All Mountain Tyres

[eastie]

ardent/arden : ardent/ikon

I've been using ardent 2.25 exo front and rear. Great grip but I found the rear a little slower than I'd like (coming from a exc high roller). Switched the rear to an 2.20 ikon exo and it's a superb setup. Tried it the other night from the olinda pool down the side of the arboretum on the way out to silvan and it held on well to wet rock/roots/mud/clay/crushed rock (it has it all in spades). Pointed down it was fast, pointed up it held on to the tracks well and in corners it was good. Setup is tubeless on mavic 317's with stans, and it was the simplest setup I've had with no bubbles required, just put in one scoop of stans and popped the bead with a blast of air and it's held tight since. Running at 30psi no probs so far.

 

[Nmag]

A few days ago I got a:

Continental X King 2.4. Very light 580g (actual) but tacky rubber. I'm only 70 kg so it's great for me.

I attached the notes i made while comparing them. Was trying to find something 'big bag' light & grippy

 

[Rexy]

I've put a 2.35 Highroller super tacky on the front, and a 2.35 Larsen TT (dual ply casing) on the rear.

Running at about 28/30psi, going well so far. Riding mainly pine forrest; hardpack, loose, rocks, roots. And the dreaded WA pea gravel of course (hence the aggressive tyre on the front).

 

[Red Rocket]

Wow. Kenda Small Block Eight's really aren't suitable for light gravel sprinkles over hard-pack. Front wheel washed out entirely twice in half an hour on corners I'm used to railing at double the speed. Think the side knobs might be a wee bit too closely spaced to provide really committed cornering. Acceleration and braking in a straight line seemed to be pretty admirable though.

 

[eastie]

I previously tried small block 8's front and rear and they were a true 'kenda surprise'. I very quickly found they were great on anything dry, solid and upright. As soon as the front encountered anything that required a bit of lean or loose stuiff it skidded around like a dog with worms. V good for made bike paths and on-road though.

 

[Red Rocket]

As soon as the front encountered anything that required a bit of lean or loose stuiff it skidded around like a dog with worms.

Bahahaha... excellent

On a side note, I switched over to Larsens this morning, and while they're admittedly not perfect (only had 2.0" on hand) the side knobs do seem to hook up much better than the Small Blocks. The lack of weight is incredible w/ welter weights and DS23's

 

[Terror]

Nobby Nic 2.4

I can highly recommend the New 2011 Nobby Nic 2.4 snake skin with Pacestar compound as a front tyre...wow what a improvement. Grips as well as my Nevegal 2.35 stick e but leaves it for dead in the speed department. I ride rough rocky trails with drops & jumps & the tyre is been great

 

[vtwiz]

I can highly recommend the New 2011 Nobby Nic 2.4 snake skin with Pacestar compound as a front tyre...wow what a improvement. Grips as well as my Nevegal 2.35 stick e but leaves it for dead in the speed department. I ride rough rocky trails with drops & jumps & the tyre is been great

Me too. Really happy with my Nobby Nic Evo Snakeskins. Running them tubeless on XT wheelset with a little Stans and holding air really well. Great grip and confidence inspiring. It's very rocky around here with a lot of sharp rocks too and holding up extremely well.

 

[Anarchist]

Me too. Really happy with my Nobby Nic Evo Snakeskins. Running them tubeless on XT wheelset with a little Stans and holding air really well. Great grip and confidence inspiring. It's very rocky around here with a lot of sharp rocks too and holding up extremely well.

Yep. The NNs are a winning front tyre. My go-to tyre was the Ignitor on the front, but the NN has it pipped. Although I found mine needed some AC love to get inflated. Stan's @ 30psi = no problem. Rear, well, Larsens, Ignitors or Advantages all have their place.

 

[hungrytiger]

I previously tried small block 8's front and rear and they were a true 'kenda surprise'. I very quickly found they were great on anything dry, solid and upright. As soon as the front encountered anything that required a bit of lean or loose stuiff it skidded around like a dog with worms. V good for made bike paths and on-road though.

Agree with that wholeheartedly. On the back it can be quite fun and drifty in the right conditions, on the front it is a death sentence.

