New Season, New Tires, New Thread

[MegaStoke]

So, this is an interesting rundown of good front tires:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/whats-best-...al-mtb-roundup

Add Vee and Mazza to some things I'd like to try now.

The 2.6(actually 2.5”)Mazza has been my favorite front tire for a while now. I really want to try the “Mazza Race” which is a soft compound version with a middle of the road casing.

[Andeh]

So, this is an interesting rundown of good front tires:
https://www.vitalmtb.com/whats-best-...al-mtb-roundup

Add Vee and Mazza to some things I'd like to try now.

Man, I normally find Vital reviews pretty useful, but this one, to put it in the parlance of my 6 y.o., was "sus." No mention of what tire pressures they ran. For some brands (i.e. Conti) they ran DH casings and complained about them being too stiff & heavy. For other brands (Schwalbe), they ran mid-weight casings and complained about them not being stiff enough. Chose 2.6" for some brands, 2.4" for others. Ran tests on weird CB wheelsets (31.5mm front) that is supposed to flex a bunch, which favors wider tires, rather than the 30mm that most people ride these days. No discussion of durability / wear.

[toast2266]

Man, I normally find Vital reviews pretty useful, but this one, to put it in the parlance of my 6 y.o., was "sus." No mention of what tire pressures they ran. For some brands (i.e. Conti) they ran DH casings and complained about them being too stiff & heavy. For other brands (Schwalbe), they ran mid-weight casings and complained about them not being stiff enough. Chose 2.6" for some brands, 2.4" for others. Ran tests on weird CB wheelsets (31.5mm front) that is supposed to flex a bunch, which favors wider tires, rather than the 30mm that most people ride these days. No discussion of durability / wear.

Yeah, I came away with the same impression. No real discussion of tire pressures, and I would've liked to have seen an actual measured width listed for each tire. I've only ridden 3 of the tires they tested, but my impressions are fairly different from theirs.

That aside, I really find that the "best" tire varies a lot depending on the soils. The best tire for BC organic soil is different than the best tire for Moab sand, or Colorado pea gravel, or southeast clay, or Socal whatever that dirt is called. So a review is certainly interesting when it pits a bunch of tires against each other, but when it only tests them in one location, it has some inherent limitations.

[PlayItLeo]

Picked up some 2.4 DH SS Kryptotals to run on my ebike but somehow (weed) I fucked up when ordering and got 2 fronts. What do you guys think - return one of them for a rear or just run ‘em?

It’s an MX setup, so it’s not like I can keep the mis-ordered one as a spare for the front.


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[BigHerm]

The Conti Double-Ass. Should have great braking traction. I'd say go for it. The rear may wear a little fast, though. The rear specific DH casing is available in SS or Soft.

I also saw the Vital vid. My takeaway was that they each ran their preferred air pressure, whatever it was, on every single tire regardless of width/casing. A better version of this test would be to ride one tire for a bit until you found the best air pressure for that tire/terrain. Then compare each tire at its ideal pressure against every other tire. As it stands, it's luck of the draw type shit if that tire works at whatever pressure you like on some other tire.

Would be a more involved process that would likely take more than 1 day.

[One (+) Sentence]

Ran tests on weird CB wheelsets (31.5mm front) that is supposed to flex a bunch, which favors wider tires, rather than the 30mm that most people ride these days.

Yeah, this test was weird and seems like maybe it was just thrown together for content. Assegai finishing dead last basically voids all results IMHO.

But, the Crank Bros Synthesis wheelset is amazing and likely the best I've ever ridden.

[skinipenem]

Yeah, this test was weird and seems like maybe it was just thrown together for content. Assegai finishing dead last basically voids all results IMHO.

But, the Crank Bros Synthesis wheelset is amazing and likely the best I've ever ridden.

Yup. Vital is usually pretty good. This tire test was more all over the place than most of my posts. IOW pretty much useless.

Either too many variables at play or people know less about tires than they think they do.

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[One (+) Sentence]

Yup. Vital is usually pretty good. This tire test was more all over the place than most of my posts. IOW pretty much useless.

Either too many variables at play or people know less about tires than they think they do.

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I need to edit my previous comment - Assegai did not finish dead last in this test.

Also, I'm on record as stating Jason Shroeder is much faster and corners much harder than I do.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

I'm scared that my Enduro casing Kryptotals will not hold up to Big Sky. They get delivered Thursday finally. I destroyed another DD DHRII today. Loose conditions bringing new sharks to the surface. Put a huge gash in between center knobs. I've been looking for a DH casing tire and there are 0.0 DH casing Maxxis in SWMT right now. There might be some Schwalbes at shops. Don't even know what treads to run of those in super dry/loose/no dirt/all rocks.

I might actually take my rear Cush Core out if I actually find a DH casing anywhere. I haven't run any tires without Cush in 3 or 4 years on the race bike. Gotta practice more this week and everything I can order online will take too long.

I really want to try those Kryptotal but maybe should wait until I can get them in DH casing.

[toast2266]

I'm scared that my Enduro casing Kryptotals will not hold up to Big Sky. They get delivered Thursday finally. I destroyed another DD DHRII today. Loose conditions bringing new sharks to the surface. Put a huge gash in between center knobs. I've been looking for a DH casing tire and there are 0.0 DH casing Maxxis in SWMT right now. There might be some Schwalbes at shops. Don't even know what treads to run of those in super dry/loose/no dirt/all rocks.

I might actually take my rear Cush Core out if I actually find a DH casing anywhere. I haven't run any tires without Cush in 3 or 4 years on the race bike. Gotta practice more this week and everything I can order online will take too long.

I really want to try those Kryptotal but maybe should wait until I can get them in DH casing.

