So I ride the Peak District, Hayfield, Southhead etc.

At nearly 58 i’ve just moved to a Whyte 130 to give a plush ride for my knackery back and its missing disc.

To reduce weight and rolling resistance I replaced the stock wheels with Hope XC and added some Rocket Rons that I had in stock – Result lighter faster rolling bike, bit skittish on the down hills.

This is what it originally came with –
WTB Vigilante, Light High Grip TCS System 27.5″ X 2.3″, 60TPI Front, Trail Boss, TCS System, Light Fast Rolling 27.5″ X 2.4″, 60TPI Rear

So great on the downhills but boy with the wheels could you tell you were pushing them round especially on our hills.

So what I’m looking for is tubeless tires that are light fast rolling but with a bit of width that will blast over rocks etc as the WTBs did and cope with a bit of mud.

I also assume as a test I could mount the old tires on the Hopes, guessing the narrow rim would take a 2.4 then I can see what difference the light wheel made?

Any ideas?

I quite like the Vigilante (2.3″) / Trail Boss (2.25″) combo and find them fastish, definitely more so than a Spesh Butcher/Purg combo. WTB do some great tyres with a simple options, the only downside for me is the weight of the Tough, but if I brought again I’d maybe try this on the rear of my HT. You’ve nothing to loose by refitting the WTBs.

Bontrager XR4 are great all year tyres

I refitted the front on the the Hope rim and converted the wheel to tubeless, will see how it rides.

I’d say if anything the stock tyres are mildly underspecced – especially the rear. The Vig light/grippy is pretty good; but Trail Bosses are pretty pants in mud, the light carcass is underweight on the back for peaks rocks and the fast rolling compound is abysmal on wet limestone, which may be an issue if you like riding Cavedale.

My winter tyre take is Maxxis Shorty Exo 3C 2.3 on the front and 60A High Roller 2 Exo on the back, but that’s a hair heavier than the WTB setup you’ve currently got. Spesh Butcher Grid is pretty good, but slow rolling. A Slaughter Grid is an awesome fast summer rear though.

All these options will be a little less optimal on 19.5mm rims. I’m on 25mm at the mo and noticed a big change in edge grip going from 21mm.

What were the original wheels? Were you running tubeless then? If not, there’s 150-200g an end straight off!

(I’m other side of the peaks, but similar terrain!)

tires is the US spelling. You may be American, of course.

I’d agree with most of the above. I run a pair of Tough Vigilantes or Vigilante/TB both in Tough. These are stronger and heavier than the models you’re running. I ride the Peak too.

IMO going for significantly lighter tyres somewhere like the Peak is going to be frustrating as you’ll spend time repairing knackered tyres rather than enjoying your lighter wheels.

Original wheels had these rims
WTB STp i29 29mm Wide, TCS System, 32 Hole

Maybe for the light rides use the XC wheels and pop on the wider rims for fun stuff and accept the weight penalty.

Possibly the best compromise.

In all honesty you aren’t talking about very heavy wheel/tyre combos for the area here.