Fast Rolling Tyres – Am I missing anything and will I die?

Good morning Singletrack people I hope everyone is well. I have a couple of questions for the hive mind about tyres.

I have a couple of endurance* type events booked in this summer and would like to put some nice fast rolling rubber on my bike or the occaision. Ideally I’d like to put the same tyre on the front and back for simplicity.

I’ve been looking and it looks like I’ve narrowed it down to either the Racing Ralph or Ikon but I’d like to know if anyone has any experience of either of thes tyres and have I missed anything also will I die with a fast rolling tyre on the front?

I’m a reasonable bike handler who does mainly natural XC type riding with some trail centre type stuff thrown in too.

Cheers in advance

* not this new fanged ‘enduro’ thing

Racing Ralphs are excellent. Consider pairing with a Thunder Burt or Furious Fred on the back if the terrain’s not too severe.

Honey badger

My go to tyres for xc racing are ikon front and rear, no issues. Fast rolling with plenty of volume, nice profile and within reason plenty of grip. Done plenty of fast trail centre laps with that combo as well and surprising good in the slop.
However you do have to remain awake. Was tempted by thunder burts this year but keeping with what I know for now.

RAcing ralphs are good.

How much harder it makes it depends on the conditions. On dry/hard or rocky stuff I’d run racing tyres and be fine. It was always a little more interesting when it got muddy.

Consider the courses as well. For long stuff liek the Kielder 100 it suited narrow fast tyres as a significant amount ot it was on fire roads and good tracks so the losses on the muddy bits were more than made up for on speed elsewhere. For more technical stuff more grip may be faster if you mince down everything.

Get used to the tyres before the race. As long as you know the limits then it is fine. Maybe consider fatter up front and thinner out back.

I run a 2.25 Rocket Ron front all year, rear is a 2.1 RR in winter, Thunderburt in summer. I am tempted to swap the rear for the weekend. Its still a bit muddy / damp but should be ok in the Surrey Hills.

I know you said same front and rear, but my go to mtb marathon combination is nobby nic front racing ralph rear. Pretty sure its not to confusing 😀

I use ikon front and rear (the huge 2.3s), not sold on it as a front tyre, but not really sure what else to match it with.

Schwalbe hater here so I avoid NN/RR like the plague. Ikons are second on my list of hatred.

First option I use: Geax Saguaro up front, Panaracer Driver Pro out back – 2.2 for both.

Second: Kenda Karma up front, Kenda Small Block 8

Third: Saguaro, Kenda Slant Six

very much depends on the course.

Racing Ralph Front and Rear all year!

I have just fitted some 2.25 Schwalbe Rapid Robs to my Karate Monkey(chosen for their shallow tread and wallet friendly pricing) and aside from looking TINY (compared the 29×3 Maxxis Chronicles on my Krampus) they look alright like.

I shall report back!

Wow – cheers for all the input. The honey badgers look interesting.

For a bit of context I ride a 29er with Nobby Nics will be training for and riding the Hamsterly Beast and Kielder 100 (May and September). I’m reasonably familiar with Hamsterley but have never ridden Kielder. Has anyone any input on Keilder.

It’s good to hear that I’m barking up the right tree with my tyre choices. I may just have to bite the bullet and get a couple of sets to figure out what’s best.

How do the Ikon / Ralph / Badger fair when run tubeless?

Currently running a continental X King 2.4 up front and a Race King 2.2 Rear both in Protection format..

Schwalbe work really well. My sole experience of Maxxis (29er Beavers) has been favourable.

For some reason I’ve not looked at Conti, odd as I run a couple of sets on my road bikes.

Not had an issue with maxxis tubeless in either tr format or not, however the non tr do start to show threads in the sidewall after a while. A slightly slower rolling combo but with more front grip is an ardent race on the front paired to the ikon. Did use bonty xr1 teams for a while in 2.0 format and they were quick but I prefer a wider tyre, however probably doing a longer moors and shores event and they may well get out back on. Couldn’t get on with the big ikons, they are massive..

I’ve run Ikons and Ralphs at different times and my general take is that Ralphs roll faster, but aren’t quite as grippy on rocky stuff. The 2.35 Ikon is quite different from the 2.2 or whatever the narrower one is – has much more pronounced edge lugs and works nicely as a dry to medium front tyre ime. You can buy ’em both in an EXO tubeless ready version I think, which seems to do what it says on the tin.

I’m not a huge fan of Schwalbes generally, apart from Ice Spiker Pros which rock – but I’m happy racing with a Ralph on the rear and either another one of the same up front or something slightly grippier. I dislike them for general trail riding though.

