Tires (or for our non-NA friends, Tyres)!

[jwilds1]

What tire recommendations do you have, and what conditions do you run them in?

I currently have Small Block 8's front and rear, but am already thinking of changing without a single trail ride - someone in my build thread suggested either Nevegal's or Slant Six.

[Carbon_Dude]

The Nevagals are an aggressive tire that are good for muddy conditions, large wide tread blocks.  They are not great for rolling resistance, they are a slower tire.  The Kenda small block 8's are a pretty good tire, more so for damp to dry conditions and roll nice.

I continue to recommend the Geax Saguaro folding tires.  I think they are a good compromise between weight, cost, grip, rolling resistance, puncture resistance, and wear.  So far they have been my favorite tire.

I tend to think Maxxis has some good tires as well.  Ardents are quite popular.

I also looked at the Kenda Honey Badger XC Pro's but they weren't available a year ago when I was buying tires but they appeared to be a tire that would also have a decent balance between grip and rolling resistance.  Not sure about the other characteristics though.

Of course a lot depends on the trails you ride.  The arid desert terrain of Arizona would not be best for certain tires just as the wet muddy Pacific Northwest wouldn't do well with others.  It's also good to do some reading and talking to people at your local trails.

[outriding9800]

I like racing ralphs for michigan soil.. had a set of sb8. I liked them at first but after awhile they got too squirrelly.  Last fall I got a set of bontrager xr2 only one ride one them but they seem to be really nice..

Give me a holla after the trails if u want to give either one of those a try..  could meet ya at pontiac lake.. poto.. island lake highland or brighton rec..

[Sitar_Ned]

I continue to recommend the Geax Saguaro folding tires.  I think they are a good compromise between weight, cost, grip, rolling resistance, puncture resistance, and wear.  So far they have been my favorite tire.

I tend to think Maxxis has some good tires as well.  Ardents are quite popular.

This is my opinion, as well. The Saguaros have been perfect for me and were very affordable. Though they are a tad minimal on the tread design, so if you're consistently riding in mud then maybe keep looking. In which case, I go with the Ardents. If you wanted something similar to the Saguaros (fast rolling, good on most dry terrain even pavement and fire roads) but a bit lighter and don't mind paying a bit more, check out the Maxxis Ikons as well. The 2.35 Ikons are on my list for when it's time to replace my Saguaros.

[cmh]

Trails: Eastern Pennsylvania, decent combination of rocky and hardpack, rare mud, and occasional sandy soil, especially in the winter.

I used to run the Nevegals, then a Nevegal front and a Small Block 8 in the rear. I hadn't realized just how damn slow-rolling the Nevs were until I switched off of them to something else. I've never needed the level of traction they provide, so I doubt I'll be running them again - surprisingly slow tires.

The SB8s are nice, especially when I was on a team where we could get them for a pro deal. The Slant Six is a pretty decent tire, I was running that up front with a SB8 in the rear for a while. That worked nicely.

Zero experience with anything Maxxis.

Have run Schwalbe tires, with my favorite being the Racing Ralph 2.4s - running a pair of those on my hardtail (coming directly off Nevegals) felt remarkably fast. Traction was good for such a fast tire. Have also run Rocket Rons which worked pretty well but wore crazy fast.

I know a bunch of guys who swear by the Saguaro - I picked one up once, and managed to tear a 1.5" gash right through the tread on my first ride. Haven't bothered to try it again, but I should. Several folks have told me to stay the hell away from the TNT tubeless-ready version as it is brutal to get on and off. I had run a well-used one on a spare wheel for a while, and actually wound up cutting the tire off the rim to get the damn thing off.

Currently my wife and I are running Continentals. For the winter, she's on the X-King Race Sport in the rear with a Mountain King Race Sport in the front - during the summer months she's been on X-Kings front and rear. She ran the Race King Race Sport (these names, yikes!) for a while but didn't like the traction in powder over hardpack. I, however, love the Race King, but at nearly 2x her weight, I run all of my tires with the ProTection sidewalls.

[bdub]

Currently running the Conti X-Kings as well with protection sidewall. Ground is still soft here in Utah and they have hooked up really well. Will see how they perform once everything dries up.

[cmh]

Currently running the Conti X-Kings as well with protection sidewall. Ground is still soft here in Utah and they have hooked up really well. Will see how they perform once everything dries up.

Expect happiness. Grace ran X-Kings when we were in Sprindale (Gooseberry, JEM, Little Creek, etc) last time and had a blast.

[bdub]

Currently running the Conti X-Kings as well with protection sidewall. Ground is still soft here in Utah and they have hooked up really well. Will see how they perform once everything dries up.

Expect happiness. Grace ran X-Kings when we were in Sprindale (Gooseberry, JEM, Little Creek, etc) last time and had a blast.

Good to hear. On my way down there in 2 weeks. Lucky enough to have in laws who live in Saint George.

[325racer]

All depends on location, trail type, bike, etc...

On my full rigid 057 that I'm using for my "race bike" in San Diego, I'm using Rocket Ron 2.35 on the front at 25psi, on the rear is a Thunder Burt 2.1, also at 25psi.  The TB wears fast, but grips like nobodies business on all types of terrain.  It helps the bike climb up anything.  The RORO up front works very well also.  I did get a puncture the second ride because I was to heavy on the bars over a rock, but since then, have no reliability issues.

On my Santa Cruz Tallboy LT, I'm running, Maxxis High Roller on the front and Maxxis Ardent on the back, for a little mkre All MTN type performance.  Overall they work great, with the exception of the front washing out while landing a jump the other day.  Not sure the details, but lost the front and I bit it pretty hard.  I think it was rider error more than tire issues.