From what I've seen, maxxis dh casings are easy to come by these days. Pretty much any tread and any compound is easily gettable.

They're still overpriced, but such is life.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

My super special shipment from Germany arrived last night. The delivery driver was in a Mercedes SUV......lol. High priority shipment lol.

Enduro Krypts mounted up with CC Pro in the rear and CC XC in the front. Will see how they do at the bike park today. FWIW these are a million times easier to mount up than maxxis tires.

I also have DH casing Kryptotal Rear and Argotal arriving in the next few days if these Enduro casings prove to be too weak for Big Sky shark fest.

[XXX-er]

I've just burned thru my 2nd Maxxis DHR2 DD, this last one seems to be wearing/ chunking faster than the 1st one,

Maxxis are more expensive for sure but they work well for BC and I'm not willing to wank about looking for a tire that " works as well as a Maxxis " so I've been on group rides where 8 of 9 riders are using Maxxis

The best place to buy looks like CRC or MEC so once a year order a Maxxis and a couple hundred $$$ of consumables

[MarsB]

FYI: Evo has Continentals on sale including Kryptos and Argos right now for some good prices.

ed: Looks like a lot of the 29 options have gotten snatched up.

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

So far loving these krypts. Braking power is massive. Pretty predictable edge hold in turns. Mostly dry and loose but did rain last night so pockets of wet/roots in the shady trees. Not amazing on that stuff but no tire is really.

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[nickwm21]

What is everyone carrying as a spare?

I had a looong walk out of the woods on Saturday.

- Ripped a sidewall.
- Put in tubalito I’d had as my spare to try and limp it out of the woods. First experience using the tubalito and it didn’t last a 1/4mile.
- Got a real tube from a good samaritan - that lasted a few miles before popping, likely due to my ripped tire….


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[SchralphMacchio]

How big of a sidewall tear? If it’s much more than an inch not much you can really do?
Granola bar wrappers and/or a dollar bill was my old roadie trick, the last time I needed to do that on an MTB was 10 years ago, I sliced open my tire but near the knobs, on stupid sharp lava rock near the top of a 24 mile trail. Cliff bar wrapper and a tube held the entire ride!

[jamal]

Park makes a stick on tire boot

https://www.jensonusa.com/Park-Tool-...hoCvJIQAvD_BwE

I used one a few years ago when I sliced a tire during a pretty big backcountry ride. Held all the way out to the end of the day but was flat the next morning from the patch rubbing the tube.

Depending on the cut, could be possible to clean the inside of the tire, stick that on, and reinflate tubeless though too? I've put quite a few little glueless tube patches on the inside of tires, including one time where I'd forgotten my multi-tool and couldn't even take off the wheel. Unseated tire, stuck patch in there, reinflated with a co2, and was good to keep going.

[XXX-er]

I pack a 29" tube which should cram down to 27.5 for my mullet, I got tire boots or use a granola bar wrapper

back in the day the tube in juniors 20" bike failed in some catastrophic way so I packed the tire full of sod to get us home

[nickwm21]

The tear was about an inch…. It was a hail-mary still riding that tire regardless.

I’ve used a tube patch to repair a tire before, but I doubt my ability to get the inside of a sealant jizzed tire clean enough in a trailside setting for a patch to work.


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[skaredshtles]

The tear was about an inch…. It was a hail-mary still riding that tire regardless.

I’ve used a tube patch to repair a tire before, but I doubt my ability to get the inside of a sealant jizzed tire clean enough in a trailside setting for a patch to work.


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You know... I think I'm going to start packing a couple short-ish pieces of this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd wager with that and a tube you'd have been able to ride it out.

[J. Barron DeJong]

For a 1” tear, Park boot and then putting a tube in would get you out no problem.

Regarding trying to run it tubeless with a Park boot, I put the odds of that working somewhere near 0%. The adhesive on the boot isn’t that strong, it doesn’t stretch/flex well, and even if those weren’t stumbling blocks, surely trying to get the tire clean enough trail side to get good adhesion would be a problem.

(I always carry a Park boot, and have since probably ‘96.)

[J. Barron DeJong]

You know... I think I'm going to start packing a couple short-ish pieces of this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'd wager with that and a tube you'd have been able to ride it out.

Maybe.

For a boot you don’t wan’t it to stretch or the pressure from the tube forces the boot to expand through the cut.

Thing like dollar bills, Powerbar wrappers, etc. work in a pinch. But the Park boot is more robust, so much less likely to be cut itself and fail. Also the adhesive on the boot helps keep it in place while getting the tube/tire re-seated.

[skaredshtles]

Maybe.

For a boot you don’t wan’t it to stretch or the pressure from the tube forces the boot to expand through the cut.

Yeah - this shit's thick and not very stretchy. And I have it on hand...

[BigHerm]

Schwalbe aerothan tube, parktool boot, plugs. Aerothan and boot got me out of trouble before with a 1-inch sidewall tear.

[One (+) Sentence]

So far loving these krypts. Braking power is massive. Pretty predictable edge hold in turns. Mostly dry and loose but did rain last night so pockets of wet/roots in the shady trees. Not amazing on that stuff but no tire is really.

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Do you think they roll faster than an Assegai/DHR2 combo or am I trippin'?

Maybe.

For a boot you don’t wan’t it to stretch or the pressure from the tube forces the boot to expand through the cut.

Thing like dollar bills, Powerbar wrappers, etc. work in a pinch. But the Park boot is more robust, so much less likely to be cut itself and fail. Also the adhesive on the boot helps keep it in place while getting the tube/tire re-seated.

This season, Blackburn came out with a patch kit that is housed in a nylon backed paper pillow-pack that can be unfolded and makes an excellent tire boot.