Can anyone recommend a set of tyres for cross country racing? I can’t really afford different tyres for different weather conditions so I need some that will do most conditions. I do have a set of semi slicks for those rare occasions when it’s really dry! I mostly train on the road as there’s no good mtb riding where I live so just need the tyres for racing and occasional off road rides. I’m female and 10 stone so don’t need anything too heavy duty!!

Speed Kings are a good all round tyre.

Not much good in really thick gloop, but great in everything else.
If you are using them on-road as well (for training) then they won’t last long though.
Might be worth getting a second set of cheap wheels for the road and keep slicks on them.

Welcome to STW.

I find that I can “just” about get away with Nobby Nic’s even in the clag so long as it’s not too deep – On One have had some great deals on those recently and I think Chain Reaction (?) might be doing something too?

I train on a road bike so don’t need to use them on the road so they are purely for off road use.

People on here usually recommend Schwalbe Racing Ralphs in this situation and with good reason; they’re great albeit expensive. Good deals at On One at the moment

I find that I can “just” about get away with Nobby Nic’s even in the clag so long as it’s not too deep

I find I can get away with RRs even in the clag so long as I don’t mind sliding a bit! Have run those virtually year round (I do have a spare set of wheels with NNs on, but they get little use).

Agree with aracer, if he’s talking abour rocket ron’s, I can’t vouch for racing ralphs… Ron’s seem to cope with everything well except gloop but even then they still get through…

Rocket Rons seem really good for how fast they are. Not great in mud, but what race tyre is? Having said that, I’m suprised how well the front tyre pops back in when it slids out – I often think I’m going down, but then don’t! I’m also female (around 8 stone) and don’t race, but do use the RRs as my standard tyre as I currently find them grippy enough and their fast tread makes up for my lack of fitness! If my riding changed to much more local woods, wet roots type stuff though, I’d probably go for something gripper. (They are pricey though…)

Rocket Ron.

We should use the convention they use on the MTBR forum to describe Schwalbe tyres:-
RaRa – Racing Ralph
RoRo – Rocket Ron

I am running Highrollers at the moment, I was unsure how they would run in the mud that the strathpuffer threw at them but they coped very well, I have a relatively hard compound 62a on the rear and a soft compound 40a on the front, they are fairly fast rolling. They are not as light as Racing ralphs but seem to be a good tyre and are working well for me at the moment. I had ordered some maxxis medusas for the puffer but they didnt arrive in time so just stuck with the highrollers, they are also very good in the summer.

I actually meant Racing Ralph – had forgotten there was another popular racing tyre with those initials. Maybe I should try some Rons.

High rollers are like cycling in treacle compared to ron’s…

**** phones…

depends which high roller.check out their lightest compared to the supertacky. like night and day.

Maxxis monorail.

The lightest High Rollers are still more than 150g heavier each. Even the Monorail eXCeptions are still weighty.

continental x kings for me, been running them for a while now, and good in the dry or wet, roll well, light and grippy.

I ride Bontrager Mud X all year round, but I’m not a race head.

I’ve tried those lightweight tyres with a tread pattern thats only drawn on to the tyre surface.
But I just crash horribly when I ride with those kinda tyres.

Edit: Oh, and seeing as weight is being mentioned, my Mud Xs come in at under 600g, which makes them acceptable to me on a weight to grip / skill compensation factor.