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I have a 02 Giant Iguana and after about $200 at the LBS for repairs I decided to drop the roadie and pick up a trail, less cars! Anyway, I have the light trail tires on the bike because I only ever used it with the kids on around the hood rides. My question is should I keep these tires on the bike or should I go for somekind of hardcore tires? I do ride three to four times a week around a city lake trail and only plan on going singletracking on the weekend.
Thanks for the advice.
Steve -
I guess it really depends on your riding and trail conditions. Are the trails wet, dry, rocky, smooth, etc.
Case in point, I rode with a guy from AZ this past weekend. He had tires for AZ not SC. When we hit some muddy sections of the trail (Modoc) he had a hard time and his speed went way down. However when we rode the road sections he rode faster than me with my knobby tires.
I am planning on getting something in the future for the drier seasons and just swap out when needed.
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"o2bbkn" wrote
I have a 02 Giant Iguana and after about $200 at the LBS for repairs I decided to drop the roadie and pick up a trail, less cars! Anyway, I have the light trail tires on the bike because I only ever used it with the kids on around the hood rides. My question is should I keep these tires on the bike or should I go for somekind of hardcore tires? I do ride three to four times a week around a city lake trail and only plan on going singletracking on the weekend.
Thanks for the advice.
SteveYour local bike shop could advise you on what type of MTB works best in your area. Is your lake trail paved, gravel, or more like singletrack?
I think a lot depends on how much riding you do on what type of surface. What you gain in traction on dirt, rocks, etc., by going to a more aggressive tread, you generally loose speed on smooth surfaces. "Grippy tires" grip well, but don’t roll well. They don’t last as long either on pavement.
My girlfriend took off her MTB tires for 1 bike and put on smooth tires cause she just likes the paved greenway riding. I go through 2 sets of Kenda Nevegals (aggressive tread desgn) a year partially because I use the same greenway to access mountain bike trails. I’m willing to just pay the price in rubber, cash, and the energy required to roll that extra tread just to have the traction when I need it.
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Kenda K-Rad at least on the back. You can put a grippier tire up front like a Kenda Nevegal or just run K-Rads front & back.
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I live in Phoenix and usually ride the WTB Veloceraptor (Raptor for short) it is an awsome all around tire. It is one of the most widely used tires ever produced.
It’s getting hot here now and I tend to migrate North into the mountains on the weekends and ride early mornings during the week down in the valley. When I head up north I switch to a Kenda Nevegal tire. This is another awsome "all around" tire and I think it handles the varying conditions a little better. I tend to hit more creek crossings, loose "deathdirt" mixed with some granite rocks, when I ride in Flagstaff. I would check with your LBS to see what the local buzz is for a good tire.
I seem to recall a nice article in Bike mag. or Mtn Bike mag (April Issue) regarding tires. It covered the different tire designs and gave a chart with tire suggestions for the different types of terrain that we encounter.
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Thanks for the advice, I am going to go to the LBS here and head over to some of the popular trails here and see what they are riding on. Maybe I need a second wheel set to swap out from week day to weekend rides!
Steve
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i love getting new tires a fresh new knobbed tread offroad is so fun i know i shoulednt be trespassing but theres a golfcoarse right at the top of my street and its so fun to ride and new treads make it so much safer feeling
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I also use velociraptors as my all around tire, and if you look at the online retailers you can frequently catch them for $25 or less.
I’ve run mine over slickrock, loose dirt, hard pack, gravel, sand, roots, etc and they have never let me down.
Only thing I haven’t really ridden them in is mud.
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Since we are talking about common, cheap, all around tires then I think you also have to mention Panaracer Fire XCs. You can buy them practically everywhere, and they often go on sale in the low $20 range. They deliver good performance in a wide variety of conditions.
I’ve gone thru about six sets of them. Lately, I have shied away from them due to the "square" tread design (the knobs get higher closer to the sidewall) which makes them fight back when you try to lay the bike over. That’s really more a matter of personal taste than an actual performance problem, IMO, but that might make the tire feel strange to some riders.
In any case, they do behave very consistently and competently in all kinds of conditions, so considering the low cost and wide availability I think they are worth looking at.
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One of the guys in my riding group uses the panaracers and he speaks very highly of them.
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what about a good medium tire not so much tread it slows you down but enough for medium off road capability? i hear alotta good bout the kenda k rads
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Not sure if you ever got to talk to your LBS yet. If not…
You might look for a fast rolling "hardpack" tire with a harder tread if you want to still ride on pavement with the least wear and tear on the tire. I have a set of Mutano Raptors from WTB that actually rolled pretty smoothly on pavement and were OK on trails as well.
Another tire you might enjoy is the Kenda Small Block Eight. It’s another hardpack tire that people enjoy on the trails and the Dual tread compound (DTC) that it uses has a harded tread in the middle of the tire for longer life with a soft tread on the edges for increased grip when turning on loose stuff.
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They make the K-Rad in 26" also. Maxxis makes Holy Roller which is similar. These tires are decent on the trails and good on pavement.
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On a recent trip to Moab a friend of mine ran a set of WTB Nanoraptors. They had amazing traction on Slickrock trail and Porcupine rim, but also are well-behaved on pavement.
They might be worth checking out.
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I’ve owned a pair of the K-Rads and they roll really smooth on the pavement and handle decent in the dirt, but obviously they will have less traction than a knobby tire.
It’s been raining every day here in Lakeland. Boyette and Santos would be the best bet to ride, Alafia would be the worst with Carter following a close 2nd. Reports of Carter have knee deep water in places, but some parts are OK. I’m ITCHING to ride and it’s driving me MAD!!! We went from one extreme to the next…a drought to a monsoon. The Ridgeline is temporarily closed at Boyette (actually a good thing). I think most of Boyette would be good with the exception of the double track leading in. That section will probably be a slopfest. And Santos holds up great in the rain, but the reds get really slick. The only FR stuff is at Santos that I know of since we lost the TOE. *sniff sniff*
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"cujo" wrote
It’s been raining every day here in Lakeland.
Not alone fellow MTB brothers. Same here in Virginia. Western Virginia hillside trails are usually shale that dry out in no time. Man, we are finding wet spots that we didn’t know existed before. Drought has its advantages.
With a little sunshine, maybe I can sneak a ride in this weekend. 😆
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