 

[craftworks750]

kenda and maxis

In the Kenda do blue grooves or nevegals top stuff
and bang for buck you can not beat
MAXIS Ignitor

 

[Andrei]

Just got a set of WTB Bronson AM TCS 2.3. They certainly look the biz, with an aggressive widely spaced tread pattern. They seem to roll as good if not better then my nevegals (2.1) on my trance and have plenty more grip. Still mucking about with the pressures, I've got about 32 rear 30 front. This is pure guestimate until I get a decent pressure gauge. They were an absolute "C" to get onto the rim (Charge Pros) but sealed up tubeless nice and easy with just an el-cheapo floor pump. (no exploding petrol required)

anyone else tried these yet??

 

[Ivan]

I just put a decent sidewall tear in in my Conti X-King Protections on a pretty tame track. Not happy Jan! Great grip and rolling, shithouse sidewalls for tubeless or rocks.

 

[Wiffle]

I just put a decent sidewall tear in in my Conti X-King Protections on a pretty tame track. Not happy Jan! Great grip and rolling, shithouse sidewalls for tubeless or rocks.

Not what I wanted to hear as I've just picked up a set; I've had good results with Protection sidewalls in the past. Super glue is excellent for fixing casing tears, btw.

 

[Wiffle]

Just got a set of WTB Bronson AM TCS 2.3. They certainly look the biz, with an aggressive widely spaced tread pattern. They seem to roll as good if not better then my nevegals (2.1) on my trance and have plenty more grip. Still mucking about with the pressures, I've got about 32 rear 30 front. This is pure guestimate until I get a decent pressure gauge. They were an absolute "C" to get onto the rim (Charge Pros) but sealed up tubeless nice and easy with just an el-cheapo floor pump. (no exploding petrol required)

anyone else tried these yet??

Keep us posted on how they perform, Andrei, they come with a good reputation and have certainly piqued my interest (despite already having way too many tyres).

 

[3viltoast3r]

Schwalbe Nobby Nics, Cant seem to fault them.

 

[Wiffle]

Schwalbe Nobby Nics, Cant seem to fault them.

Except for their high price, rapid wear, and poor grip on wet roots or rocks... They do work well on softer surfaces, though.

 

[posty26]

Schwalbe Casings

The LBS has just built up my new rim and I was going to get them to seat up the Nobby Nic UST they had on the shelf. Not having run scwalbe's before I wanted to get an idea of a durable casing for abrasion resistance and some lateral stiffness. I see they also offer snake skin and double defense options that come in lighter than UST. I don"t mind an occassional burp or a little extra porosity I just don't want the bloody thing to tear prematurely.

Are either of these worth considering? Not much of a gram counter usually but If I can get a little edge on the rotating mass it may help keep up with the rather fit crew I am currently riding with. NB: I am comming from LUST casing ignitor's the casing of which has proven super durable.

Cheers

 

[Wiffle]

The LBS has just built up my new rim and I was going to get them to seat up the Nobby Nic UST they had on the shelf. Not having run scwalbe's before I wanted to get an idea of a durable casing for abrasion resistance and some lateral stiffness. I see they also offer snake skin and double defense options that come in lighter than UST. I don"t mind an occassional burp or a little extra porosity I just don't want the bloody thing to tear prematurely.

Are either of these worth considering? Not much of a gram counter usually but If I can get a little edge on the rotating mass it may help keep up with the rather fit crew I am currently riding with. NB: I am comming from LUST casing ignitor's the casing of which has proven super durable.

Cheers

Ignore the DD; it's more about resisting punctures through the tread area. I've had great results (durability-wise) with Schwalbe Snakeskin sidewalls; IMHO they're probably the best lightweight sidewalls on the market. That being said, they're not as tough as a UST; if you're LUST's show very little signs of damage/scuffing I say go with the snakeskins, otherwise you could suck up the weight and go UST again.

 

[Ivan]

Ignore the DD; it's more about resisting punctures through the tread area. I've had great results (durability-wise) with Schwalbe Snakeskin sidewalls; IMHO they're probably the best lightweight sidewalls on the market. That being said, they're not as tough as a UST; if you're LUST's show very little signs of damage/scuffing I say go with the snakeskins, otherwise you could suck up the weight and go UST again.

I'll add to this, as I think it's the same with the Conti's. The Protection casing isn't as durable as the UST casing. The only casings I have ever found to be durable are the proper UST ones. The Hutchy UST casing was pretty reliable in my experience too.