Tire advice required

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Seconded. I can, however, tell you to stay away from the Hutchinson
Python. I've tried two of them and flatted every ride, either pinched
or punctured. Lightweight [censored] with too-thin casings. With the
consistency of [censored] experiences I had with these things, even if the
tire quality isn't to blame they have some bad juju.

/s

"If you're not careful,
It'll stick to your cheeks
You'll smell like a native
For a couple of weeks
In France
Way down in France
Way on down
Way on down
In France"
-- Frank Zappa

Quoted message said:

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Seconded. I can, however, tell you to stay away from the Hutchinson
Python. I've tried two of them and flatted every ride, either pinched
or punctured. Lightweight [censored] with too-thin casings. With the
consistency of [censored] experiences I had with these things, even if the
tire quality isn't to blame they have some bad juju.

However, the TUBLESS (Usenet term) version of the Python is pretty damned
good. Not quite knobby enough for loose stuff, but not bad at all in
LoSoCal hardpack.

(Your experience reminds me of mine with tubed Continental Explorers --
absolutely the worst tires I ever tried, even those ancient Specialized Team
Controls that almost killed me.)

/bs

Bill Sornson said:

Quoted message said:

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Seconded. I can, however, tell you to stay away from the Hutchinson
Python. I've tried two of them and flatted every ride, either pinched
or punctured. Lightweight [censored] with too-thin casings. With the
consistency of [censored] experiences I had with these things, even if the
tire quality isn't to blame they have some bad juju.

However, the TUBLESS (Usenet term) version of the Python is pretty damned
good. Not quite knobby enough for loose stuff, but not bad at all in
LoSoCal hardpack.

(Your experience reminds me of mine with tubed Continental Explorers --
absolutely the worst tires I ever tried, even those ancient Specialized Team
Controls that almost killed me.)

/bs

The Team Controls were my worst tire experience. I'll have to try those
Explorers to see if I can top it!

Matt

"Michael Halliwell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:lcQVe.488674$s54.452050@pd7tw2no...

Quoted message said:

Hey all,

Well, the stock rear on my Fisher is just about a slick. I've been out of
the loop for a bit and, with all the changes in tire designs (esp. for
DH!) I'm a bit lost looking for something to put on the back.

Unfortunately, I don't get out to the mountains as much as I'd like, so
realistically I'm looking for a bit more of an XC tire rather than a DH
tire. These days the bike is pulling double duty and hitting gravel
multi-use trails for travel to work. I get dirty on some generally good
(as in not too gooey/muddy) single track when I don't need to fly the
desk. I even get in some good climbs and DH's thrown in, but nothing too
sick.

I know one tire can't do it all...but anyone had any good experiences with
a long wearing XC or narrower/lite DH tire that can handle some mundane
commuting along with the thrashing of some good, dirty fun?

Any and all suggestions gladly accepted.

Cheers,

Psycho Mike

Spesh' Roll X Pro... 2.0, if you wanna get jiggy, convert them with Stan's
NoTubes

TBF::. said:

"Michael Halliwell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:lcQVe.488674$s54.452050@pd7tw2no...

Quoted message said:

Hey all,

Well, the stock rear on my Fisher is just about a slick. I've been out of
the loop for a bit and, with all the changes in tire designs (esp. for
DH!) I'm a bit lost looking for something to put on the back.

Unfortunately, I don't get out to the mountains as much as I'd like, so
realistically I'm looking for a bit more of an XC tire rather than a DH
tire. These days the bike is pulling double duty and hitting gravel
multi-use trails for travel to work. I get dirty on some generally good
(as in not too gooey/muddy) single track when I don't need to fly the
desk. I even get in some good climbs and DH's thrown in, but nothing too
sick.

I know one tire can't do it all...but anyone had any good experiences with
a long wearing XC or narrower/lite DH tire that can handle some mundane
commuting along with the thrashing of some good, dirty fun?

Any and all suggestions gladly accepted.

Cheers,

Psycho Mike

Spesh' Roll X Pro... 2.0, if you wanna get jiggy, convert them with Stan's
NoTubes

Funny, my friends and I use that term to describe a squirly, near-miss
kind of moment. If you see the rider up ahead almost lose it, when you
ride by you sing "Na na na na" (like Big [censored] does) to let them know
you saw.

