Tires?

[EVIL BOTA]

OK Now that my bike is almost ready.I am thinking about putting some new rubber on it. I have some panaracers 2.1's on it nowand they still have good life left in them,but I am not very fond of them. Any suggestions for a aggressive xc rider?

[Tim]

If what you had on was Fire XCs 2.1s, they're pretty much my favorites -- hook up on wet roots like nothing else and I've never had a pinch flat running at 35 PSI. What don't you like?

Tim

[minkhiller]

For tube tires I like the Velociraptors, I have yet to ride the new bike with tubeless so it will be a learning experience for me.

[guitarsark]

I love my continental vertical pros.

[EVIL BOTA]

If what you had on was Fire XCs 2.1s, they're pretty much my favorites -- hook up on wet roots like nothing else and I've never had a pinch flat running at 35 PSI. What don't you like?

Tim


Maybe its just me Tim, But I seem to get alot of front tire slipage. I run my tires a bit higher(45-55 psi) So that my be the problem,but I seem to get alot of pinch flats if I run em any lower.

Time to move some of that steak and cheese closer to the handle bars and maybe a set of Fire FR 2.4's

[bike187]

i second the velociraptors being great tires. if you frame can fit it and the weight doesn't bother you, i'd reccomend nokian nbx 2.3. i've also heard great things about the new maxxis supertacky single ply tires, but don't have experience on them yet.

[minkhiller]

Here is my tire question. Before I go ahead and add stan's sealant to my tubeless tires I want to know which of my tires is best. I have yet to ride tubeless and won't untill it dries out some. I have a set of Panaracer trailblaster 1.95 on the bike and a set of IRC Serac 2.1 on deck, which tire should I start riding with this year?

[knucklebuste]

I have a set of WTB Weirwolves on my Hartail (2.5 tube) and on my Hollowpoint (2.1 UST)
Love those damn tires.
Knuckle

[Baconman]

When you ride tubeless you want high volume tires, so go with the 2.1s. The air volume is what prevents a rock from mashing your rim. Bottoming out the rim is ok in moderation but too much will destroy your rim. Anyway with a large air volume tire you can run less pressure. The lower pressure helps with traction and smooths out small bumps. Tubeless is the way to go.

[titus1]

Like you, didn't care for panaracers, also has slippage in corners, regardless of pressure.

Like what I have now, Conti Vertical Pro in the front, hooks up beautifully in the corners and a Nokia Gazzi in the rear - one of the best, period! Sticks to the wet stuff, clears well and predictable feel, slide you can always control when really pushing it.

Happy trails, Titus1

[minkhiller]

When you ride tubeless you want high volume tires, so go with the 2.1s. The air volume is what prevents a rock from mashing your rim. Bottoming out the rim is ok in moderation but too much will destroy your rim. Anyway with a large air volume tire you can run less pressure. The lower pressure helps with traction and smooths out small bumps. Tubeless is the way to go.
I was leaning to the 2.1's after I saw reviews of the Panaracers, I should have paid more attention before my purchace. Is it wise to put Stans sealant in when I change them?

Third vote for Conti Vert Pro's ... 2.3's (seem to run a bit smaller)

10- dog,

Shrink down your avatar please...it is annoying.

Thanks,

NOO

[minkhiller]

Third vote for Conti Vert Pro's ... 2.3's (seem to run a bit smaller)

10- dog,

Shrink down your avatar please...it is annoying.

Thanks,

NOO
Rumor has it that Stans is eating away the Conti's. Any truth to this?

[Mt.A TODD]

bla, bla bla bla, bla bla bla.

[minkhiller]

bla, bla bla bla, bla bla bla.
Thanks for the help.

[SloMoJo]

Haha ;D
Todd is sharing years of insight on the topic for us. :)

Truth is I always liked Todd's witt and charm.
He must be very popular up there in Maine. ;)

I'll venture to guess Todd has seen only about 200 threads on "what is the best tires" in his days of biking.

It's all good and bides the time till dry spring weather.

