Are 29+ Tyres 'Draggy' on Tarmac

Whadayathink?

I am on the cusp of ordering a 29 or 29+ frame and I am wondering…. I will spend probably 50% of my time on roads and wonder if the additional effort required to keep a 29+ tyre rotating at speed is worth the excitement of having them on the bike. I do not want two wheel sets.

I found a Maxxis Chronicle to be as draggy as a normal proper nobbly in normal size (eg Hans Dampf 2.35).

Something like a Surly Knard would roll significantly quicker.

Depends on the tyres you have fitted, a pair of £13 Voyage Hypers from PX should roll very well on tarmac, but they ain’t going to be much use off-road.

http://www.planetx.co.uk/i/q/TYVIVOHY/vittoria-voyager-hyper-folding-tyre

I’ve got bonty chupacabra on my trek and they roll fine but they aren’t the best for mud etc. So if you don’t want two wheelsets you might well end up wanting two tyre sets.

Just fitted some Chronicles to my fat bike and commuted twice on it this week. Pressure seems very sensitive but getting it just right there is no more drag than a similar tread 29er tyre. Get the pressure to low and the handling is pretty horrid though.

Done the same commute with Conti xking and trail king for the last few years, the trail king dragged a lot more then these Chronicles do.

Depends on the pressure in them, chronicle will be craggy at off road pressure & great off road & vice versa at high pressure on road. Same as any size knobbly tyre

this is a tyre question rather than a 29 or 29+ question.

What tyres do you use now? Just use a similar tyre on 29 or 29+ and it will roll the same although the 29+ will be heavier

I use a 26″ tyre right now! Haven’t bought the 29 frame yet. It’s either a Krampus or a Monkey.

once did a pan flat 94km road ride on my Krampus at a 30.8kph average

..is that good?

You notice the bulk more on the road than the trail but the biggest issue on the road is the weird counter steer you get on the camber.

I have Knards on my 29+ Because of the rounded tyre profile, the amount of rubber in contact with the road is no more than a regular 29er – the bigger tyre diameter and wider carcass probably means less rolling resistance too. You notice the slightly heavier tyres when getting them up to speed, but once they get rolling they’re pretty quick – never had any self-steer problems either. Off road, extra grip is very noticeable and extra bite into turns – I’ve been able to ‘catch’ a wash-out that would have likely resulted in a crash on normal tyres simply due to more knobs on the tyre shoulder.

I noticed that having a chronicle up front on my ogre did make for a fair bit more work on road compared to 2.35’s although I was running it fairly soft .

Knards rolls along well on hard pack stuff but gets squirrely in the gloop . Vee tyres bulldozers dig in more in the gloop but are hard work on the road. Big tyres can = big fun. Cheers 1 shed.