I'm guessing that wasn't your intended meaning (or was it?).

Matt

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Silly me....by all means that should have been part of my post.

I'm a 6', 230 lb'er up in central Alberta, Canada.

The commute is on a dirt packed trail, usually with a loose, fractured
gravel/chip surface (say 1/4 " to 1/2" chips, not really sharp). I've
got about a dozen blocks of asphalt getting to and from the trails when
I'm commuting.

The fun comes on well established single track and hills in a major
river valley and creek system...soil up here is mostly clay so it can be
slick as snot when it gets wet, but otherwise is pretty solid stuff.
When it has been dry for a bit or when the leaves are falling, things
can be a little loose on the surface but it stays pretty hard
underneath. Fair bit of roots and lots of trees, fairly twisty and
technical sections. Hills are a norm (both up and down hill) with some
pretty good grades in some areas.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Canadian Edition Marlin...yeah it's a lowly
hardtail and has a fair bit of bontrager stuff on it...but for the
riding I'm doing right now and all the upgrades (both for the Cdn Edit.
and that I've done myself) it handles the trails reasonably well.

Any other details, you'll need to ask.

Psycho Mike

Michael Halliwell said:

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Silly me....by all means that should have been part of my post.

I'm a 6', 230 lb'er up in central Alberta, Canada.

The commute is on a dirt packed trail, usually with a loose, fractured
gravel/chip surface (say 1/4 " to 1/2" chips, not really sharp). I've
got about a dozen blocks of asphalt getting to and from the trails when
I'm commuting.

The fun comes on well established single track and hills in a major
river valley and creek system...soil up here is mostly clay so it can be
slick as snot when it gets wet, but otherwise is pretty solid stuff.
When it has been dry for a bit or when the leaves are falling, things
can be a little loose on the surface but it stays pretty hard
underneath. Fair bit of roots and lots of trees, fairly twisty and
technical sections. Hills are a norm (both up and down hill) with some
pretty good grades in some areas.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Canadian Edition Marlin...yeah it's a lowly
hardtail and has a fair bit of bontrager stuff on it...but for the
riding I'm doing right now and all the upgrades (both for the Cdn Edit.
and that I've done myself) it handles the trails reasonably well.

Any other details, you'll need to ask.

Psycho Mike

Don't listen to tbf, he obviously doesn't ride enough to shred tires,
as indicated by recommending the easily shredded specialized tires.
That gravel chip will eat the specialized branded tires alive.

Since you have mostly hardpack, you need a predictable tire that's
light and tough. Try the WTB Motoraptor 2.4 on both front and back.
It's a great all-around tire, except in mud, but on shouldn't be riding
muddy trails to begin with.

JD

it's a heavy tire, but the specialized adrenaline (as oppsoed to the
roll x) pro d2 holds up well (but its tubeless if that matters to you).
plus also maybe consider the geax marathon. i like the specialized
roll x quite a lot, and have found it holds up well - got many miles in
southern arizona on it, and in virginia as well. good luck.

JD said:

Michael Halliwell said:

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Silly me....by all means that should have been part of my post.

I'm a 6', 230 lb'er up in central Alberta, Canada.

The commute is on a dirt packed trail, usually with a loose, fractured
gravel/chip surface (say 1/4 " to 1/2" chips, not really sharp). I've
got about a dozen blocks of asphalt getting to and from the trails when
I'm commuting.

The fun comes on well established single track and hills in a major
river valley and creek system...soil up here is mostly clay so it can be
slick as snot when it gets wet, but otherwise is pretty solid stuff.
When it has been dry for a bit or when the leaves are falling, things
can be a little loose on the surface but it stays pretty hard
underneath. Fair bit of roots and lots of trees, fairly twisty and
technical sections. Hills are a norm (both up and down hill) with some
pretty good grades in some areas.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Canadian Edition Marlin...yeah it's a lowly
hardtail and has a fair bit of bontrager stuff on it...but for the
riding I'm doing right now and all the upgrades (both for the Cdn Edit.
and that I've done myself) it handles the trails reasonably well.

