Do you buy 'summer' tyres, or just fit part- worns?

Just refitted a well worn rear Ignitor in place of the new Advantage I put on for winter.

Tried a Crossmark last year as a specific summer rear, but didn’t really feel any better than a recycled, worn all rounder.

Am I missing something?
Does anyone buy specific ‘summer’ tyres?
If so, why?

always fit new tires at the beginning of summer.. (or sometime after the mud clears).
Best performance upgrade, for the least cost IMHO.

be silly not to.
Minions super tacky front and rear.
feel very different to the medusa’s ive just removed.

Option 2 for me. Sort of.

If I find I’m sliding around a bit when the muddy times come I get some new tyres and use them til they wear out, or the mud reappears.

I have a few pairs of part worn tyres in the shed 🙂

Maybe I should re-think my strategy…

Seems weird to buy and use proper winter tyres and know how good they are yet I’ve never bought proper summer tyres. Mind you we get a lot more winter weather than summer weather. Will have to get some in for next summer (I assume our summer was early march this year)

edit “Minions super tacky front and rear” surely they are just all round* as opposed to summer (im thinking ardent, sb8 and other low pro tyres)

*and very good they are too

I like summer tyres. Have been using Kenda Slant 6 since early Feb!!

I used to run old winter tyres, but came to the conclusion they were rubbish copared to propper summer tyres.

Winter tyres:
Harder compound to suppourt taller knobs, less of them to help them shed mud. Grip comes from tall knobs digging into the ground as the grounds goign to slip before the tyre/ground interface does. Hard compound helps with letting it roll reasnobly well too despite the big/wide spaced knobs.

Summer tyres:
Softer compound, shorter knobs and more of them so they grip harder surfaces through a combination of not having to dig in deep (the ground’s hard) and the softer compound is providing most of the grip, not the tread. Rolls well due to the tightly packed knobs making the tyre more circular.

Worn down winter treads:
short knobbles, hard compound (less grip), few knobs (less grip), wide spaced knobs (dont roll as well as the tightly packed ones on summer tyres), not much going for it really. And fresh tyres grip better, the square edges provide most of the grip, hence DHers use fresh tyres or ‘cut down mud spikes’ rather than ‘last years worn out mud spikes’.

Have a stack of tyres in the shed and I fit whatever is appropriate. We have good days in Winter and bad days in Summer

I use the same tyres for winter as I do for summer. That way they’re easily interchangeable 😉

I just keep the same tyres on all year round and replace them if they wear out.

TINAS has it explained it really well.

I still run the same tyres all year round though!

The front is the same all year round, can’t be arsed with changing tubeless tyres! The rear gets part worns, running an Ignitor currently, that will get changed for a HR later in the summer.
I like the Ignitor on the rear, now able to drift around corners… Thank you Jedi! 😉

I have a Racing Ralph for the HT. The FS has has a Nic on the rear thats almost a Ralph due to wear, so I won’t be buying a new one replace it.

When its “gone” I’ll move the front to the back, and stick a new one (purchased in a sale, boxed and in the shed already) on the front.

We don’t really get one of those “summer” thingies up in Scotland so I stick with big grippy tyres all year.

Currently loving Continental Rubber Queen Black Chillis. Previously a big fan of Minions.

Summer tyres….mmmm fresh crossmark speed.

It’s no more expensive overall, they all end up worn in the end!

EDIT: and i’m in scotland too 😉

current tyres for my do it all bike
a 2.1 high roller
2.1 advantage
2.1 crossmark

in the summer advantage on the front crossmark rear.

in the winter advantage rear high roller front

dh bike
intense spikes, swampthings, high rollers, high roller semi, minion, mobster, ardent
I just swap tyres depending on conditions

relliott6879 – Member

I just keep the same tyres on all year round and replace them if they wear out.

+1

I don’t understand fitting mud tyres in the winter. Winter often means hard packed ground as it freezes over. And particularly over the past 3 years, I’ve barely come across any mud during the winter. It’s been dry as a bone this year. Until these past couple of weeks….of spring.

The mud generally flourishes in the summer, I find.

Black Chilli Rubber Queens all year, when the rear is really worn, buy a new one, stick on front, part-worn on rear. Repeat.

I don’t understand fitting mud tyres in the winter

well really it’s more like october to april tyres, you may if you are lucky get a few weeks of frozen ground in the middle but that’s still 6 months of mud some of it quite deep too.

The mud generally flourishes in the summer, I find

yeah but normally not too deep so allrounders normally suffice.

Like many others I have a pool of tyres to choose from. I’m notoriously fickle though and I’ve three bikes to pick tyres for.

