Knobbly front/semi-slick rear

The trails round here are very dry, so I'm looking at some faster-rolling tyres (at the moment, am running Panaracer Fire XC Pros F&R). It's been suggested that running a knobbly front & semi-slick rear might work (eg. Schwalbe Nobby Nic front/Racing Ralph rear).

I've got a 100mm travel HT; riding mainly XC/bridleway. Stipulations would be about 26×2.1" size & would want both tyres to be from the same manufacturer.

Anyone have any suggestions/alternatives to the NN/RR combination?

Andy

I often run a Panaracer Mach SS at the back when it's dry. (Fire XC up front). Works well and is noticeably faster.

Nevegal/SB8

+1 for Nevegal and Small Block 8.

Nice n' drifty.

I've literally just finished fitting my Nevegal / Small Block Eight combo – after having 3 years solid with the same pair of Swampthings on 🙂

not had chance to test it yet though

Meant to add, just to be difficult, that I'm looking for UST tyres…

Andy

Nevegal/Race King worked for me even at wharncliffe in the wet, but I was a bit more of a mincer about a year ago.

Nev/SB8 again

eskar front/larsen tt rear. Had a crossmark on the back before that which was just as good.

I use Nobby Nic and Racing Ralph, nice and fast. TBH you can get away with with RR front and rear round here at the minute

I have maxxis minion front, semi slick high roller rear, both super tacky ( naturally )

Ardent/high roller front, Larsen TT on the back. Wouldn't believe the weather you can get away with the Larsen in as long as its not mega muddy.

I'm running both a nobby nic ralph combo on one bike and a high roller/larsen one on another. Both fast, just wish i had a wider 2.25 nobby nic as i could do with a bit more stability

Running Bontrager XDX 2.1 tubeless ready at the moment super fast and grip ok , for a little more grip for the front a Bontrager XR2 would be perfect .

Running a Mud-X on the front and a Kenda Karma on the rear…works well for me (Actually the Kenda is fast rolling but ain't great for traction on the loose stuff but was cheap). Personally I find the Mud-X suitable for the front all year for XC.

I run high roller single ply 60a's front and back, but the rear is the 'semi slick' verion with the center nobbles removed.

Its faster rolling, but does loose out in the corners, on anything soft you have to have the bike right over to keep the knobbly bits digging in, I guess a more normal tyre like the SB8 would be better as an allrounder as it still works when your upright but isnt a true semi slick.

running a Nobby Nic front and Crossmark rear.

trails are soo dry at the minute its incredibly fast

after a lot of forum perusing i went for nobby nic 2.25 snakeskin up front and a racing ralph 2.25 snakeskin double defence on the rear. tubeless with stans sealant. superfast rolling on the back but with amazing climbing ability. pretty good allrounders

Ardent and Aspen for me on ss, so nice on dry they make a kissing sound when the surfaces meet

Ralphs are hardly a semi slick, they're a good 3-season tyre!

I run a Rocket Ron on the front, Furious Fred on the back, although it's got so loose in some places now I've gone back to a Ron on the back too.

swampthing front semislick high roller rear.

would run something less knobbly on the front but i`m lazy.

Advantage front and Aspen rear (2.25" if you've got nice wide rims, 2.1" on anything narrow). A Crossmark on the back also works very well, slightly faster in a stright line than the Aspen, not quite as good in the bends (IME).

Loose terrain is awful to choose a tyre for 🙁

Peak last night and traction was shocking – sand and marble type rocks, do i want a tyre that digs in or floats over the surface??

Hard pack & sandy round my neck of the woods

Tried the Knobbly front/semi-slick rear thing but didn't really notice too much of a difference.

Went back to my Intense System 2 tyres front & back

I was using a Nevegal 2.35 front and SB8 2.35 rear, and was pretty happy with that even in "a bit muddy" conditions.

But yesterday I changed to SB8 2.35 front and Race King 2.2 rear. My god it's fast! And a lot grippier than I expected too.

Ralphs are hardly a semi slick, they're a good 3-season tyre!

Point taken 😛

I'm still quite keen on having knobbly front & slightly less knobbly rear though*. It's a pity Panaracer don't make a UST Mach SK, as that would probably have been just the thing.

Loose terrain is awful to choose a tyre for

Fortunately, most of the trails I ride regularly are either moorland bridleway or packed gravel, so they're not too bad. I don't think anything works on the loose as it's like riding on ball bearings.

Andy

*plan is to put fast tyres on my newly acquired bargain Crossmax SLRs & put something a bit more sludge-friendly (probably UST Trailrakers) on my now-slightly-bashed DT wheels when the existing tyres start to look a bit sad.