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Mountain King II vs Trail King tires for Pacific Northwest trails??

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  thorkild 
#1 ·
I was looking at the Trail King tires, but I see the new Mountain King II tire has a more open pattern that might be good for wet Pacific Northwest conditions. Anyone with experience with the Mountain King II tire used on either the front or the back?
 
#2 ·
I have both but don't have much experience with the Trail King on the back in wet conditions since my frame clearance is limited. I find that the Trail King is better in the wet, especially on wet tree roots which seems to be the weak point of the Mountain King II. Both will punch through wet trails & mud equally well but the Trail King clears itself of sticky mud faster and keep its grip a bit longer before it finally clogs up & loses traction. Both tires will corner harder than I dare push my bike but I find the Trail King to give better feedback on how hard it's working so I feel more confident pushing it hard on my bike. Which isn't to say the Mountain King feels dead or sloppy, it doesn't. It actually feels pretty darn good, the Trail King is just better.

For general climbing & braking traction the Tail King has a slight edge, but whether it's because the Trail King is a bigger tire even though they're both 2.2" or if it's the tread pattern is hard to say. In either case I generally run out of leg power before I completely spin out the rear tire on a climb, and even if the tire is slipping a bit I can usually keep powering up the climb. When they do break loose I can almost always catch it in time and shift my weight back a bit to keep the tires digging in to finish out the climb.

Since it sounds like you're going to be riding in the wet a lot, I recommend shelling out the extra money to get the Black Chili rubber compound for the tires. I have Mountain Kings in standard rubber and Black Chili, the Black Chili version feels like it conforms to the trail better as well soaking up vibrations to give a smoother ride. And it has more grip, especially in the wet.
 
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