Any other details, you'll need to ask.

Psycho Mike

Don't listen to tbf, he obviously doesn't ride enough to shred tires,
as indicated by recommending the easily shredded specialized tires.
That gravel chip will eat the specialized branded tires alive.

Since you have mostly hardpack, you need a predictable tire that's
light and tough. Try the WTB Motoraptor 2.4 on both front and back.
It's a great all-around tire, except in mud, but on shouldn't be riding
muddy trails to begin with.

JD

Thanks for the tip, JD...I'll have a look for some in the LBS next time
I'm there. I've had no complaints about my WTB rims...definitely worth
a look at the rubber.

Psycho Mike

JD said:

Michael Halliwell said:

JD said:

You never said where you live/ride, how much you weigh, nor what
specific conditions you ride in, so nobody can truly answer your
question.

JD

Silly me....by all means that should have been part of my post.

I'm a 6', 230 lb'er up in central Alberta, Canada.

The commute is on a dirt packed trail, usually with a loose, fractured
gravel/chip surface (say 1/4 " to 1/2" chips, not really sharp). I've
got about a dozen blocks of asphalt getting to and from the trails when
I'm commuting.

The fun comes on well established single track and hills in a major
river valley and creek system...soil up here is mostly clay so it can be
slick as snot when it gets wet, but otherwise is pretty solid stuff.
When it has been dry for a bit or when the leaves are falling, things
can be a little loose on the surface but it stays pretty hard
underneath. Fair bit of roots and lots of trees, fairly twisty and
technical sections. Hills are a norm (both up and down hill) with some
pretty good grades in some areas.

The bike is a Gary Fisher Canadian Edition Marlin...yeah it's a lowly
hardtail and has a fair bit of bontrager stuff on it...but for the
riding I'm doing right now and all the upgrades (both for the Cdn Edit.
and that I've done myself) it handles the trails reasonably well.

Any other details, you'll need to ask.

Psycho Mike

Don't listen to tbf, he obviously doesn't ride enough to shred tires,
as indicated by recommending the easily shredded specialized tires.
That gravel chip will eat the specialized branded tires alive.

Since you have mostly hardpack, you need a predictable tire that's
light and tough. Try the WTB Motoraptor 2.4 on both front and back.
It's a great all-around tire, except in mud, but on shouldn't be riding
muddy trails to begin with.

JD

Hey JD,

You ever try the WTB Weirwolves? Last check, there weren't any
Motoraptor 2.4's in at the LBS, but they had some WW's (though they
could get some motoraptors in)...thought I'd ask as I've now heard some
favorable things about the WW's too. Looks like a generally similar
tread but with a much different style of knobs.

I've easily got room on the frame for 2.4's (heck the stocker "2.2" is
more like a 2.1 and I've got lots of clearance on both front and rear).

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Psycho Mike

I've got a set on my HT. They're a reasonable all-rounder, their main
attraction for me was they have quite a large volume for a relatively
low weight (comfy on the HT). The sidewalls are thin so they squirm a
bit on rocks if run at v.low pressure, I run mine at about 30 psi. The
tread is okay on most surfaces, it suffers in sticky mud because it
doesn't clear quickly, isn't very aggressive and is too wide to sink
into the mud to find grip. Like I said a reasonable all-rounder that
doesn't excel in any area but is capable in most and adds a bit of
comfort on long rocky rides.
Steve.

Quoted message said:

You ever try the WTB Weirwolves?

I'm a fan of the Weirwolves. I like the tread for gravel on hardpack.

Do think about the weight vs. durability of their models. If I recall
they have race (i.e. lightweight) versions available. 1/3 of my 2.1"
tires suffered sidewall damage. I haven't ridden enough on my 2.3's to
claim they solved the problem. However - as a fatty who rides through
rocks - I shouldn't have been on 2.1s to begin with.

Red_Ivan said:

Quoted message said:

You ever try the WTB Weirwolves?

I'm a fan of the Weirwolves. I like the tread for gravel on hardpack.

