just the enemy of mud grip... So a 3.0 that's toothy enough to overcome that is almost certainly going to be slow. And spiky tyres naturally wear fast and have drawbacks on hard stuff.

Mystic Northwind says- We'll probably never see a 3.0 Shorty analogue, which is what the big bikes need to make Plus viable year round for all use. But if we do, it'll weigh 1.5kg, roll like a breeze block, wear like it's made of butter, and cost £80, and every review ever written will be 4 words long: "Get the 29er version".

And that's OK- there's no reason it should work for all bikes and all use. But that's the limitation.

So everyone has a different version of 'the truth'? It's funny isn't it, no-one ever told anyone that bike tyre sizes could become a microcosmic theatre against which the big questions of life were played out. And yet that's how it is.

Too big. Too small. Too slow. Too fast. Too wobbly and wibbly. Too puncture prone. Too light. Too heavy. But then in our post-truth world, you have to ask yourself if we can ever be sure. Perhaps ultimately the plus-sized tyre is just that, a riddle wrapped inside a mystery inside an enigma that will simply explode if you slam it into a sharp-edged rock hard enough.

Still rubbish in mud though.

I keep hearing that they're rubbish in mud but I've been riding mine loads in slop - wet and slippy or thick and craggy and I consistently find it works well and I regularly have other riders comment on how slippery a trail was when I found plenty of grip.

Maybe I'm just a (mud) riding god.
(Purgatory 3.0 front, Nobby Nic 2.8 rear)