Tire setup

[Spartan]

I have seen various people mention running a rear tire in reverse. Is this for better grip under load when going up hill??? What are Pros Cons other reasons etc.. Please drop some knowledge on me if you have any. Also, treefortbikes.com $46.88 for Weirwolf 2.5 29ers (really 2.3)

[jake1]

I run my rear tire backwards down on a lot of trails in florida to help get a little more grip in the sugar sands but if i ride a hard packed trail i will put it on the correct way to keep momentum.

[Tr0gd0r]

Some people do that, but I think it really depends on the tire. I will say the the 2.55 Weirwolf is my all-time favorite dry-and-rocky trail tire, but don’t ever let it touch mud. Ever.

[stumpyfsr ✓ supporter]

Let me put some thoughts here. Even it’s hard to compare mountain bike and a tractor but there is a similar thing – both designed to ride off-road. In traditional tractor tire direction tread dig into soil and compress it while providing maximum traction. Reversed tire will dig into soil without compressing which is equal to poor traction. I think this apply to MTB tires as well. Except those (Bontrager for example) bi-directional tires, which have arrows for Front and Rear.
I havn’t had any issues with my Ardent on rear and I dont think I’ll get better traction in reversed setup. Low air pressure increase traction dramatically.
I could be wrong in my theory – correct me someone if so.

[fat_billy]

I read somewhere that recommended running front tires front and rear. This is "supposed to" give better traction in turns. I can see that if the course is down hill and hard packed. Climbing may suffer depending on the moisture of the dirt ect. It was in MTBAction so how could it be wrong? Just saying. 😄 Later,

[fleetwood]

"Tr0gd0r" wrote

…the 2.55 Weirwolf is my all-time favorite dry-and-rocky trail tire, but don’t ever let it touch mud. Ever.

I hear ya. I was running Weirwolfs last year — put them on just before a race so I would have some new, tacky rubber for the trail. Big mistake. The trails were wet and the tires turned into slicks real fast. Those tires do not shed mud.

[Greg Heil ✓ supporter]

If you’re lacking traction, I would just recommend getting as fat and as knobby of a tire as possible and rocking that.

[Corey Maddocks ✓ supporter]

The only tires I have ever run flipped are GEAX AKA (and soon my Saguaros) as they are marked as bidirectional. In this case, one direction is for speed, the other direction is for traction.

I tried them every which way and settled on the front tire in the speed direction and the rear in the traction direction.

I was able to notice the increased rolling resistance on the rear tire, but since I’m mainly trail riding, not racing, the extra traction was just what I needed for getting up and over stuff. (think water bars)

For tires that are not directional, usually switching makes no difference.

For tires that are directional, I always go with the direction indicated as doing otherwise usually makes them handle weird.

As for tractor tires, check out WTB Velociraptors. 😃

[Syd Patricio]

Traction really depends on rider position on the bike as well as what terrain your running on…I personally do not switch tires around as I find usually poorer performance. Treads are ramped to work usually work in one direction only. Reversing a tire will cause the knob to flex the wrong way and possibly fold rather than bit.

look at the terrain your on….Usually the harder surfaces like treads with lower profiles and more knobs….The softer stuff will have more spacing between knobs to allow for chunking and flinging off of debris. Now if your a rider who goes hard in corners…Tires with good side knobs are what your looking for..Someone mentioned Ardents…That is a good tire…Fat Alberts and Muddy Mary are also good…The new Weirwolf are not bad as well (for intermediate terrains) ..

Climbing up hill on a 26er bike i stay seated with my weight slightly forward…I hear on 29ers you can stand and still have decent traction (just keep slightly forward from center)..

[schwim ✓ supporter]

To the original question, you’ll get far better performance by simply buying a tire that matches your terrain than by concerning yourself whether to reverse the direction of whatever tire happens to be on the back of your bike.

[John Fisch]

+1 for Schwim

It depends largely on what type of terrain/surface conditions you’re trying to get better traction on. A tire that provides the best traction in loose sand and gravel will be a relatively poor performer on hardpack, slick roots, etc.

Of course, Element 22 is spot on as well. Nothing can compensate for poor technique–learning to corner/climb correctly is far more productive than worrying about which tire to have for which trail.

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