XC Racing Tyres

I know my way around trail and thicker tyres, but couldn’t tell my ikon from my aspen.

Bicyclerollingresistance tells me to stay way clear of anything maxxis, and to buy Conti Race Kings.

Want a 2.35 fast xc tyre, under 700g, for dry/mixed conditions and the occasional bit of flinty south downs riding.

What has the lowest practical rolling resistance? Ron/Ralph? Aspen? Ardent Race?

Always used a mix of conti race kings and x kings, but needing the protection black chilli version makes them a touch porky and I’ve just totalled a brand new one after about 250 miles.

Just ordering some maxxis ikon tan walls to try, should save a couple of hundred grams and very well reviewed.

Quite a few of Vittoria’s offerings meet your criteria and are very easy to set up tubeless.

Want a 2.35 fast xc tyre, under 700g, for dry/mixed conditions and the occasional bit of flinty south downs riding.

What has the lowest practical rolling resistance? Ron/Ralph? Aspen? Ardent Race?

2.35’s rarely squeak in under 700g (assuming 29er here?), but 2.25’s certainly do, but go with the newer Ralph on the rear and the matching Ray up front. Much better combo than two Ralphs or a Ron up front. The Ron is for softer, loamier conditions. Ray up front is grippier but still fast rolling, Ralph out back is very fast and plenty grippy enough.

If you really want low rolling resistance the Schwalbe Thunder Burt are insane and light… at the expense of traction and puncture protection of course.

the newer Ralph on the rear and the matching Ray up front

I vote for this

No – I definitely want a wider carcass, and I’ll pay the price in weight.

I don’t think my 2016 SID or Trek will fit one of the new crop of 2.4 ‘wide-trail-esque’ xc racing tyres, but I have 2.35 XR3’s on there at the moment just for general trail riding (older version before it became a semislick).

Schwalbe offer one setup – ray/Ralph. Ok, pick your width and go.

What about maxxis tyres?

Ikon
Ikon Race
Aspen
Aspen Race
Reckon
Reckon Race

Explain?!

SDW stuff + wanting to be fast and puncture protected(ish) = Mezcals from Vittoria.

Vittoria are incredibly fast rolling and always available cheap online somewhere.

I ran Mezcal for 18 months of mainly South Downs riding (inc a full East to West ride) without a single puncture.

Whenever I’ve used Schwalbe tyres they have been great from a grip point of view but I’ve always had to bin them due to flint slices in sidewalls, without fail.

As above, I’ve been using a Barzo / Mezcal TNT Combo for a couple of years now.  Good grip, low wear rate, no cuts and the easiest tyres to go up tubeless ever.

What about maxxis tyres?

Ikon
Ikon Race
Aspen
Aspen Race
Reckon
Reckon Race

Explain?!

You missed out the Ardent Race and Forekaster 🙂

I’ve used Ikon F&R on xc bike with great success, added Forecaster on front in winter.
Previously used Aspen (about 6 years ago) – loved on rear – really fast yet still good traction.
Currently running Ardent Race R and Forekaster F – ideally need to swap AR to F and put Ikon or Aspen on rear for summer.

Ardent Race front and Ikon rear on my hardtail.

Forekaster ready for when it’s wetter.

Lots of info and weights here – https://www.worldwidecyclery.com/blogs/worldwide-cyclery-blog/video-the-best-xc-trail-tires-by-maxxis-light-fast-proven-to-make-you-faster

I really like the ikon, big volume, light and rounded which works for an XC tyre.

Bontrager XR2 – 2.35, 670g

I race and I ride the South Downs.

I always used to race on Rocket Rons and they are generally pretty good throughout the whole year.

I swapped the Ron from the back of my HT for a Spesh Grid Slaughter last year to do the SDW Double. The thought of trying to repair a flint-gashed sidewall at 3am didn’t appeal so I sucked up the extra 150g. And it was so good, I haven’t taken it off. Even racing the Gorricks in winter with it still in place.

If you’ve tried stopping on a greasy surface on a Conti Raceking, you would probably discount that. They are lethal. But great in dry and dusty.

Bonty XR2 and Xr3 are both pretty good. I find them reasonably tough for their weights. And they plump up true to stated size.

I’ve been Vittoria curious for a while now. Does anyone have a link to a cheap source or pics of them mounted up (Barzo/ Mezcal)? They aren’t that light but I don’t see anyone offering 700g 2.3’s that will last well

Bontrager tyres have been my go to for durability, grip, puncture resistance and generally being really easy to live with.

OP, the new XR3 tread is a pretty nice balance of everything with a tough (enough for XC) casing. A vastly different tyre to the one you have which I always felt was neither fast enough in the dry nor grippy enough when damp. Bit of a nothing tyre in the past. Out of the Bonty tyres that is probably the one for tough and fast and it isn’t a semi slick.

