Mountain Bike tires

[Gumarcel]

I have a 03 Trek 6700 , and I need some new tires for it. I don't know much about biking tires really, but i have read up on the ones that come with the bike, and people seem to complain they suck. I guess they do, i've had the bike for 2 years now and the front tire is trashed. I don't do anything that hard core really. I don't have a chance to ride it that much since there is only like one trail where I live and don't know many people around me who mountian bike. But I have the Bontrager Jones AC on there now. Should I just go the tubeless tire route? Anyone have any suggestions? I also have a Fuel 80 and I am really not a fan of the tires on that one either. So can anyone knowledgeable give me a hand?????

Thanks

 

[F18Guy]

There is only one in my opinion...continental.

Lately I have been riding both on and off the pavement with the Scalpel 1000. I keep my conti's around 50 to 55 psi without any problems.

 

[EricSiepmann]

www.mtbr.com.

Paul,

You up for some Berryman sometime? Oh that trail is so tasty!

EwS

 

[barefoot]

i agree with the continentals...just replaced one of my bontragers with a continental...works great and fairly inexpensive! if you make it down towards lexington there are many good trails within an hour...look me up!

 

[F18Guy]

Eric,

Maybe a fall weekend........

 

[TurdFerguson]

I have a Raleigh MD40x with Kenda KLAWs XT front and back and the tires are amazing!, the back tire cartainly isnt a road tire, as it will shorten thread life when ridden on asphalt, but in loose dirt, sand, and mud, both perform incredibly

 

[nickb857]

I like the continentals aswell, but right now i am using Maxxis Tires. I like them a lot, and i got a good deal on them.

 

[Tom in MD]

Nostalgia

I bought a few sets of the Michelin Wildgrippers, back when they were still puke green. Love those tires most of the year. You may still be able to find them in the bargain bin these days. Winters up north I used Tioga Factory Mudders in a 1.85 width. Now I'm in Florida . No mountains, but lots of tight, twisty stuff, mud, sand.

 

[Trailpimp]

Nokian Gadz's 2.5 front 2.3 rear and be done with it. I run them in 3.0's and they are the best tire out there. Next, look at the kenda kinetics stick-e if gadz are too expensive. UST is also a good thing to look into. www.notubes.com They make rim strips to make your rims UST if they aren't UST compatable.

 

[sean]

you don't say what terrain? the conti 1.5's r the best u can get for mud( conti used to be my faverite before they discontinued the cross contries).
stay away from maxxis/kenda if u want good wet weather traction the harder compound lasts longer but slides around on wet surfaces.
bontragers r good if u invest in the higher end.
wildgrippers last me 1-2 rides before i start ripping off knobs (the greens were the worst tires iv'e ever ridden).
my rep will kill me if he reads this, but Specialized tires suck, even though i sell more of them than anything else.
so far the best i have found r WTB's and hutchinson.
continental's 4 season r my favorite road tires.
as for tubeless. wait until u r ready to switch to tubless rims (then it's still a good idea to carry a spare tube). rim/tire variations make some 2 hard to seal up even with tubless. i wish i had some pictures of what happens when a larger tire is put on a smaller rim and won't hold the bead when you try to inflate it. stan's notubes gets blown all over the shop and it takes us 2 days to clean everything up. some tubless rims tires don't work together it's just trial and error to find one thats not to looses or tight. a lot of my customers just put in tubes after they get tired of the hassles.
for the hardtail don't go over 2.1's. anything over 2.3 will rub unless u buy a frame thats made for them (downhill or freeride).
but then this is just my opinion iv'e only been mountain bikeing for 16 years and managing bike shops for 13 years.

 

[EMBIBB]

take a look @

Kenda have really come along... John Tomac helped in design and the line is called the Blue Groove ....

 

[TurdFerguson]

stay away from maxxis/kenda if u want good wet weather traction the harder compound lasts longer but slides around on wet surfaces.

I second that. I was at Oleta River State Park yesterday and MAN, i ate dirt 3 times. My Kendas HATE wet roots. They do AWSOME in sand and mud, but if the hardtrail is wet forget it. Sean, I'm in South FLA but travel to parks within all of Florida. It rains a lot down here and there is a lot of loose dirt, mud, roots, gravel, and some sand pits. What do you recommend? The Continentals? If so, what model. I currently ride on 26x2.10

 

[AndyThoma]

How and where do your ride? Watch sizes too, above someone said a 2.5/2.3 combo. I doubt those tires would fit either trek. Maybe the fuel, but you'll need to try it first. A good all around tire is the Panaracer Fire ProXc. Get a wire bead and it will be like $50 for two tires. They work in mud, hard pack, loose dirt/gravel. But they are not good rolling tires on pavement, i.e. rough and bumpy. Personally I run 2.5" Conti Diesel on my Long travel Santa Cruz Heckler, which was made to run tires that big, and Conti 2.1 Explorer Pros on my hard tail XC rig. All contis are good tires, just pricy for the folding versions. Also I found they wear faster than that Panaracer listed above. My hard tail is set up for fast xc and rail trails, the heckler is for drops and bombing down mountains. Go to a bike shop in your area and ask, what's the best tire for around here? They'll hook you up.

 

[sean]

a correction the conti competition 1 were discontined. for a lot of mud u can't beat the 1.5 cross country's, plenty of mud clearence and the natural rubber sheds mud better than most.
for dry sand i like the hutchinson pythons, for mud, sand, and wet pinestraw the scorpions or spiders in 1.8 r really nice.
the michelins have a harder tread than the huchinsons but don't do as well on wet logs and roots.
kenda has improved the patterns but there compound still sucks, just because tomac helped doesn't make them grreat( he also developed kevlar laced rims for tioga and those were really bad)
the narrower the tire the less chance of clogging the frame with mud. for dry rocks and roots most tires do really close in comparison. it's in the wet where a tire shines.
stay away from semi slicks in the sand and mud, no traction and brakeing is greatly reduced.
best u can do is try a few tires for your riding style and terrain ask around the local shops for what they ride will be a good starting point.

 

[WillTN]

I have Kendas and they do ok. They work well for mud/dirt and gravel type stuff which is what I normally ride in. I run a Kenda Hammer 26x2.10 in the front and a Kenda Anvil 26x2.10 in the back. The Anvil in the back wears like crap on pavement compared to the front. It?s kind of like when people run TSL's on the front of there truck and boggers in the back. Overall I think they do ok. They kind of suck in wet slick stuff.

 

[WillTN]

I just looked on Kendas site and they don't even make the tires I am running now. But they are similar to the Klaw XT's. I am going to buy new tires in a wile and I think I will try the Klaw XT's. They look like they would do fairly well.

Kenda Klaw XT

 

[TurdFerguson]

Those are the ones i have^^^ Again, they do awsome in mud, sand, loose dirt, but wet rocks and roots, logs, they kinda suck. They also tend to cause flats. Had 2 rear flats and a mysterious front flat off-trail The rear wears like HELL on pavement/asphalt

 

[nickb857]

I dont know how my maxxis tires work on wet logs, roots, rocks i havent gotten out enough to find out. They are the Slow Reezay ones with the soft rubber, it is ridiculously soft but whatever, i dont ride enough to really care about it, and since they are 2.35' they look absurd on my cannondale f2000.

 

[sean]

these look like a good set for mud, unfortunatly i don't see much in south texas.
http://www.irctire.com/tires/stingo_xc_tubeless.html

 

[Jake]

Don't know if they still make them, but back when I rode, Panaracer Smoke Lite was a pretty awesome tire.