Anywho... put me down for Velociraptors as well. ;)
-SloPoke

[minkhiller]

Well I did it. I went down to the Fire Dept. and borrowed the jaws of life and installed the IRC's. I'll let them sit tonight and start the IV of Stans in the morning. I'm sure Todd can forgive me, i've been away from MTBing for a while so this UST thing is new to me.

I like the Conti's. I like the WTB's. I like the Kenda's. I like the Maxxis's. I like the Panaracer's. I like the Bontrager's. I like the Nokian"s. I like the Arrow's, Guess I like em all.

[Mt.A TODD]

I'm sorry I was in a funky mood yesterday...come to think of it I'm always in a funky mood. Its okay though cause God got me back for my bad Karma. Only minutes after my wise crack post, while driving to my weekly night ride, a deer jumped out in front of my car and caused about 5 thousand dollars worth of damage. I can deal with the trashed car, but missing my bike ride was an unbearable torture! Ok ...I felt bad for the mangled deer that I threw 60 feet down the road too.

So to make amends here is revised my mtb tire advice:bla, bla, blee, bla-tee-da, bla!

[AA]

Todd

Sorry to hear about your bla bla bla. hopefully it wont be in the bla bla too long. In the mean time perhaps your insurance company can get you a bla bla bla. Did you take the bla bla bla home and cook it?

Your pal

bla bla bla


Oh yea tires. To be honest I couldnt tell you what tires I have other than brand, some IRC's on my fs bike and singlespeed, some type of WTB on my hartail. I dont think they are all that different from one to the next. Pump em up and ride.

[EVIL BOTA]

Sure Todd, You were out jacking Deer. Big spot light ,case off beer and a shotgun or In your case a 2 ton car..lol


As for tires. I am going to keep the panaracer for the back and I put a Team master/control Specialized 2.0 on the front.
Kevelar laced andready to go for $30....
I had this tire on my hard tail and it worked really well,but I never liked the rear that came with the set.So I have a mixed set. See what happens. Thanks for the info..

[minkhiller]

I'm sorry I was in a funky mood yesterday...come to think of it I'm always in a funky mood. Its okay though cause God got me back for my bad Karma. Only minutes after my wise crack post, while driving to my weekly night ride, a deer jumped out in front of my car and caused about 5 thousand dollars worth of damage. I can deal with the trashed car, but missing my bike ride was an unbearable torture! Ok ...I felt bad for the mangled deer that I threw 60 feet down the road too.

So to make amends here is revised my mtb tire advice:bla, bla, blee, bla-tee-da, bla!
Hope it wasn't this bad.

[bob24250]

Not bad Todd...but only 5 K...you must have just winged him. I feel with ya, I've totaled 3 cars because of those buggers. Not to mention a nice big ring scar--had a choice hit the deer on the trail, hit the tree, or hit the ditch and do an endo.


As for tires, I am currently running Pythons. They are great on hard pack, but not enough grip on the loose stuff. Going to try the 2.1 Velociraptors this year.

Bob

[I Are Baboon]

I think the Panaracers were decent. I HATED the Conti Explorers. BLAH!! :P If there was ANY wetness on the trail, those tires would send you sliding everywhere.

My current tire of choice is the Maxxis Minion Slow Reezay, 2.35. Best tires I have ever used. :)

[EVIL BOTA]

Well I was going to change My front tire and put the panaracer I had on there to the rear,but As I checked out the tire I could just about see through it. So I guess I will be looking for a new rear. I Irc bear trail kevlar tire looks pretty good to me. For now I have a hardrock tire on it.. Glad I changed when I did.

[Slider]

I'll weigh in because I just bought a new tire and love it.

I'm talking UST. I've tried and hated the Hutchinson Python, the Michelin Comp X, and Bontrager Revolt. All failed prematurely, blowing out the sidewall. None felt very well planted when leaned over, and some liked to pull off the rim when run at less than 45 pounds.

I just mounted a Continental Vertical Pro 2.3. It has beefy knobs, stays on the rim, and gives plenty of traction. I can't vouch for the sidewall strength yet, but all signs are good.

Slider

[C.P.]