I run a Conti RaceKing on the back of my bike in the summer, it’s the only Conti tyre I like. It certainly feels fast and it does grip surprisingly well but it is VERY flimsy.

The 2.35 Ikon is quite different from the 2.2 or whatever the narrower one is – has much more pronounced edge lugs and works nicely as a dry to medium front tyre ime

How close to 2.35 does that measure? I wonder if I could fit that through my Rebas.

Never considered a wider tyre on the front and a narrow one on the back.

Depends what course they are using for Kielder. I did the 100 a few years ago and did on some WTB tyres that were nearly bald. As above the vast majority of it is very easy and straight line speed is most important. The fire roads hold up well in the wet and you can flatten the corners with a good line. I’ve done most of the red and backroads around there on a cross bike with semi slicks just don’t get too enthusiastic in the corners, otherwise it is fine.

There will bits of it that are very muddy but on the 100 these were so bad you would have needed mud DH tyres for control. I just carved my way down carefully or pushed up. If i go I’ll be using cross kings as I find these a good alrounder and predictable (and i already own them).

Ralphs get slagged by people trying to use them for the wrong job, like me. I like the kenda karma for raceyness but I don’t think anyone else does.

Specialized Captain Control is good if you want something pretty fast but you’re not used to racy grip levels and fragility, a better compromise than most I reckon. If you’re used to tougher tyres switching to sausage-skins can be a bit of a wakeup

How close to 2.35 does that measure? I wonder if I could fit that through my Rebas.

I’ve only used the 26″ version of the 2.35, but it’s true to size I reckon, unlike some older model Maxxis tyres, and quite big – it’ll cope with a 26″ Revelation, but I have no idea whether a 29″ Reba would have the same clearance. Also makes a fast, fat, rear tyre for a hardtail, though the sidewalls aren’t the stiffest so you need to run reasonable pressures to stop it wallowing.

The only “fast” tyres I’ve got are Race Kings – fast and I was pleasantly surprised now un-death-on-a-stick they were. Also pretty good volume for their nominal size (26 x 2.2 F & R)

it is very tight with my rebas, rubbish in mud

it is very tight with my rebas, rubbish in mud

Bugger!

I’m a real fan of plenty of grip up front, UST set up, and I like the back light & quick to pick up speed but with grip when cornering at high speed & lean angles, after persevering with Ralphs I bought a new Rockrazor last year when they came out, revelation, more grip than a ralp but big chunky side knobbles for cranking it over & so far no pinch flats and equally as fast, check out the reviews on CRC, well worth a punt or Mavic’s Quest also which I’ve got & really like.

Just to throw a complete spanner in the works, once it dries out this year I’ll be putting a set of 2.2″ Bontrager XR2 TLR’s on for fast / dry’ish all rounders.

I ran XR3’s last year front and rear but at 2.35″ they’re a touch close in the rear of my bike.

Went to Saguaros after Greg of this parish raved about them in all formats, and On One did tubeless white wall ones for a tenner (it was the tenner that got me, the white wall is gopping). Way more protected than the Ralphs they replaced and seem no slower, even work ok in the slop if you drop a bit of presure.

1500km on Ikons tubeless round the Peak for me without problems if that helps.

UST set up, and I like the back light & quick to pick up speed

UST and light? No chance!

Just ordered a set of Thunder Burts on the back of this, been meaning to get some for ages! There’s my summer tyres sorted!

Sorry for hijack…Nick is the email in your profile active? I’d like to ask you a couple of questions on carbon road wheels.

I’ve run a Racing Ralph on the back of my main bike in the summer, much lighter and quicker than the Hans Dampf I run. BUT it did seem to be quite fragile and more prone to punctures than the Hans.

Sorry for hijack…Nick is the email in your profile active? I’d like to ask you a couple of questions on carbon road wheels.

As you’ve quite possibly now seen it is, as I’ve replied!

BUT it did seem to be quite fragile and more prone to punctures than the Hans.

They do Snakeskin and RaceGuard Ralphs/Rons/Freds/Burts, which are worthwhile if you ride lots of rocks.

Ah njee20

Nice to see you again…. I don’t think 695gms is heavy plus a bit of stans in there & it feels light enough for me IMO, that said I wouldn’t run a razor (Gravity version which I have) in the lakes on the rocks especially if wet which it usually is, couldn’t imagine doing Dolly Wagon on one, it’s usually Hi rollers at what must be near 900gms but no pinch flats or otherwise destroyed tyres.

Geax / Vittoria Sagauro’s are very impressive for a fast rear tyre. Faster rolling and tougher than a RaRa, the extra weight isn’t noticeable.