I’m in the same boat myself and I reckon I will go with 2.3 XR2’s if I can still get the older style to be a bit better if we see any damp or the biggest XR1’s (2.2) if I’m feeling brave and not trying to tempt this dry weather away 😀

Maxxis make a good tyre but never seemed quite as tough and supportive for the same weight or as grippy for the same style tread as some others. They also don’t seem to come out well on that rolling resistance site but I’m not sure how much I trust that.

I’ve done my time on Ikons etc and my very poor attempts at practical rolling resistance testing on a 1 mile constant 10% climb at identical power over the course of many months had them slower than a XR4/ XR2 combo. Anecdotal but I’m not desperate to try anything Maxxis for a long time now.

Most people get used to tyres and I reckon you can ride anything in the dry. Again, when I’ve tested tyres like Thunder Burts and Renegades on repeated local rocky, rooty horrible descents and I’m no slower than on something much chunkier. There may be a few dicier moments but even minimal tread tyres are more than adequate from a grip point of view in the dry IME. Unless you are racing at a decent level just go with what you feel most confident with and find easy to live with IMO.

Sorry for the ramble but maybe there is something useful there? 🙂

DanW – my pic here: https://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/photos-from-your-1-a-day/page/15/ has them both on my Spark, mounted on 2018 Crossmax Elites.

Those are both 2.25, and they’ve been raced in Marathons and a 12hrs all through 2019 as well as my normal / training rides – say 450km?

I’ve just bought some Thunder Burts because it’s hella dry out there right now, and I have to ride a fair way on roads to get anywhere fun…

Got a puncture first ride out. Sealant caught it, but still had to pump…

Vittoria Barzo 29×2,6 from R2-Bikes, Dresden. Ordered last Tuesday and arrived Friday of same week. About £70 posted for two. Great for 18 mile road ride to forest, 15 in forest and back again. Run fast , grip well.

Lost faith in Schwalbe after too many punctures, using MSC Rollers and Rock & Rollers now without any problems.

I’m running a Barzo on the front and a Thunderburt on the back on my light XC hardtail – superfast combination, especially for current conditions

I’ve just shredded my second ikon in months just riding SDW so not a good time to ask me but I’ve replaced it with Ray Ralph schwalbe combo and they look good so here’s hoping 🙂

If you go down that route shop around as prices vary wildly between outlets.

James

Just to say thank you for starting and commenting on this thread – I have just fitted a pair of 29 x 2.35 Mezcal from R2-bikes and am very pleased!

I’ve tried all sorts of 2.3,2.4,2.5 and 2.6 tyres, and recently even a pair of vittoria baro race 2.0 just to try and gauge what suits me, location and bike!

Funnily enough the light(ish) 2.35 fast rolling but grippy Mezcal seems to be spot on at the moment.

And if of interest mine weighed 720g and 729g each

I really want to try these Aspen WT 2.4 tyres but nowhere seems to have stock or an ETA at the moment.

Two questions;

I’d never think of matching front and rear tyres on my big mountain bike. A DHF on the rear? Madness. Why are people not running say – Mezcal rear Barzo front?

Where do XC racers sit on the 2.25 vs 2.35 argument? Rims are 27mm, so fine for either. Seems you add 100g/tyre – obviously grip is improved as is comfort – but what about rolling resistance?

That said, there isn’t much room at the BB for my rear 2.35 XR3s, so maybe a 2.25 would prevent me gumming up as soon as mud appears.

I’ve got Barzo front, Mezcal rear both in 2.35 on DT 25mm internal rims. I used to race Elite and World Cup level and the weight doesn’t bother me at all, they roll really well IMO, not like the draggy boat anchors that some can be. I’d not take them off now if I raced again.

Why are people not running say – Mezcal rear Barzo front?

Most Vittoria users are…

I’d never think of matching front and rear tyres on my big mountain bike. A DHF on the rear?

Interesting you should think that, and you’re not alone either. The dhf isn’t a front only tyre. DH-Freeride, and DH-Race

For light tyres, spesh ground control front and fast tracks are good. I’d go for schwalbe Ralph and ray, as I like schwalbe tyres, but also Vittoria peyote is good quite grippy and low rolling at the expense of a short breakaway angle if leaned a bit aggressively.

Was a faithful racing Ralph fan for years but don’t know if they changed something but tyre slashes were becoming a more frequent thing I was getting to the point of throwing away brand new tyres.. Had a try of continental but discovered Maxxis Ikon EXO 3C MaxxSpeed TLR… so far a country mile better and have on both bikes 👌 fast, grippy, light, great volume.. would rate