I need some cheap tyres.
I ride a Cotic Soul for mainly recreational XC in West Yorkshire. Plenty of year round mud, but I don't want anything too draggy as I like to put the miles in every so often and include towpath and road sections.
[b]Like[/b]:
Kenda Blue Groove DTC 2.35 front / Negeval DTC 2.1 rear combo. But front 2.35" a bit draggy and I can't find any deals on 2.1 Negeval for front and rear. (which would have been my first choice)
[b]Don't mind[/b]
Conti vert 2.3 front and rear - hard wearing and drifty in a good way but not brilliant on roots
Panaracer Fire XC front and rear - do everything, they're just a bit heavy and boring
[b]Don't like[/b]
Conti Race King - prone to flats and diameter too large for rim - never seated properly without wobbling
bonty mud-x
Fire XC pro.
Got a 2.1 Blue Groove for sale. Currently on Ebay http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180928640331
Make me an offer if you want 🙂
Simon.YGM bud.
I have replied
Vor - would you recommend the mud x year round? Best deal I can find is £25 JE James - is that where you got yours?
Just seen a deal on Bonty XR4s. Are these any good?
Conti X Kings v cheap on bike-components.de
Panarager CG All conditions v cheap on bike-discount.de
Can;t vouch for either, never tried them.
bonty mud x are a good all rounder, not the best at anything, but pretty good at everything
The XR4s are meant to be really, really good
bonty mud x are a good all rounder, not the best at anything, but pretty good at everything
Pish
Suggest you try some properly good tyres. Bonty Mud X's are good in the mud. VERY good in the mud in fact, and slightly better than most other mud tyres when not in the mud.
They are however slow rolling, narrow, very fast wearing when not immersed in slop, and not especially grippy when compared to a number of other tyres for most terrains. They are quite a specialist tyre, just one that happens to be slightly better than other specialist mud tyres when not in the mud.
If anyone wants to try a cheap pair of part worns you can have em for £20 posted. They've still got a fair bit of life left in them.
As for good "cheap" tyres. I'm not convinced they exist any more. All the manufacturers cottoned on to most of the decent bargains and put the prices up. Will say that the On One Smorgasbord is a pretty good rear tyre (though not much cop up front) and they still have some for £15 each. Single Ply High Rollers can be picked up for about £20 each if you look about. The Bontrager XR4's I found not up to much to be honest. Big and quick rolling, but not all that grippy at all. Though that was the older version, newer ones supposed to be better.
Buy a set of 2.2" Black Chili Rubber Queens though. Might cost you over £80 for the pair, but you'll be blown away how good they are!
I'm a fan of Bontrager tyres and Mud X's are good all rounders. Fairly small volume an don't last that long though. If you've found a good deal on XR4s then I'd go for it. Where, out of interest?
I wasn't. Infact, I chose to get rid of them and stuck some Minions on. 60A Minion are better on wet roots than the BC RQ and grippier everywhere else too.Buy a set of 2.2" Black Chili Rubber Queens though. Might cost you over £80 for the pair, but you'll be blown away how good they are!
Minions are a proper DH tyre though. They're awesome for grip, but pretty heavy (even in single ply) and slow and they clog up badly in and mud. Don't get me wrong, I like them, I just don't think they're as good an allrounder as the Rubber Queen.
got some cheap Conti barons from Craig @ Rideon's van for the weekender after my Bontis punctured -heavy but very grippy; not the best for 3 fast laps, but confidence inspiring to a hobbit like me
Bonty XR4s.. £12 each
http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/product/119505.html
Or the team issues are £20 a pop
I guess it depends on the type of mud where you ride. It doesn't happen where I ride.mboy - Member
Minions are a proper DH tyre though. They're awesome for grip, but pretty heavy (even in single ply) and slow and [b]they clog up badly in and mud[/b]. Don't get me wrong, I like them, I just don't think they're as good an allrounder as the Rubber Queen.
They're not that heavy. The 2.35 folding Minion is a touch heavy than the BC Folding RQ that was on there but they don't puncture at the thought of a rock and are far more durable. I can get over the drag and weight, though. I guess it depends on what you care about most. Me, I'm moving to dual ply Minions setup tubeless with Stans on the all round full susser to stop the punctures I had with tubes and the burping I had with single ply wire beaded Minions. I'd rather have grip and reliability than drop 1/2 a pound.
