If its the first time the tires have sealant they will take a couple of days to settle in, or 1 good ride to force all the sealant into the little dimples and holes.
^
what he said, my schwalbes took 4-5 days of pump, shake, spin, to stop leaking.
I seal my tyres in 2 days following how mr stans does it. It’s pretty much all in leaving the wheel ‘flat’ overnight on each side.
Drakkar needs new tires, coincides with a new job which means 30k round trip each day. But also means more free time on the weekends.
Need an all round tire because I’m lazy and hate changing them. Currently rocking race kings which are awesome offroad but a bit slower than ideal for a bigger commute.
Swinging between schwalbe big bens or marathon mondial in a 700x40 or there abouts.
Worried the mondial will be bit dead feeling on the road, but the ben a little average on single track.
Any thoughts or other ideas?
Hey guys, In the process of building up a Specialized ‘Carve’ frame (29er) with a Specialized ‘Chisel’ Carbon rigid fork.
Wondering what people think would be the best tyre options taking into consideration that I’ll be riding rigid, wanna go tubeless and I’m pretty certain 90% of my riding will be Yarra Trails from the Pipe Bridge as I’m in Clifton Hill and it’s nice and close.
Cheers!
If the trails are fairly loose and you want to keep it all Specialized, go for the Captain Control up front, then something faster rolling up the back like the Fast Trak.
Or even talk to Ben Henderson this weekend at Aus Bike about Rubena Tires. Rubena Tires - High Performance Mountain and Urban Tires they had a big display out at the Scott 24hr over the weekend. Ben rates the tyres.
Hey Sime, Why not try the X-kings that JP and Shakes are so keen on? I reckon the tread pattern would be a good mix of grip and speed, and they come in decent sizes too (2.2 - 2.4).
The only time the Race kings (not x-kings) really suck is in heavy mud. they are tolerable and predictable on the wet rock/root that you get through there. And are awesome on the rest. I’ve ran them as low as 14/15psi around wombat on bluntSL’s with out an issue.
I need to replace mine (see a couple of posts up) and am really torn as to what to do.
If i wasnt a weight conscious weentard i would ride ardents all day everyday. But yeah, xkings are pretty great for light and fast. 2.4 would be great upfront
Hey Shakes, new job? Congrats. Still wrenching or back to plumbing?
What about something like a Maxxis Wormdrive or equivalent? I rode a Conti tyre similar to this on my rigid 26" commuting and riding mellow singletrack in London. Did the job, being a softer compound it wore out a bit faster than a true commuter but was better when I hit the trails.
Thanks for the tips guys, the x-kings seem to be good, light, fast and although I doubt I really need a 2.4 up front, but as I’ve never ridden anything that size it could perhaps be good to try. I seem to think 2.2 would suffice.
These S-Works Renegade 2.3’s at 570g seem like another likely alternative to the x-kings, I also have the added bonus of getting Specialized gear at a staff rate.
The two treads compared below
Interesting.
Seems to a lot like the ‘second air’ 4wd style bead locks that are available. Other than the squirm feeling can see it working quite well.
love my X-Kings on both CX and MTB (26 x 2.0).
really grippy, really predictable in the way they grip and corner. look like they SHOULD be like Spec Fast Traks… but are in a different league for corner grip.
Looking at some new off-road tyres for my rigid Voodoo Nakisi: it takes up to 2.5" (29er); it’s gonna be used mostly on XC trails, nothing technical, mostly dry. Options are:
WTB Exiwolf 2.3" - $50 delivered from Dirtjerks mega special (77% off)
Conti X-Kings 2.4" - $66 delivered from CRC (50% off and free shipping)
Maxxis Ardent 2.4" - about $68 delivered from Pushys (with a voucher) (also tan side-wall!)
Tempted by the WTBs because of price. But is it worth paying the little bit extra for the X-Kings or Ardents?
@Diddy. My choice would be the Conti X kings. Very stable, fast and predictable tyre.
Also without knowing how low you like your riding pressure to be, and if you’re a “big” guy or not, I’m not not sure why you’re going so big bag on these tyres, XC you might want to go something more in the 2.2 size. Plus I think some of the tread patterns aren’t really matching your ride conditions, you might want to look at sparser and less aggressive treads for dry XC, ie schwalbe racing ralph, conti race kings.
if you really want to delve deep, here’s some 50 pages, spanning 4 years talking about this very subject.
Ardents are my go to tyre. Best all-rounder tyre for shiz.
Thanks. I also got a recommendation for the X-Kings from a MTB-nut buddy of mine so they’re looking the goods (also cheaper again as CRC has an extra 10% off tyres). Ardents with tan sidewalls would look sweet though. I’m leaning towards 2.4" mostly because I’m riding rigid and want max cush. You’re probably right about less tread, but I’m also going fat slicks (Big Apple) for touring, so I figured this would see me cover a wider range of conditions.
yeah some guys like the cush of the larger bag tyres, especially if they’re riding HT. Xkings are a great all rounder thats for sure, so if you do some muddier or softer trails they would hold up better than Rkings. Ardents are good allrounders too, but I find the transition from centre grip to outer grip isn’t very reassuring, you can see massive gaps between the two contact points, and a lot don’t find that confidence inspiring. But for your use I’d say thats not a massive issue. And yes tan side walls, #ontrend. Also some people find mixing bag sizes works well too, big up front, smaller down the back.
2 months in and the 2.3" Renegades are going great guns for Yarra Trails singletrack and Lysty trails. I’m by no means a tiny guy but run them quite low tubeless to make up for the fact that I’m riding a 29er rigid hardtail.
All thumbs up so far, even when ducking onto the trails when commuting with higher pressure in the tyres.
Here are some on my Niner MCR. The 2.4 on the back can be a bit bouncy, but Pushys now have a 2.25 Ardent in tan wall.