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Best tire for So Cals dry dusty conditions?

58K views 345 replies 107 participants last post by  kragu 
#1 ·
Hey guys. I've noticed that the factory tires that came on my Rocky Mountain Vertex 29er seem to be somewhat lacking in the traction department at times and I'm looking for some suggestions for So Cals dry, dusty trails.
 
#249 ·
I've run 4 sets of tires here:
29er/100mm travel XC bike:
Rocket Rons: Came with one of my bikes, got tore up fast. Quickly replaced.
Purgatory front / Captain Rear: Big upgrade from Rocket Rons, better grip, better wear.

160mm travel all-mountain bike:
high roller 2.35 UST: Low volume casing for a 2.35 tire. I felt like I had a lot of rim strikes and "pinging" around between rocks in baseball to softball sized chunk.
Trail King 2.4 UST front / rear: Current set up, very heavy. Very high volume. Feels great in chunk, can run at low pressures (20-24 psi @ 170 lbs), corners better than all the above for me. Handles well in sand and decomposed granite where smaller volume tires get stuck. I may try the mountain king 2.4 or trail king 2.2 rear when the rear tire wears out.
 
#251 ·
I rode Chunky Monkeys front and rear 'til it just became too much of a burden on the climbs. Really good grip in our conditions, but just too slow. Switched out to a fat XC tire - a 2.35 Ikon. Rolls a TON better, is lighter, and is predictable in terms of grip.
 
#267 ·
All the tires from Maxxis and Continental that I've had seemed to wear very slowly. Seems like the sidewalls started cracking before the tread showed significant wear.
In terms of wear, Kendas seem to wear faster, IMO.

the "stick-e" rubber compounds are the ones that really wear fast, but they sure do grip .
 
#269 ·
Did a couple rides on the Butcher/Purgatory combo and I'm really happy with it. Lots of grip, rear comes out predictably and is easier to put back in, and out of the saddle steep climbs still have plenty of traction. Downhill on singletrack with loose dirt and shale had great traction and solid ride.

Both tires were within 5g of stated weight. Rolling resistance isn't too bad if you are just going to sit and spin up the hill to get to the downhill.

Plus they make a really great alien type noise when you go over 15mph on pavement!
 
#271 ·
has anyone else had issues with Maxxis leaking fluid from the sidewalls? I have HR11's and the back is starting to show liquid coming out the sides (very small droplets) every two inches or so. Weird. The tires have about 300 miles on them (which I agree is a lot) but the tread is awesome. I guess the sides may be wearing out.
 
#275 ·
I may have already mentioned this, maybe even more than once, but my all-time favorite front tire so far has been the Maxxis Ardent in the 2.4 size. It has volume, rolls very well, and it's also got the directional knobs that I like on a front tire.

I got one on my 26" long-travel FS, and I got one on my 29" medium travel FS bike as well.
 
#277 ·
my new bike has Schwalbe Nobby Nic Performance, 27.5 x 2.25. what are the expected mileage? I know someone said Schwalbe are great tires but won't last long but are all their tires fairly similar? They work great compared to my old tires on my old bike!!!
I currently have stock Giant S-XC2 27.5-inch wheels. what is the widest tire or best width do you recommend? I see a lot of people like wider than 2.25 and I am new to this new wider style tire as my old Trek Y-3 had narrow tires.

thanks!
 
#278 ·
my new bike has Schwalbe Nobby Nic Performance, 27.5 x 2.25. what are the expected mileage? I know someone said Schwalbe are great tires but won't last long but are all their tires fairly similar? They work great compared to my old tires on my old bike!!!
I've run Racing Ralphs, Hans Dampf, and Nobby Nics and they've all been excellent at their intended application for about 200mi or so, then they drop off considerably after that. Given their price, it's really tough to buy tires every two months. I ride a lot of trails with smooth rock - very much like blacktop. I'm sure that exacerbated the issue.
 
#287 ·
So i've gotten 2 pinch flats probably within the last 50 miles of riding. I currently ride with what my bike came with 27.5 schwable nobby nics. Has anyone experienced the same with this tire? I am thinking the sidewall is flexible compared to most tires. I remember changing tubes on my old bike the tire was super stiff to pry off, the nobby nics seem really easy with a lever. First pinch flat was on equine loop at elfin forest, jumped a rock and landed on the side of a rock. 2 huge slits in the tube, flat within 1-2 seconds... today was fairly simple, on a downhill bunny hopped over a large rut landed on a side of another rut and i felt my back tire flex. Slowly losing air. Both times my tube was properly pumped up and not aired down... Has anyone experienced what seems to be soft sidewalls on Nobby Nics?
What was funny is that i was thinking prior to this "wow i haven't had a flat on my new bike within the first 150 miles!" Then it went downhill!
 
#288 ·
Nobby Nics are a bit "balloon" like but I have never run them with tubes. I have heard of people having pinch flat issues with them when running tubes. My front tire is a NN and I have put over 700 miles on it and it still has life in it. My rear came with a NN as well but I changed that out because my wife bought me a new one and it currently has probably 400-500 miles on it and it's showing some wear but not too bad. I have had good luck with mine I guess and am interested in the new version they put out that addresses a lot of the complaints of the version you are running.

Have you thought about going tubeless? I have not had a flat or any issue at all since I converted.

Here's my rear NN showing some spots where the Stan's sealed up some thorn holes. I'm not saying everyone has to go tubeless, just communicating my experience with it so far. Being able to run lower PSI is nice.. I am just over 200lbs geared up too so not a lightweight. The sidewalls have held up well for me and I have been in some sharp rocky stuff on rides.

Shadow


New NN's:

Schwalbe 2015 Nobby Nic - Review - Pinkbike
 
#289 ·
I've been running a Vittoria Barzo - a brand I had never heard of - here in Vegas, which has almost the same terrain as SoCal. I'm super impressed with this tire so far. Its fast, but corners like a railcar. Very predictable grip, even in loose-over-hardpack. It was a huge PITA to mount, but now that its on there, I'm happy. Reasonably priced, too. We'll see how long it lasts . . . .

I have also given up completely on Stans. Orange Seal has been so much better so far. No boogers, no air loss between rides, no seeping and doesn't dry out nearly as fast.
 
#290 ·
^I have heard good things about Orange Seal but haven't had any issues with Stan's and still have a bottle of it left so might as well use it up. I have pulled some monster boogers out of my tires but other than that it's done it's job. I check my pressure every ride and haven't noticed too much PSI loss (maybe since I have Stan's rims it works well with them?). Might just have to try the OS though since there aren't any boogers and it doesn't dry up as quickly.
 
#291 ·
how can i tell if my rims are made for tubeless? here is the spec sheet for my bike copied from the website.
WHEELS:
Rims Giant S-XC2, double wall
Hubs Giant Sport Tracker, [F] 15mm axle, [R] 135x5mm system integrated QR
Spokes Stainless Steel, 14g
Tires Schwalbe Nobby Nic Performance, folding ready, 27.5x2.25
 
#296 ·
Not sure if those are tubeless ready rims but my guess is they are not if they are not listed as such in the specs of your bike/model. You most likely need to get a kit to convert to tubeless which means you will have to tape the rim and put in a tubeless valve core, pretty easy stuff. Look at your rim with the tire off or pulled back and see if there is tape on the inside of it, often the tape will say something to the effect of "tubeless ready." There are also ways of converting rims to tubeless called "ghetto tubeless" which means you skip buying a kit and just tape the rims with Gorilla tape (or similar) and buy the valve cores and sealant separately (search for threads on here about that, i don't know much about ghetto tubeless because my rims have all been tubeless ready).
 
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