Tire sizes?

[homerjay]

are these mutano's available in a UST version?

[Arty50]

Originally posted by freshies
ditto: run bigger up front, smaller in back. i run wtb mutanoraptors front and back (sweet tires) w/a 2.4 upfront and a 2.24 in back.......run this same combo on my FS (Blur) and SS Hardtail (Yeti) - works great for both.

Yup, that's the shiz. I'd like to echo what hev said too. My first time out on them I railed sand like I never had before, and felt super stable the whole time. I could have gone even faster and scared the absolute bejeezus out of myself had I wanted to. Sweet tires.

Vets, have fun skiing, biking, and drinking!!!! Hang on to that tire too. Thanks again for the offer though! My new bike is being built at the Crescent V LTD (Paul works at the Y), and they have a bunch of them. So no worries.

[freshies]

check it: www.wtb.com

wtb makes the best tires and saddles, and they are local, about a mile from my house - good peeps there, good products.

[Arty50]

Originally posted by homerjay
are these mutano's available in a UST version?

The 1.95 is UST. The fatter ones are traditional tubes.

http://www.wtb.com/mutanoraptor.html

And like freshies said, their saddles are the shiz. The Laser V is a sweet seat.

Edit: Holy crap! Sick pic on their site...

[Spats]

Conti Vertical Pros are great in any dry conditions, totally rule on gravelly hardpack, and are very light for a 2.3. I run them front and back, as does lph.

Not a great mud tire, though, because the lugs are too close together to clear in really sticky stuff. They're fine in occasional soupy spots and wet rocks/roots.

Just a note: Skinny tires don't necessarily have less rolling resistance. In fact, testing indicates that (assuming identical tread and pressure) fat tires frequently roll faster. (Dig through the following tables for figures.)

http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/tech/JL.htm
http://www.discoveryride.com/human/rolling.html

Skinnier tires do weigh less, which lets you *accelerate* faster -- and this is usually more important when mountain biking. But it doesn't matter whether the skinny tire is on the front or the rear as far as acceleration is concerned: both tires must rotate to get you somewhere.

Where having a fatter tire on the front helps is with traction. If you lock up or skid your rear tire, your forward momentum will drag it back in line with the front, no matter how far out of shape it gets. If you lock up or skid the front, momentum will try to push the rear past it, and the bike will get out of shape and frequently go down. This means if your tires have unequal traction, it's best to have the most traction on the front.

[phUnk]

Originally posted by Spats
lots of smart stuff

Another great mtb tire link with a lot of good tire data (such as, all 2.3's are not created equal, nor are they necessarily actually 2.3") -> Shiggy's Tire Site -> http://www.themudzone.com/tire

[freshies]

Originally posted by Spats
Conti Vertical Pros are great in any dry conditions, totally rule on gravelly hardpack, and are very light for a 2.3. I run them front and back, as does lph.

Not a great mud tire, though, because the lugs are too close together to clear in really sticky stuff. They're fine in occasional soupy spots and wet rocks/roots.

Just a note: Skinny tires don't necessarily have less rolling resistance. In fact, testing indicates that (assuming identical tread and pressure) fat tires frequently roll faster. (Dig through the following tables for figures.)

http://www.legslarry.beerdrinkers.co.uk/tech/JL.htm
http://www.discoveryride.com/human/rolling.html

Skinnier tires do weigh less, which lets you *accelerate* faster -- and this is usually more important when mountain biking. But it doesn't matter whether the skinny tire is on the front or the rear as far as acceleration is concerned: both tires must rotate to get you somewhere.

Where having a fatter tire on the front helps is with traction. If you lock up or skid your rear tire, your forward momentum will drag it back in line with the front, no matter how far out of shape it gets. If you lock up or skid the front, momentum will try to push the rear past it, and the bike will get out of shape and frequently go down. This means if your tires have unequal traction, it's best to have the most traction on the front.

i also think that a fatter tire upfront also gives you more surface area, and thus more control when riding technical stuff: e.g. roots, rocks, etc, having that bigger tire up front (esp. if you run it a little soft) just allows you to clean stuff easier and feel more confident tackling technical sections vs running a skiiny tire up front. unless you race xc, going fat up front is the way to go IMHO