Trails and Tires

Drunkskunk

Drunkskunk

100 GW
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
7,244
Location
Dallas, Texas. U.S.A.
I need New Tires!

I went out to Erwin park Tuesday and Wednesday. Its everything the hype makes it out to be. Tight forest manuvering, log jumps, riverbank climbs and drops, Log bridges, open prarie singletrack. It was a fun ride.

But the hookworms I'm running wern't up to the job. I've got video to follow. but it may become a blooper real of my crashes :D First drop I took, down into a creek, over the log pile, and face planted into the far bank. I survived, my helmet is toast. the tire slipped sideways on the transition from log to dirt.

So now I need something to replace my Hookworms. Whats good in a tire 2.5" or larger with agressive tread, but rolls well on the street?
 
Rolls well on the street too? I don't know of one.

My specialized came with a pair of maxxis mobsters on it. 2.7 inch wide great for floating in the sand. But I found the fattie on the front was kinda hard to steer, literally grabbing too good in deep sand. So now I'm running a mobster on the back, and a 2.5 inch continental front tire. This bike is pedaled, and it is NOT easy on the pavement. It's about 3 miles of pavement riding to the dirt track from my house, so I often drive it with dogs and bike in the truck.

But the maxxis mobster is a gorilla of a tire if that is what you really want. I love the 2.7" wide float in sand.

For your street and dirt use, you need to find one that has a solid center rib if possible, or at least the knobs along the center very close together. Not likely to find that in wider than 2.0-2.2 though.
 
Drunkskunk said:
I need New Tires!
Whats good in a tire 2.5" or larger with agressive tread, but rolls well on the street?
Click to expand...
Kenda small block 8 work very well for hard pack/xc.
kenda-tomac-small-block-8-tyre-45859.jpg
 
That is about the ideal tread for both street and dirt, classic enduro pattern. It comes in 2.5? usually you see patterns that are good for both in much narrower sizes.
 
love my DMR moto's same kinda tread as small block or holy roller, great rolling resistance on street, great grip on trails/dir. for dirt jumping.

dmr_moto_rt;Warehouse;Warehouse.jpg

pretty long lasting too!! i have 1500km on mine, still over 50
% tread left.

mike
 
Here's about all my ego can stand :twisted:

[youtube]2SdhiGEKltM[/youtube]

First 30 seconds at the park. I broke my helmet, bent the handlebars, tore my jeans, and raked my peddle from ankle to knee.
But I was laughing so hard at my self I had to come back for more about an hour later.


Both those tires look good, but I couldn't find anyone who has them in a 2.5"
 
That is classic! a tire upgrade is definitely in order. I wish your ego could have afforded the audio from the big hit, that's my favorite part :lol:
 
Harrr! Of course, tread doesn't help if you just jam the front wheel into a hole between two logs. I tend to do at least one over the bars when I pedal up to the really tough trails in the mountains. The last highest loop is just crazy with the big rocks. My technique is not at the " ride a wheelie down a mountain "level.
 
Drunkskunk said:
Both those tires look good, but I couldn't find anyone who has them in a 2.5"
Click to expand...
Jenson usa has them in 2.35...
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/TI407A04-Kenda+Tomac+Small+Block+8+Tire.aspx
 
I am having a similar problem, but not sure if want to switch to tires that are better for the trails. I don't want to lose any efficiency on the pavement.

Currently on 1.5'' near-slicks, on a mtn bike frame.

http://www.buzzillions.com/reviews/kenda-kwest-bicycle-tire-black-26-x-1-5-212085-reviews
 
What about tires that are like the Kenda Kross or Krossroads?
http://images.google.com/images?q=Kenda%20Kross
There are a lot of variations on it. I've got at least three different versions.

They work pretty well as rear tires for road use with the slick center, and still have knobbies on the edges that help in gravel canal path stuff.

I don't like them on front wheels, though, because the knobbies feel wrong on turns, especially when i lean a lot, and I feel like I'm going to slip when those turns are on smooth pavement. On gravel, the turns are much better, though. :)
 
When I was 15 years younger and rode technical MTB stuff I much preferred semi-slicks with almost flat center and aggressive side knobs - they work great on hardpack trails (totally suck in mud and after heavy rain but I hate riding in mud anyways). Another option for a fast tire is trials-style tires with lots of small knobs like Kenda K-Rad (tried, nice supple tire but very prone to flats), Maxxis Holy-Roller and such.
 
Tough call. With non-electric bikes it is easy to have two or more wheel sets for different needs (it is nearly impossible to have a do-it-all tire). But swapping hub wheel is pita. Maxxis has 2.5 trials tire (creepy crawler) but it is only 20". One idea is to build a wheel with an extra-wide rim (BMX-style), this will widen any tire profile and you can get by with a 2.2-2.3"-wide tire.

One thing I found is that among tires in the same weight class, knobbies or anything with deep profile are surprisingly more prone to flats in urban riding conditions than slicks / semi-slicks. Spacing between knobs works like a magnet and a perfect guide for any sharp object.
 
BTW Maxxis Holly Roller comes in 26-2.40. Maybe it is wide enough to float you on sand.
 
To keep flooding this exciting thread - found two monster semi-slicks (did not even know they make them that wide) - Kenda Short Tracker 26x2.5 (1.2kG !!!) and Intense Zero 26x2.4. Also found that Kenda K-Rad is now available in 26x2.5". However if using trials/DJ knobbies like K-Rad and Holly Rollers I would definitely add kevlar liner.
 
That's why I liked the maxxis mobsters, at 2.7 " they float great. Part of the reason I bought that specialized was because I saw it could handle a tire that wide.
 
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