Do think about the weight vs. durability of their models. If I recall
they have race (i.e. lightweight) versions available. 1/3 of my 2.1"
tires suffered sidewall damage. I haven't ridden enough on my 2.3's to
claim they solved the problem. However - as a fatty who rides through
rocks - I shouldn't have been on 2.1s to begin with.

I'm not really concerned about component weight at this point. I ride a
fair bit, but I'm not into racing yet, plus I'm a bigger guy... the
extra weight is a non issue for me (I know....not a good thing to say,
but at this point, it isn't a problem...I can take a little more weight
(proportionally) so I don't worry about it).

With my size, I usually run a little more air in the tubes anyway, so I
haven't had to worry about pinch flats yet....thorns and sharp gravel,
well, those I've had to deal with a fair bit. I'm thinking 2.3's
myself...I've got the room in the frame and for my size they are a much
better choice than the Jones XR's that came on the bike (claim to be
2.2-2.25's but aren't...more like 2.1's).

You run the rear stright or reversed? I've heard that a lot of folks
run the motoraptors and weirwolves reversed on the back...thought I'd
ask. I'll likely run 'em frontwards for the better wear/less rolling
resistance for the trail commuting....but it doesn't hurt to have
options for when I'm going to be in the bush for a while.

Thanks for the help,

Psycho Mike

"Michael Halliwell" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:EHDYe.540976$s54.515191@pd7tw2no...

Quoted message said:

Red_Ivan said:

Quoted message said:

You ever try the WTB Weirwolves?

I'm a fan of the Weirwolves. I like the tread for gravel on hardpack.

Do think about the weight vs. durability of their models. If I recall
they have race (i.e. lightweight) versions available. 1/3 of my 2.1"
tires suffered sidewall damage. I haven't ridden enough on my 2.3's to
claim they solved the problem. However - as a fatty who rides through
rocks - I shouldn't have been on 2.1s to begin with.

I'm not really concerned about component weight at this point. I ride a
fair bit, but I'm not into racing yet, plus I'm a bigger guy... the extra
weight is a non issue for me (I know....not a good thing to say, but at
this point, it isn't a problem...I can take a little more weight
(proportionally) so I don't worry about it).

With my size, I usually run a little more air in the tubes anyway, so I
haven't had to worry about pinch flats yet....thorns and sharp gravel,
well, those I've had to deal with a fair bit. I'm thinking 2.3's
myself...I've got the room in the frame and for my size they are a much
better choice than the Jones XR's that came on the bike (claim to be
2.2-2.25's but aren't...more like 2.1's).

You run the rear stright or reversed? I've heard that a lot of folks run
the motoraptors and weirwolves reversed on the back...thought I'd ask.
I'll likely run 'em frontwards for the better wear/less rolling resistance
for the trail commuting....but it doesn't hurt to have options for when
I'm going to be in the bush for a while.

Thanks for the help,

Psycho Mike

My experience the a 2.5 Weirwolf has been very positive...as a front tire.
The 2.5 is a great sand tire. With So-Cal loose rocky climbs I want a tire
with deep aggressive knobs and thick sidewalls. My rear tire of choice is
IRC 2.5 Trailbear. Bike is a 2003 Turner 5-spot.

I switched to a set for summer riding here in Oregon. I've only logged 150
or so miles on them, but they seem to work quite well in hardpack, loose
dirt, and smaller rocks/roots in our standard singletrack. I run mine a
little harder, probably 40+ lbs. (I like a sidewall).

Not sure how they'll fare once it starts to rain here. Might have to switch
to a wet tire for these same conditions. Open to suggestions......

Quoted message said:

Hey JD,

You ever try the WTB Weirwolves? Last check, there weren't any
Motoraptor 2.4's in at the LBS, but they had some WW's (though they
could get some motoraptors in)...thought I'd ask as I've now heard some
favorable things about the WW's too. Looks like a generally similar
tread but with a much different style of knobs.

I've easily got room on the frame for 2.4's (heck the stocker "2.2" is
more like a 2.1 and I've got lots of clearance on both front and rear).

Thoughts?

Thanks,

Psycho Mike