Do the memebers WNR bosses overlap with the commuter fast guys? And do you know if commuter doods are using stans rims? I sort of assume everyone is.
WTB nanos are a must-try for me, though i think I’ve already written them off for singletrack duty.
And yep, HoBu, slip-slidin around is bloody great fun, and thats what its all aboot. I think if you stick with those tyres, get used to em, develop your style around them, you may become the boss of all XC.
Oh, I should mention Conti RaceKings… theyre probably grippier than you think they are. Predictable, for sure, and super fast rolling, if Ardent is 10 for grip on front, x king is 8.8, RaceKing is 7.5.
interested to know anyone whos tried X-King V crossmark
looks pretty good for a set-forget winter tyre. will roll OK, but won’t be appalling in riding like last night at Dirt Crits where a mud tyre would have been great (my Larson R/Crossmark F was not so great)
i’ll be honest - i got crossmarks cos everyone had them, and just haven’t changed in 5 years.
thinking X King will be a good set/forget tyre for winter with a set of proper muds on the spare wheels, then i can change the muds to race kings for the summer months.
hahaha. additional drifting is ALWAYS the plan… as long as my tires stay glued to my rims this time!
that was a serious question tho as to if that sounds ok? i’m a “like grip” guy on the mtb not a “loose is fast” guy… do you think the X King will be enough tyre for winter? with the Mud King as the “oh crap” backup?
It light of JP’s low low psi, I just went out for a quick spin, and kept letting out a little air at a time till things were smoother but still ok leaning over.
Got home and checked - I was at 20psi up front and 25ish out back tubless in 2.25 F, 2" rear.
I have recently been running my pressure at 28 front, 30 rear (26 x 2.25 - 2.35 tubeless). Thats about 5 psi less than what I was running them before going tubeless and was running 2.1s. I’m now experimenting with running my pressures slightly lower still, seen as I have larger tyres on 28mm rims. 25 front , 28 rear for my ride on Saturday.
Yeah! I pretty much just let air out until it gets quiet… no chatter, my grip relaxes, etc, if I feel squirm, I put more in. I reckon I get pretty close to the same pressure each time, and know within a corner or two if things are skewy. I might get a gauge and take note one of these days… I’m sure my one or two stops to let air out are getting old with my riding buddies.
Got a set of Bontrager Team Issues (29 x 1.9) on my Waltworks (rigid steel 29er), as it came with them. They felt great for grinding gravel under a bikepacking load, and fine on the fire roads after dropping a bit of pressure.
I’ve only ridden them on Yarra Trails in dryer conditions at about 30-35psi front and rear and they seem to rail pretty well for a not so gnarly tread pattern, I weigh 75-80kg depending how good the hot chips are.
I defs wanna try something a little larger that works for the stated riding above… I’ll go tubeless with whatever I pick up next.
any suggestions for the riding I intend to be doing? Those Geax Saguros look decent.
I’ll also end up doing a little bit of road time on them, due to not owning a car.
What are people thoughts on Specialized’s tyres? namely the Fast Trak’s.
hit the CrossBoss up about this. he has lots more experience on the conti mtb tyres, then factor in his enjoyment of the ‘drifting’ and jockey-like size.
i think there is a bit of merit in your choices though…
While I have everyones attention… who knows some good wide tyres for a CX bike? Want to go a little more off road on the kona major one. It is currently rockling the Schwalbe Sammy Slick.
I’ve got these, mounted on a 19mm rim they end up being ~39/40mm pretty good for trails, dirt roads. I quite liked them, no punctures for me, took them on a dirt road tour, quite cheap to ~$25.
I think they are pretty much the knobbiest largest tyre most CX frames can fit. Cross checks can fit a 50mm i think which is getting into skinny 29er tyres.
Never tried it tubeless.
If I had the money I’d try the Clement MSO which is 40mm - but more for mixed surface.
Fast, light, grippy in the dry. Rode Tour de timor on a set 2 years ago still got em. Upon returning home, pumping them up and wondering what the rattle was as I rebuilt the bike I found a nail inside the tyre, still held air and mustn’t have even noticed when it happened. +1 for Stans too.
For the yak attack this year I took racing ralphs which are now toast after 500ish (quite tough) kms, had about 3 flats during the race too. At least one other racer had the sidewall blow out of his near enough to brand new tyre, he did however have a few kilos on me and was running 26". A couple of fast crew in the race were running x kings in the race and spoke highly of them.
I currently have a specialized renegade on the back (racing ralph on the front), rode the dirty gran fondo and quite like it. again maybe a better dryish tyre. My next set up will be X king / race king. Business up front party out back.
Also anything over 2.0’ isn’t cool unless you’re a downhiller and I have it on good authority they basically live on chicken nuggets unless you’re Aaron Gwin who probably “looks after himself” by looking at a bag of spinnach while he eats them.
