Blank Slate!!

A mtb rider too? I should have known from the name. I live on my bike, it's my safe space. :derp:

I didn't know rose city or that area is the state had any significant trails for riding. There a tons on the south half of the state, both sides, and a bunch of good ones on the northwest quarter of the lower peninsula and then there is the top of the U.P. great stuff up there, but so far away. I love sleeping bear and everything between Muskegon and the bridge. We have a family place outside of Petoskey.

As far as tires go, I wanted something capable in the snow and good on dirt but still respectable on pavement. So far I have been very happy with the Nokian Rotiiva AT Plus. It doesn't have all the sidewall candy that some other AT tires do, but it performs great in anything but mud and it's probably about as good as the k02 in mud, which isn't worth much. The winter performance on ice is great and on a few inches of snow is quite good, too. I haven't had them in anything deep, as far as snow goes. They are not a dedicated winter tire, but they do have a mountain/snowflake rating. They are available in a C load and E load depending on the size. If you want something for mostly or only off-road duty, there are better options. If you want something for on road performance with real off road capability without compromising on weight/comfort and/or winter performance, the Rotiiva AT Plus is hard to beat IMO.

 

Honestly I would only opt for the KO’s if I was carrying heavy max payloads on razor sharp rocky roads, or rock climbing. You really need upwards of a 3/4 ton truck to reap a payoff benefit. It won’t be a comfortable ride on long pavement trips imo.

 

Thanks, awesome truck happy for you. Now enjoy it!

 

yep...have been riding mountain and BMX all my life!! Other than drumming, biking is my Zen. The trails in Rifle River are pretty much true singletrack, and are pretty flowy. The northern trails have some climbs and downs that would be "intermediate" because of the speed that you gain. The southern trails are upper level beginner for the most part.

Sleeping Bear, and that whole area, just floored me when we went 2 years ago. We are looking for areas to retire to, and that area has moved close to the top of the list.

this pretty much sounds exactly like how I would be using the tires...I have really never looked into Nokian, so these will go on the list of possibilites!!

 

good to know...did not think about "over-tiring"....

 

Been there done that, I went to the school of hard knocks. Still go there now and then

 

They are def worth checking out reviews and such. Really I feel they are a better version of the k02 as far as on road and winter performance goes, without the mpg loss and harsher ride. They don't have the toughness oh k02 as far as puncture and sidewall protection, though. I've put 30k-ish miles on two sets of Rotiivas, though plenty of stump fields and hundreds of miles of two track, forest roads, great lakes forest shit I shouldn't have been on, no issues besides mud. Even then, they aren't terrible. Way better than an all-season.

I'm near Detroit, but we spend a significant amount of time in the NW part of the state. If you're heading through maybe we could meet up and leave a few miles of singletrack behind us on two wheels.

Happy days for your and yours! Enjoy the truck.

 

where in Detroit? My wife goes up to Trenton every other week to help with her mom...might be cool to head up on a week I have off and do some riding. I teach middle school/high school band, so I have spring break and the summer - at least in early June - free...

 

North suburbs, Waterford is the address. Pontiac lake state rec is a couple miles from my door. It's a mix of rough, rattly trail and fast sections with little room for error, punctuated by steep, limited traction climbs. A few options from 15 miles of slow, rooty, technical grind to 20 miles of fast, flowy machine build smoothness all within 45-60 mins,. All of these trails are loops, so adding mileage is easy.