Man, I have a basement full of tires, some DH, some large volume IE 2.3's 2.4's etc, some XC ish, some that came OEM on a bike(s), a little this a little that - as Todd put it Blah Blah Blah Blah. Bottom line, there aren't many tires out there that fall into the "perfect for everyone" and "perfect for every riding style" category. It's difficult for sure. I've also been through the Stans route, but that's another story ::)
I'm what's known as a clydesdale - you know - big. So for most of the riding I do I like a tire that will take the punishment of rocks roots drops etc (no pinches), and still not weight 3 lbs each (like 3 of the DH tires I have in the basement) . So, currently, as always, I'm trying to align the planets and find a tire that's reasonable in weight (like 900 grams each max) and still heavy duty on the sidewall and knobs, AND big volume. I'm sure someone has one, but to me it's a pipedream for sure. Right now I'm happy running a WTB Motoraptor 2.4 on the back, and a WTB Mutanoraptor 2.4 up front. And since the planets are due to be out of alignment when your done reading this, I'll likely be changing the front tire for something a little more beefy...stay tuned if you care. ::) blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah ;D
Maybe I should just go back to my old favorite tire and give up the weight equation - the old Tioga DH 2.10.

[Mt.A TODD]

Ok, so recently I took the studs off one of my bikes and put back on the old tubeless set. In December I removed the UST IRC Serac 2.1's which were full of Stan's Spoodge and hung the tires in the corner of my Garage, didn't bother to clean them.. cause I'm lazy! So when I went to remount the tires this weekend, some of the Stan's had dried up over the Winter, but there was still a wet puddle of egg nog in the bottom also each tire had a cool crystal rock thing(see photo). I decided to peel scrape the dried Stan's juice that was around the tire bead which took about 5 minutes per wheel. Remounted the tire(with my bare hands, no tire lever needed) and pumped it up the 60 phi with a floor pump. No compressed air, no swearing and sweating- I simply pumped them up with a floor pump. With the tire bead set in place on the Mavics x31’s, I deflated the tire (bead stayed seated), removed my special Stans Presta valve and added a fresh dose of Stan's with a syringe. Pumped the tire back up and Walla! I'm back up and riding with grippy flat free lightish tires, Yeah Suckers! No leaks no mess. Some of my buddies made tubeless, studded 29" tires this Winter using Stans which is cool. Ok I'm going to keep rolling with the Stan's lovefest. On my Liquid I mounted the 2.3 UST Conti Vertical pros last May- almost a year ago! I had at least 5 puncture flats last season that I know of. Tires are still in good shape today, never have taken them off the rim, don't leak or burp air, the only thing I've had to mess with is adding extra Stan's. Bla Bla Bla.

Oh and those are my tire recommendations for riding all around, all mountain, all New England conditions.
IRC 2.1 Serac for fast and the 2.3 Continental Vertical Pro for fun, I like 2.3 IRC Trailbears too.

[MMcG]

Anybody out there in NEMBA Land running Maxxis Hansventures at Trail bike tires?

I picked up a set on the cheap over the winter and have them on my Snipes Hardtail right now, but I'm thinking they might work well as Trail bike tires on my Balfa Belair.

Anyone running them? I see that Iron Horse is using them as OEM tires on their Hollowpoints for 2004.....and they usually do a good job of choosing appropriate components on their rigs.

Whattya think guys and gals??

McAskalot ;)

[AGENTGRAPE]

my personal favorite tires are intense cc 2.25 kevlar bead. real light tires excellent grip, roll very fast,super wide 2.4 using ruler. very expensive but i have abused them for 1 1/2 years and not much wear. the sidewalls are thin but have not had any problems. i use slime lite tubes and run at 34 lbs. my next favorites were michelin wildgrippers i ran rear tires on both ends. nice size very durable, light and hooked up well. i used a set of hutchinson mosquito air lites 2.3 for a year. never had any problems or lost any lugs like alot of people comlained about on mtbr. last summer at pedrofest we got great deals on kenda kinetics 2.3 stickees. they are on my bullit now, very good tires. as always slime tubes 34 lbs of pressure