MBOY, I find Bonty Mud X to be a good all rounder, as do many others. And I have tried loads of tyres thanks. Tyre choice is an individual choice, and there are many variables involved in that. Saying someones opinion is 'pish' is pathetic. Is your opinion is the correct one? Ha. And he wanted cheap tyres, so your recommendation was as useful as a deep fried mars bar.
I'd agree they're poor allrounders though. They're great at straightforward mud, awful at wet rock and roots, not very good at hardpack, not very fast rolling...
What's your idea of cheap, OP? Usually I'd agree with your 2.1 Nevegals but like you I can't find a stick-e 2.1 for under £28 just now. Which is still not a bad price.
MBOY, I find Bonty Mud X to be a good all rounder, as do many others. And I have tried loads of tyres thanks. Tyre choice is an individual choice, and there are many variables involved in that. Saying someones opinion is 'pish' is pathetic. Is your opinion is the correct one? Ha. And he wanted cheap tyres, so your recommendation was as useful as a deep fried mars bar.
It is an individual choice. I will ask you to try your Mud X's out on your normal XC loop in the dry, then try something like a set of Racing Ralph's, or Conti X King's in the same conditions. You'll be minutes faster, and they will inspire more confidence. Or if you try any number of other decent tyres in all sorts of other conditions, you'll find the same.
You can doubt my opinion all you like, but it's like the guys who come on here and say "this is the best product in the world, just because I ride it"... I'm not saying I have all the answers, but I know for a fact there are far better all rounder tyres than the Mud X. I have some Mud X's, superb for proper Mud riding and if that's the order of the day, I'll use them and be glad. But for anything else, there's lots of better options.
I also suggested other tyres, I just think that for the mostpart there are no cheap good allrounders. Cheap specialist tyres exist, but not cheap allrounders.
I'd agree they're poor allrounders though. They're great at straightforward mud, awful at wet rock and roots, not very good at hardpack, not very fast rolling...
They're pretty slow. Not as slow as other mud tyres perhaps, but they're slow compared to most all rounders. Not that grippy on anything but Mud.
What's your idea of cheap, OP? Usually I'd agree with your 2.1 Nevegals but like you I can't find a stick-e 2.1 for under £28 just now. Which is still not a bad price.
If you like Nevegals, trust me, try an On One Smorgasbord. Not the be all and end all, but feels quite like a Nevegal in use only quite a bit quicker rolling. £15 each too...
I paid a whopping £15 each for the WTB Prowlers, albeit for my 29er. Very light.
I'm a Maxxis Holy Roller man myself..
CRC were recently selling black chilli conti verts for £17 an end. I snaffled up a pair as I'm a big fan of verticals (even though they aren't and haven't been de rigueur on STW for many years) Fantastic tyres!
I bought the mud-x in winter and still have it on. mboy is being a bit melodramatic IMO. I have no regrets about buying it, however, I would like more volume out back sometimes [I'm 15stone, on a HT]. If I do take it off, it'll go back on for winter. I should point out I use a ST Swampthing up front with mine, not so sure about using one on the front. My local trails are wet/muddy, with lots of roots and forest roads linking up the singletrack.
At the risk of upsetting mboy, I'd like to point out that IME Rubber Queens are not very good in muddy conditions.
If you want Nevegals, just put a WTD advert in the classifieds - they aren't very popular now and I'm sure people will be queueing up to offload them.
My current all rounder choice is the Kenda El Moco, 2.1 DTC rear and 2.35 stick-e front. If £25 is cheap enough?
They are light-ish, clear mud well and grip in most conditions, but have a big gap between centre and side knobs so need cornering firmly.
bike+ have spesh tyres at 2 for £40
Ribblecycles has continental moutnain king wire for about £12.
Depends on what you want and how cheap you need them to be. Run these on my ss and they are great.
Cheap continental tyresi n other flavours too. Never noticed a difference in the black chilli and it is only 40g weight saving (IIRC) to go for folding.
At the risk of upsetting mboy, I'd like to point out that IME Rubber Queens are not very good in muddy conditions.
Not the best, agreed. They're too big for "proper" mud, which is where the narrow Mud X is good.
For everything else, including normal wet trails covered in a bit of mud (not full on mud) they are IMO the best all rounder.
I'm a huge fan of Maxxis ADvantage. brilliant tyres - good all rounders, grippy and fast rolling. Fairly light too.