29er tyres

nearly sorted my build out for a singular swift. and im onto tyre options. the shops given me a few pointers towards bontrager jones, racing ralphs etc etc. but ive no experience of these.

ive always used either panaracer fire xc or the blue groove/nevegal combo. lightish, all-round, good quality tyres.

with this in mind, what would you suggest i go for? im assuming of course that you cant get the above in 29er size.

and wheres the best place to go for 29er tyres? yer chain reactions and wiggle?

thanks

Ive found the maxxis ignitor to behave much the same way as the Fire XC (my preferred 26er tyre before Im moved to 29er)

Very predictable grip all the way over when banking. No squirming (like nasty michelins) and no surprising breakaways.

Small Block 8s are great on hardpack, but a bit draggy on the road IMO.

A mate runs some Stouts (weigh a Kg each! 😮 ) which give pheneomenal traction on the single speed and keep you glued to the floor at the front, but they are like riding through treacle.

Currently Im running a WTB werewolf 2.55 on the front and find it surprisingly good despite the low profile tread – I wouldnt run it in winter though.

Ive not tried the Bontys but I know a lot of people love them – Ive never need to as I like the tyres Ive got.

WTB werewolfs and exiwolfs can be got for £20 each from WIlliams Cycles in cheltenham (they will post out)

I use singlespeed.nl for rare stuff.

You can also get quite a few bonty tyres from Craig (?) at Swinnerton Cycles now.

maxxis crossmark’s or kenda karma’s

I ran Bonty ACX f&r for ages. Worked well as an all round tyre, no surprises. Currently RR 2.4 up front which is brilliant for extra cush (rigid) – meant to have thin sidewalls though. Also using Mich XC on back for recent mud at Bristol Bike Fest – coped well, though probably not as good on roots as the Mud x from what I’ve heard.

I use 2.0 wide Mud X on my Swift most of the time. I also have some Panaracer Rampages (almost identical to Nevegal tread) but these are 2.35 and offer little clearance to the frame when the trail gets muddy.

http://www.chevincycles.com/products.php?plid=m29b0s0p0

http://www.allterraincycles.co.uk/ct/2_Wheels%2Band%2BTyres/17_Tyres/236_29er/

I’m running Spesh The Captains which for a £20 tyre seem to be able to cope with most ‘summer’ conditions, no nasty moments as of yet. Its a 2.2 tyre but is has quite a large volume.

I’ve bought some 1.8 Mud x’s from Chevin, £35ish for the pair 😯 , as a back up for this weekends mudbath 😉

I’m pretty sure you can get Fire XC pro in a 29er version if you want to stick with them. I’ve only ever seen them on ebay though (new) not in any shops.

I run Spesh The Captains and think they are good and i also run small block 8’s when it’s dryer and am happy with them as well.

Got some bonty mud x’s from chevin when they were doing them for £30 a pair in case i needed them at Mayhem this weekend.

The Maxxis Ignitors are unfortunately discontinued as they were one of my favourite all round tyres. Their replacements in the Ardents seem promising but are a bit more beefy. The Crossmarks are nice in dry to tacky conditions but don’t cope well in mud. The Bonty MudX are definitely the mud tyres of choice but still are not great in Malvern clag if it comes to that. I’ll be taking something rather narrower just in case…

Your new Swift will have slightly more tyre clearance than the older versions so that should open another couple of options. I have loads of tyres in the shed and am shortly going to have a massive clear out – if you’re interested in anything in particular just drop me a line, I’ve probably got or tried nearly every 29er tyre out there at some point.

kenda nevegals seem ok for everything i think.
but i have ordered some stouts for my new project……….. 8)

stouts for my new project………..

couple of kilos here and there. It’s not like you’d notice, ton 🙂

Im going to have a go at a stout on a gordo soon, just for the hell of it 🙂

BTW my WTB Werewolf 2.55″ comes out at 60mm wide on the Gordo rim 🙂

thanks a lot chaps. sam, ill mail you in a bit when i get time, to see what youve got 🙂

cheers