I like climbing again now that I only do it on a nice dirt road that it is illegal for vehicles to travel on.
I’m with you - few things are better than an hour long climb atmo
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I’m the opposite. I prefer some tech in my climbing to keep my brain occupied so I’m thinking about something when i climb. Dirt road for an hour just kills.
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Sorry for the essay, but I’ve done a lot of the footwork and don’t want to leave anything ambiguous.
I need help with new tires.
I’m tired of dragging Minion DHF 2.5’s around on my Banshee Phantom short travel 29er, and want something with less rolling resistance, and hopefully lighter.
Stockholm is fairly flat, and has tons of flowy trails, where I’ll be doing a lot of miles. Connecting those are short highly technical routes full of roots, smooth mossy rocks, and some complex technical steep little problems requiring winching up small sharp climbs. Bunch of undulating ups and downs, no long climbs / descents.
The DHFs feel like they’re overkill and I want to go faster on the flowy stuff. I’m not hitting the technical stuff very fast anymore, but I want decent grip for when I do. I’m too old and fragile to ‘send it’ anymore, and I’m most worried about hurting my knees if my rear wheel decides to slide out from under me on an off-camber rock.
I’ve been doing a bunch of research, and from what I can tell:
- My sweet spot is 2.3-2.4" / 60-62mm tires
- I can go with a less aggressive tread than the DHF to get the speed I want
- Since I’m a Clydesdale I need to choose a trail-strength carcass, nothing XC-level, they’re too soft
- The grip on rock comes from the compound so I should stay with the softer ones closer to the Enduro side than XC
So:
Minion = 3C ideally, maybe Dual in back with the right tread
Schwalbe = Addix Soft, maybe Speedgrip in back
Where should I look on this spectrum of setup choices (front/rear)?
- Minion DHR II / Dissector
- Dissector / Dissector
- Dissector / Forekaster
- Nobby Nic / Nobby Nic
- Nobby Nic / Wicked Will
My current tires are 1100 grams, the ones I’m looking at range from that down to ~800. I think I’m too Clyde to go lighter.
Any specific recommendations? Thanks in advance.
Xynotal???
Thanks for the lead… how is it in wet and slippery? It seems positioned to dry, rocky, and hardpack. Also, is it a front and back tire? What’s it pair with?
(Edit: looking into it further myself too.)
i missed the wet part, im used to dusty dry trails
argotal front and kryptotal rear in trail casing might be the go weight and grip wise
Cool, I’ll look into that combo.
This. Give me all the low speed super techy climbs!
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I do Minions all the time, but I’ve heard good things about the new Forekaster.
The newer Schwalbe is supposed to have a better casing. But, the old casings squirmed under my 90 kgs.
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Pretty sure kryptos are going to feel slower than minions. The knobs are taller at least on comparable enduro casing versions.
Can you try a lighter casing of minion? Don’t n ow why you’re running now.
This review of the forekaster makes it sound like a good lighter tire Maxxis Forekaster Review - BIKEPACKING.com
Edit posted that without reading @yonderboy reply
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Running 3C MaxTerra/EXO/TLR on the Minions, 2.5" size. So I’m not even on the MaxGripp or EXO+, which I know is even grippier.
You could try one of the new Schwabe radials. You could try running the lighter casing version at higher pressures… And it might still give you great grip because of the larger contact patch while getting you a little faster rolling with higher pressure and lighter compound.
Been interested in them, but all the new Schwalbe radials are in their gravity carcass tires, i.e. the Magic Mary, which are downhill focused. Nothing in the lighter ones I’m looking at.
They have both Gravity and Trail casings.
And MMs aren’t really DH-focused, as such. They clear mud pretty well, but knobs aren’t that big. Their new Alberts are pretty good all around tires and would roll faster. Can maybe pack up in mud a bit if it is thick, but nothing worse than you’re currently used to happening.
I am very not little and love my two sets of rocket rons
@frank_doktor Around here there isn’t any clay, so the mud just sprays up on your frame a bit, it won’t clog up treads. You’re basically in forest, occasionally slogging through wetland-like patches that have lots of leaves and branches mixed in - and the bigger ones have wood features across them.
Verrry interesting about the Alberts, they weren’t on my radar at all. Gonna dig into those, the radials have my curiosity piqued.
@jame5on Thanks for the tip on the Rocket Rons, they’re front runners with a Nobby Nic front.
I’ve been really impressed with Vittoria enduro tires so maybe the Agarro?
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I have the forekasters front and rear right now, maxxterra exo+. Really impressed with how fast they roll. Grip seems fine, i mean they slide on wet roots but doesn’t everything?
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Does the Bomber Z1 have the same bushing issues that the Z2s did/do?
If I get my warranty claim denied for my Z2 I’m looking in to my options.