Whats a good mountain bike tire....

depending on what type of riding you do, these bontragers are great, http://bontrager.com/model/04146, so far I love mine and they have been great in anything I have thrown at them

but they are a gravity tire so like I say it depends on what your doing, but they are sticky and light wieght considering I have 2.35s on my dj and 2.5 on dh rig

 

ride the 2.35's (which are available) on my 2004 norco 125, I used them on out "free ride" hill, its a local ski hill that they opened here not a mountain but not bad considering its about 4 hours closer then any mountain. which is a hard tail. I find them great in everything from sand to mud, and not even bad in light snow lol (board and drunk)

 

Nevegal 2.35 front
Maxxis Larsen TT 2.35 rear

Great for T100, South Mountain, Hawes, just about anything but XC racing or gnarly DH...

Oops, that on the full squish. I am still figuring out my preferred combo for the single speed. I just put on a 2.4 WTB mutanoraptor for the front. Big volume, low weight. And a Maxxis Ignitor 2.35 on the back (it sucks as a front tire so Ill try it as a rear...)

 

Chris, your in good shape with Velocis. Tried and true and been around forever. Nevegals are good do it all tire as well and one of the more universally popular tires last 5 years. The panaracer fire xc mentioned earlier works great too but soft and seems to wear fast and chip easily. I've been running wtb motoraptors on my trailbike here in Midwest and work well for all around and did good at south mountain in Phoenix earlier this summer, really clawed up the ledges well and stayed hooked up on the loosish fast sections. By the way loved SMP and envy all the awesome riding out your way. Motos are a little heavy but I love the high volume and confidence you get with a larger tire and less pinch flat worries at lower (30ish) psi settings.

 

My favorite thing about the motos is simply they look badass........like the old Dunlop k695 I used to run on mx bikes.

 

The WTB velosis are great tires, I like the Maxxis Ignitors for my cross country trail bike.

 

i am sold on both the Kenda omac Nevegals and the Panaracer Fire XC pro tires.

had great luck with both.

waiting for the Tioga Psycho Genius, though

 

I saw this thread last year, and after scratching myself up good on a fast turn (tires slid out from under me) I decided it was time to get some tires with more bite on them.

I have come back to this thread numerous times, and finally bought some Kenda Nevegals...

I just put them on this past Friday, and I'm gonna go try them out later today

 

so how are they working out for you so far? I have the small block eights on my bike that came with them. The reviews I read on the nevegals are they have a high rolling resistance, which, I probably would not notice, or maybe I would....lol

 

OK, maybe some payback for your help on the truck. Dart is not a good front IMO, the lugs don't have a good corner or edge so it always felt like it would slide out from under you on hard corners wet or dry. I always ran a Tioga Pschyo up front back in those days with the smoke out back. IMO, WTB velociraptors are very good but the front borders on having the same issue as the Dart. I'm running Fire XC Pros on all but 1 offroad bike that has the WTBs on it and love them in all conditions. I'm sure some of the other 50.00 each tires have good performance but I just don't spend that much for what I do and how many bikes I have. BTW, have seen Dart/Smoke sets on sale lately on special runs or something. Actually have a set new, not sure they are on a bike or not right now, I'll have to check but if you are bent on that set let me know because I just can't trust that front. I tried to go with them again on an older bike but ended up making a touring bike out of it with big smooth tires on it. I'll try to find where I got them and post up a link..........OK, holy thread revival,lol,my bad......If you still care about smoke/dart combo they sell them at nashbar dot com.........

 

+1 for Maxxis Ignitors. Lightweight, good roll resistance and grip

 

I've been running Maxxis High Rollers out here in northern NM and CO, they're sick
http://www.maxxis.com/Bicycle/Downhill/High-Roller.aspx

 

They are awesome so far, I can now go up inclines where my old tires would not get grip at all. I haven't slipped on the curve where I ate shit. They did feel a bit heavier on the asphault though, I inflated the tires to about 43 psi, and the rolling resistance was hardly to be felt.

I don't use this bike much on the road though, the only time it sees asphault is on the way to the trails. Speaking of which my bike needs one helluva cleaning.

 

This is good

 

I'm running "The Captain" by s-works, they are light weight and hook up really well. I would run them again.

 

Chris, i know you already got a new tire, but next time check out the Continental Trail King. comes in a 2.2 and 2.4. o use the 2.2 as it actually measures about 2.3. i use it for xc races as well as all mountain riding. it's leight for it's size and rolls nice. it's also insanely durable. i run mine (folding, NOT tubeless) at 18-20 psi in the rear on the real muddy slick days and it just keeps biting. on a dry all mountain style course i'll run 35 rear and 30 front. about the same for xc, sometimes lower.

the other cool part is that they are designed to be used as a front and rear tire, but you change the direction of rotation for front and rear. says right on the tire of course.

i raced a maxxis crossmark (2.1) before these, loved those, but won't be going back as they have far more traction, and even when measuring 2.3'', are not noticably heavier, even over a 20-30 mile race.