[Closed] Racing Ralph / Nobby Nic / Rocket Ron... what's best?

Nobby Nic all year for me

Nobby Nic's are very good I'm most impressed

Happy with Racing Ralph's, has suited most conditions as long as you are prepared to play around with the pressures.

nobby nics front and rear in winter and change the rear to a racing ralph in summer for a bit more speed.

I've got nics and ralphs, and always wish I'd left the nics on when I change to ralphs. Hardly any slower and lots grippier IMO

I run ralphs nearly all year round, I find nics really draggy.

Liking the ralphs. Haven't tried the others yet

I prefer Rocket Ron front and Racing Ralph rear

MikeWW - Member
I prefer Rocket Ron front and Racing Ralph rear

+1

Now, having posed the question, I still remain a little confused!

I've tried Ralphs in bone dry Canberra, which were great! But now, back in the UK, I'm looking for something [i]similar[/i] to the Ralphs, but with a [i]little[/i] more nobble to help with mud and wet rocks etc.

From how it seems in photos of the tread patterns, Rocket Rons look as if they are simply a slightly nobblier version of the Ralphs, whereas Nics seem like something entirely different...

Am I correct?

yes, ralph is a good out and out dry hardpack tyre, run a ron on the front for a bit looser conditions, and a nic if its any more severe.

category 1 Firm ground i.e. wet and dry on hardpack, rocks, roots

category 2 loose ground i.e soil, mud, sand, gravel

Ralphs are very grippy on category 1
Ralphs are useless on category 2

Nobby nics are less grippy on first category and more grippy than Ralphs in the second.

Errrr more confusion here then

I dont know where you guys ride but from December till round about now I run Bonty Mud X's as Nobbly Nics are rubbish in the UK winter

Or dont you guys ride in the gloop?

Confused of Canbridge 🙂

ran nobby nics all year round last 2 years - no problems in most types of riding, peaks, trailcentres, dry, loose, grass
Got some tubeless Ralphs on some 2nd hand wheels and used them until I could be arsed to mess around with gunk and swap them
Where fine through the summer, first damp trails, mossy & wet leaves or grass and I was on my arse 4 times in 5 minutes
I would say Nics all the way
However if your confused and uncertain take Nic up front, and stick Ralph at the rear! I wouldnt run a ralph on the front, when they do go in wet - they just go, very little warning

Thankfully I don't live anywhere near any clay soil.

I use 1.8 Nics when it's sloppy, 2.1 Rons when it's damp, Ralphs if it's not and a Fred on the back if it's [i]really[/i] dry.

I have some 2.1 Nobby Nic Evos on at the mo and hate them! The sidewalls are so thin they flex like mad and squirm. Anyone behind thinks I have a puncture the amount they move. I have to pump them up so hard to control it. Not cheap tyres either. Anyone want a pair?

I use 1.8 Nics when it's sloppy, 2.1 Rons when it's damp, Ralphs if it's not and a Fred on the back if it's really dry.

...so that's solved that little conundrum! Rocket Rons it is then! Anyone for a nice cup of tea? 🙂

Curly68, if you can't stand them [i]that[/i] much, I'm sure I can probably find a use for them, nevertheless! email: alan_jonesATgmxDOTcoDOTuk

I use Nobby Nics pretty much all year.Sometimes I

t find the Nics to be much slower rolling.

Rocket Ron is a grippy version of Ralph but comes up small. 2.25 is ok as a 2.1 replacement but if you're after volume you ain't gonna find it here, also they are VERY light but quite puncture prone as they are so thin, designed as racing tyres really.

Have been using Ralphs F&R all year round including the snow.
Was going to go Ron up front and Ralph out the back, but it looks like they've 'slicked' up the new Ralphs a bit. So now I'm biting the bullet and going for Rons F&R.
And they do come up small.

Gonna buy me some Sammy Slicks for those crazy hazy days of summer 8)

Yes, as above, Rons use the lighter carcass, along with the Fred, so don't last as well. I think they're a great tyre, but they do wear pretty fast.

The Ralph is good enough for most conditions IMO, it's no good in the mud, but I don't find the nic much better, I just go straight to Mud Xs in winter! Despite having 2 pairs I've not used nics in over a year, Ralphs and Rons for my money.

ballsofcottonwool - Member
category 1 Firm ground i.e. wet and dry on hardpack, rocks, roots

category 2 loose ground i.e soil, mud, sand, gravel

Ralphs are very grippy on category 1
Ralphs are useless on category 2

I can agree with this. If you spot sand or gravel ahead, you have to try and hit it straight on and coast through it otherwise it goes tits up fairly rapid

forgot to mention I have two UST Ralphs for sale at the mo
Check my previous posts in my profile to find the thred

I've been running a pair of the new 2.0 Dirty Dans for the last couple of weeks (took off Ralphs as they were useless in the mud we have round here)

A bit draggy on tarmac but they've been great on everything from wet grass, sticky clay mud, loose mud, loose shale, roots, stones etc. They throw off the mud very well from the rear so maintain traction in even the worst gloop.

They're on the same carcass as the Ron so they're very light - well under 500g each so spin up fast.

Ralph on back all year.
Ridden in Snow, Clay, Dust etc. Love it on everything but wet grass.

Nic on front all year.
Ralph not grippy enough up front for dry dusty corners. The old Nics worked best the wrong way round (opposite directions to the little arrow!)

Use the 2.25s on all my bikes.

Other than in winter gloop, Nik front, Ralph rear. Not tried the others. Nik very pressure-sensitive though and Ralphs and Niks are easily cut by flint (so I have discovered) although I still use them.

I use Ralphs all year round on my full sus - useless in deep mud, but they handle light mud, wet rocks and roots just fine imo. When they let go it's very predictable. Love 'em!

My hardtail has Nic front / Ralph rear and I'm not that keen on the Nic at all - still not great in the mud, feels much slower than a Ralph and I find it a bit unpredictable.

Ideally I'd use Ralphs all round for as much of the year as possible and then switch to a Mud X for the slop.

Not really noticed the Dirty Dan in a small size, 435g claimed, may be a decent replacement for the Mud X!

Do the DD's come up small like the RoRon? I've had some success with the 1.8 NN in muddy conditions and the Black Shark in truly terrible mud.

I wonder whether 2.0s will have enough clearance around the fork bridge...there's not huge amounts with a SID fork.

Btw, I reckon Schwalbe have the best range of tyres. Mix and match front and rear for all conditions.

The Dirty Dan 2.0's seem to have loads more clearance than the 2.1 Ralph I had on the rear before so I reckon they must be smallish.

I think they come up similar size wise to a mates 1.8 Fire Pro XC's. I'll check when we're out on Sunday.

Hopefully availability on the Dan's has improved. I waited for almost 4 weeks for set from my lbs and gave up in the end as the date kept being put back as the importer didn't have any. I ordered some from ebay direct from Germany in the end and they worked out cheaper and arrived 48 hours after ordering.

White Rocket Rons are best! 😉 (see classifieds)