whats like a racing ralph, only with tougher sidewalls…

I love running a pair of tubeless ralphs last year, until i managed to seriously slash the sidewall on a silly singletrack ride.

Since the big yellow ball seems to be coming out of hibernation, Im looking for something like a ralph (fast rolling & tubeless), but with sidewalls that arent made of something thinner than a politicians promises.

I mostly ride south downs/stanmer/friston etc. So dusty, sloppy, claggy, rooty and flinty….

Right now the list seems to be;

Kenda SB8;
Conti X-king; seem to get good reviews.
specialized fast track; no experience of these at all, but i ran purgatorys over winter and was impressed.

Any comments from users/suggestions for something obvious I’ve missed.

They do a a snakeskin version.

Erm this isn’t necessarily a great recommendation, because I haven’t actually ridden them yet, but I bought a Geax Saguaro TNT for £8 from On One for the same reason (albeit to replace a Crossmark rather than Ralph).

Snakeskin Ralph, Rock Razor…

+1 for Snakeskin

So much tougher than the standard version. You can tell by how much less jizz leaches through the walls when you first install them.

I have gone through many Schwalbe TLR tyres, haven’t slashed any since I went to the SS version.

Maxxis Larsen, the 2.35 version..

Use to be my rear tyre choice in The Chilterns for summer – flinty.

Personally, I’d stick with the Ralph if you like it. Sometimes cuts are just down to bad luck. I had one about a week after putting the tyre on and to say I was annoyed is an understatement. The replacements I’ve bought since (same again – Racing Ralph TLR) have been on without any issues since.

Saguaro

As above get the snakeskin versions

Its a difficult one…I was ridding a Ralph on the rear recently up here on the North Downs and it got slashed by some chalk/flint so thought stuff that and refitted a Smorgasbord (definitely thick sidewalls but a lot heavier) I’d run most of last year without any issues but first ride back out the same thing happened…just think its partly down to luck

SB8 are pretty thinned walled, can’t see them being any better. No fan of Purgs myself, could never seem to find a tyre pressure to balance decent grip and squirming in corners

The thing is, snakeskin Ralph’s aren’t that much tougher.

They do a “Double Defence” version now too. Supposed to be tougher than the snakeskin version without being stupidly heavy, it’s basically snakeskin with extra stuff on top I think. I ran one on the rear for most of last year after killing a couple of SS Schwalbes, and I’ve not trashed it yet.

If I still lived around that way I think I’d try a Maxxis Ardent on the front and Crossmark on the back with EXO sidewalls? Get as big a volume as possible, 2.4… not sure if you an get EXO Crossmarks though..

Not sure there’s really much you can do when Flint becomes a factor. It’s so sharp, if you get unlucky, that it will open up anything. Remember that our ancestors used it for butchery purposes.

I’ve just been persuaded to try a Spec’ Slaughter Grid on the back of my bike with the offer that if I found it spinning out or wanting for grip then I could have it replaced.

I was sceptical looking at the tread pattern thinking it was a summer only tyre but I have to say I’m gob smacked. It’s worked well on everything so far… deep mud, techy rocks, loose marbles and short grass. The only time it span was on the really short grass you get on about 1cm of soil over bedrock… but don’t most tyres spin out on that ?! Seems that the chunky side tread grips everything really well when you need it but then the rest of the time it just rolls really quickly on the super low mid tread.

Might even change the other bikes over, certainly a better tyre than an Ardent , which I’ve just put on the back of the HT in an over enthusiastic anticipation of summer !!!

FWIW, I’ve been using the 29″ “Performance” version. Now dual compound, they are half the price and don’t seem much different from the expensive ones but importantly have thicker sidewalls. I’m racing on them – tubeless straight up with a soapy rim – so they are being pushed (Ron front, Ralph rear),

I’ve got a barely used 2.25 double defence Racing Ralph in 26″ that you can have for £20 posted if you want to try a tougher version. Bought it for 24/12 last year and did about 6 laps on it. It’s full of dried tubeless gunk, mind. Email in profile if you’re interested.

Schwalbe Rock Razor looks sweet.

Thinking I might get one myself…..

When I rode in the Chilts I got on well with X-kings tubeless. Roll fast enough, enough grip, pretty puncture resistant

Just got a fresh 29 Rock Razor from bike 24 for £26, going on the Tallboy rear for Spain

I was running snakeskin ralph n ron for a couple of years on my soul. I found as my skills increased and i started riding harder the front just felt squirmy and if i increased the pressure enough to compensate it would start to ping of stuff… (Probably didnt help that i was running 717’s with 2.25 tyres)

Anyway I grabbed a 2nd hand conti RQ & Baron with the protection sidewalls to try out and got some 355 rims super cheap from merlin. Such a massive difference! The front feels so much more planted in ruts and roots and i went down one of my local runs and only noticed my rear was flat once i got to the bottom!

However the ~500g rotating weight penalty is very noticeable, i would be interested to try a middle ground? Is there something in the 600-650g range with tougher carcass than the snakeskin (for a 26″ 2.2-3″)?