Incoming matt black On One Whippet carbon 29er, obviously needs skinwalls 😁

Ideal would be white Onza Porcupines but I’m not stretching to £65 a tyre.

Spec says 2.35 max in the back, front looks like it’ll take more if needed.

XC/trail oriented, sub-£35 an end, front & rear brand needs to match (sorry!).

Obvious choice seems to be Maxxis Ardent 2.25/2.40 combo, but was looking at the WTB Ranger tan wall as a possibility. Any recommendations?

Maxxis Rekon 2.6 3C EXO TR

They come on one of the Ebikes I’ve been considering, and look pretty smart too.
https://www.focus-bikes.com/gb_en/186005-thron-6-9?color_combo=97272

Msc tyres have a nice range tanwall tyres from xc race to full enduro/dh i used a set of singletracks all last summer a good all round tyre like a nobby nic but better and they tend to be cheaper than the big brands

I have 2.25 skinwall WTB Rangers on my gravel bike and love them. Rolling resistance is minimal, and I’ve had plenty of grippy fun on dry xc and trails. Just avoid mud.

Vittoria Barzo’s

Vittoria Barzos on my hardtail xc bike.

Get tyres that you actually want and work for you and your riding and forget about whether they have pretty tan walls or not?

Another barzo vote.

I tried a pair of Schwalbe Racing Ray/ Ralph skinwalls. A pack of two was about £70. They do a twin pack cheaper. They were good XC. The paddles on the new ralph seemed to work well up loose steepies. I seemed to have settled in a pair of Ikons for my XC. You can get them in skinwall. A bit slower but I like the reasurring feeling carving high speed gravel corners with em and having the same tyre front and rear for a balanced front to rear feeling. It’s all personal. On my rims the Maxxis seem to blow up tubeless easiest but again that all depends on rims etc. Tried an Aspen rear and that was a bit quicker, but again I have a better ‘day out type XC’ with the Ikons – there’s no sketch on 25mph gravel corners which you get with the faster Burts and Racekings.

Get tyres that you actually want and work for you and your riding and forget about whether they have pretty tan walls or not?

Yeah, no.. 😁 Do that on the FS. It’s not like there’s only one perfect tyre for everyone – if I can get something that does the job AND looks how I want, why not?

Cheers for suggestions, especially MSC as I hadn’t heard of them.

@milfordvet – saw you posted in the Whippet thread – is that what you’ve got those tyres on?

No on a Singular Swift.

I’d love a Whippet but just want the frame/ fork. They’ve never been on offer thanks to Covid and probably never will be. It’s going to be a year or two before any excess stock is sold cheap if they have any. PX has stock and that’s something, so he’s no reason to sell at prices he used to. The full bike’s good value though and I’ve thought about buying one, but I have a load of good bits on my Swift…

Whippet rims are 30 internal I think now, if you’ve got those you might be better looking at 2.4’s rather than 2.2’s I use, though it suits a light build. I did read something about tanwalls not being as strong as black sidewalls but don’t know if thats true.

I rode a carbon 456 evo with Lurcher carbon forks with 26 then 27.5 Crossmax’s XC before and love a light bike, both the way it feels and the lighness carrying it or throwing it over gates. Still have it. My Swift’s head angle is a sharper 72 dgrees and I think somewhere between the 65 or so on the 456 and my Swift is probably about right for XC like the Whippet has. I like the 120mm carbon fork as that will give a bit higher stack for more comfort. It’s pretty unique to get those. Bigger frame main triangle will take bottles and a small frame bag etc. Current trend for straightling headtube to rear axle gives no room for that. I like my Swift, just a steel 29’er with sus forks (and a Brooks) is ‘evy.