Summer tyres with a shallow tread are ace for dusty trails and rocks, but throw in the mulchy soil you get in an evergreen forest and you’re asking for trouble when it turns damp, so it’s sometimes a good idea to fit something toothy up front. I tend to run a shallow tread tyre at the rear all year round, but that’s just the way I roll.

Currently my set up is as follows:

AM bike – Panaracer Rampage 2.35 rear and Rampage 2.35 Soft Compound front.
XC full suss – Spesh Captain 2.0 rear, Spesh Roll X 2.0 front
Hardtail – Kenda SB8 2.35 front and rear.

Bontrager Mud X for winter.

Ignitor exception for summer.

Worn ignitors on separate wheels for road/canal out with kids etc.

rigid = 2.4 ardent / 2.25 crossmark rear
full suss = 2.35 highroller / 2.1 advantage

If it’s gonna be too muddy for those combos on natural trails then I’ll go play at GT or Inners instead rather than resort to mud tyres

Its rocky and wet all year long in the Lakes, so same tyres rain or shine with a distincly dual ply heft to them. A combination of minion and high roller seems sufficient. Summer tyre is going to be the rather worn dual ply high roller on the back and I am experimenting with a Schwalbe Fat Albert on the front.

Next ride out is Garburn but its anything but summer up here today with heavy showers and sunny spells but quite chilly with it.

What are summer tyres?

I just fit a set of tyres and leave them on until they wear out regardless of season.

Any how it always rains in the UK so its pointless choosing a tyre based on that premise.

Last year’s summer tyres usually do it for me. Given that summer around here only lasts about 6 weeks, I get plenty of years out of them.

+1 for using the same tyres all year round, I’ve enough other obsessions to deal without adding tyres to the mix 😀

As above, it depends on the conditions and type of riding you do.

Winter mud tyres are essential for the moors I ride. During winter they become saturated and very churned up by horses. Really like Dirty Dans 2.0 – light for a mud tyre with lots of grip in deep mud.

In summer the moors dry out so I fit Rocket Ron / Racking Ralph combination which are higher volume and much faster.

same all year round N.Nics weather can change the conditions in a matter of mins. All too much faff.

I think it can stop raining now please.

Currently wearing out an old conti explorer on the rear so that I can justify throwing it away. When that goes, there’s another one awaiting the same treatment. Only then will I be able to justify a nice fast rolling summer tyre.

I just keep the same tyres all year, can’t be arsed/can’t afford putting different ones on. Only really ride dh anyway so a bit extra drag in summer isnt much of an issue.

Am running ADvs all year. But in the depth of winter I fitted a Swampthing on the rear just to get some climbing traction. As soon as it dried up a little, it came off.

not doing too much winter stuff theses days. Just put Specialized S works Sauserwind on my bike. Seems like a pretty good dry condition tyre

+1 for Kenda SB8’s, in 2.1(rapid)flavour but I live in the driest county in the country. Living in Essex has got to have some benefits.

high5 milkie!! 😀

worn course grit ‘sand’ paper is not the same as fine grade paper…

fit half decent (half price sale) ‘all-rounder’ in Autumn.. use well until spring when it will have transformed into an excellent summer tyre..

repeat process

I think a lot of people’s choices are defined by where you ride most. If you ride trail centres mainly, or at least places with pretty firm ground for the most part all year round, you probably won’t be the kind of person to bother changing tyres.

If you ride much more natural trails mainly, that can be dry as a bone and super fast in summer, but inches deep in thick mud in the winter, you’ll have different tyres for each.

Or if you’re a racer, you’ll have a stack as you know how important saving time can be, and tyres can make a big difference. I’m far from quick, but at last year’s SITS after the heavy downpour, I decided to put my Bonty Mud X’s on my bike for a lap or two, as the Hutchinson Cougar/Cobra combo I was running were very fast but made a Schwalbe Racing Ralph look like a mud tyre in comparison! Anyway… Result was I was 5 minutes per lap slower on the Mud X’s… Put the Hutch’s back on, and hey presto, 5 mins quicker again!

Black Chilli Rubber Queens all year, when the rear is really worn, buy a new one, stick on front, part-worn on rear. Repeat.

All that I said above though, if you’re not racing (which I’m not intending to any more if I can help it), I think this man has got a good point, there’s definitely nothing else I’ve tried that seems to work so well regardless of conditions.

I swap tyres a lot – generally have 4 sets for the solo – a fast set for dry conditions, an set of all rounders and a set of mud tyres. also a set of ice spikes but not needed this year