Hi,

Pretty new to the world of MTB but have been raising my game over the past 6 months, fitness technique etc comming on nicely thanks to lots of encouragement from local club.

Got to the point where I can push quite aggressively but having trouble finding a good summer front tyre so looking for suggestions.

My bike is a Lapierre X Control and I live in the Calder Valley/Kirklees area, so rides range from open Moorland runs to tight twisty steep single track.

I love the bike and yes it’s a little twitchy as it’s set up for XC, but to be honest I like it that way. Found a great winter/mud set up with a Storm Control up front and Trailraker in the back.

But have lost the front regularly in the current dusty loose conditions when pushing on downhill, on my summer tyres. 😯

Any suggestions?

Have tried Kenda Nevagal Stick e, Continental Race King (OE with bike) and Maxxis Ignitor.

Cheers 🙂

I’d look at what your mates use since you’re riding the same stuff. I’m the same area as you and like highrollers and mountain kings. You do have to adjust your riding a bit round here when its dry, I reckon theres always more grip when its wet as the sand and gritsone dust just slides over the rocks in summer.

The guys run all sorts but there appear to be more Schwalbe’s (know nothing about them) or High Rollers than most others.

Try letting some air out – pressures around 25-30psi suit me (tubeless) in the very loose, sandy and dry New Forest – and I’m running an S-Works Captain 2.0 on the front and a SB8 on the rear on my XC bike and then on my bigger bouncer running the same combo but at 2.4 and 2.2 widths – similar pressures.

I’m not the smallest guy, 6’2″ and a good 95kg fully loaded, was worried lower psi might see more pinch flats?? Or is that just cobblers?

Maxis high roller tacky , great tyre , if it can get me over gnarly stuff then it must be good.

Also maxis advantage are not too bad either

Round rossendale on mixed trails 40 psi is the given

I’m been running a Kenda Dred Tread on the front for a few weeks (sb8 on back). Lots of confidence boosting shoulder tread and have been mucho carving recently with no washouts. Low pressure though (20ish) but never had a pinch flat.

2.4 spesh captain? where?

1 tyre to rule them all.. minion super tacky

The grip is incredible and a world apart to nobby nic and eskars it replaced.

Wire bead awdvantage 70A is a nice taster of what you could get from a softer compound, i’ve only had mine a week but it seems very grippy and fairly fast rolling.

local Calderdale rider (maxxis fan),Minion front is a good tyre in dusty conditions also, highroller a better all rounder (mud and silt) ,supertacky compound to be sure in the damp

+1 for letting some air out.

Highroller supertacky’s a good safe bet for anything, draggier and heavier than it should be probably but very effective. I always feel like Minions need to be ridden harder to get the best out of them, which isn’t ideal if you want a confidence inspiring tyre, when I’m not on my game I find them pretty confidence sapping tbh.

Also remember the sizing comes up ridiculously small, the 2.35 is about 2.15 across frinstance so don’t feel like you’re getting a massive tyre.

Can’t see the need to lighten the pressure with the right tyre.

Mind you I might be missing something, ride low over the pennines and it’s pinchtastic !

Panaracer Rampage SC

A great tyre, very grippy and not too draggy when used up front

At 18 quid for a kevlar beaded tyre its a bargian too.

Summer,

Panaracer Fire FR 2.4″ F & Fire XC Pro 2.1″ R 40Psi in both, Run High Roller/Ardent combo in winter also in your area!

Ww right on the money , friend of mine has moved in behind the billet

Maxxis High roller or Ardent IMHO

I might gor for some of those panaracers…..

High Roller or a Minion (minion 2.35 42a one of those in a 42 super tacky)

Not found a situation it wasn’t grippy in yet, rocky, loose, muddy, dusty and a pump track 🙂

sambob – Member

Wire bead awdvantage 70A is a nice taster of what you could get from a softer compound, i’ve only had mine a week but it seems very grippy and fairly fast rolling.

70A is the hardest compound Maxxis do, not the softest.

Try a 2.25″ Advantage 60a (Maxpro, folding) – excellent high volume tyre with very good cornering performance. Going softer compound is going to be way too draggy in the summer, so personally I’d steer clear of all these Super Tacky (42a) recommendations you’re getting. They have their place, but that place is generally somewhere wet.

Highrollers give great cornering performance – but that’s pretty much it. They’re also a very aquired taste, so perhaps not the best choice if you’re fairly new to this? I’ll probably get flamed now for casting aspersions on a STW favourite. 😉

…….do have a look at Schwalbe. Nobly Nic snakeskin is a great all round tire, there is a reason so many people fit them. are bargains around.

+1 pressure. I’m your size, I rarely ride with more than 30psi in the front

can’t comment on your location but the nevegal is an all-rounder, the blue groove is specifically a front tyre i believe. i use blue groove front, nevegal rear all year round.
wouldn’t go too low on pressure as you’ll find the front rolling over under hard cornering and pinch prone.
tried panaracer rampage on the rear. found it liable to spin up in cold/damp conditions on the road climb to local trails, and i managed to get a rock to pierce through the centre of the tread and puncture, even at 35~40psi. avoid IMHO.

Maxis minion dhf in any size

High Roller 2 coming soon, be interesting to see how they can improve on it…

Robotdancer, which club? Thinking about joining one myself

High Roller 2 coming soon, be interesting to see how they can improve on it…

Hmmm, I can think of quite a few ways…

1. Increase the air volume in line with their latest releases.
2. Keep the ace edge tread, but give it more/some medial tread so it’s a bit more useable.
3. Multi-compound it – 42a edges and 60a centre would do it for me.
4. Exo version? (Maxxis might already do this, to be fair – I haven’t checked)
5. Revise centre tread to cope better with muck.

Or save a lot of development time and just beef up the edge tread on an Advantage 🙂

Maxxis Minion DHF for me and I’m a similar weight to you. Great tyre, loads of grip and confidence inspiring even on the 60a model. I’ve only ever pinch flatted the front tyre once, which was the result of landing nose-heavy on a jump landing, at which point a flat tyre was the least of my worries 😆