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light weight high traction 27.5 tire for light rider?

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3.9K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  jdang307  
N
#1 ·
I'm looking for a light weight 27.5 tire for a light weight rider, basically a 75lb kid. He currently has Vee Flow Snap 27.5x2.35 tires and they stick to the ground very well, but they are heavy at 910 grams. He actually likes the Flow Snap tire performance so I don't want to sacrifice much if any performance.

I am looking for replacements which can shave about 2lbs of total rolling weight including going tubeless (current tubes weighed in at 250g each).

I do not care about rolling resistance at all, the tires just need to be lighter and have good traction.

We ride trails mostly, no bike parks, I have seen him case the rear at speed on a hard edged concrete curb in the worst case scenario and he was not able to pinch flat his current Flow Snap tires. I think a light casing tire will be fine for him since I ride some lighter casing tires on the same trails and have no problems at 250 lbs. Conditions are often wet and loose and usually have leaves and pine needles all over the trail. We climb lots of small hills (20-80 feet of elevation) and have lots of roots. We do not have any long and steep downhills, if we ever go ride someplace like that, I'll put his old tires back on it.

For reference, on the local trails, the Flow Snap tires on his new bike work great but are heavy. My sons old bike has Rocket Rons and they slide around a lot more than he liked. My FS bike has a 27.5x2.35 Magic Mary and Hans Dampf combo which work great but are heavier than the Flow Snaps. My HT has a 27.5x2.6 Maxxis Ardent Race front and 27.5x2.25 Kenda Kadre rear combo. The Kenda Kadre works adequately but the Ardent Race is pretty lousy on wet portions of the trail.

I have never used any of these tires so I would like to get opinions. How well do they stick to the ground? How close are they to advertised weights?

27.5x2.35 Nobby Nic, Snakeskin TLE Addix Speedgrip, 720 grams advertised

27.5x2.35 Maxxis Forekaster, Foldable Dual ExoTR, 690 grams advertised

27.5x2.3 Continental Mountain King, Protection Black Chili, 720 grams advertised

27.5x2.3 Specialized Ground Control, CONTROL casing 2Bliss Gripton, 670 grams advertised

These to me look like relatively aggressive tread patterns on lighter casings.

I realize this is long, I'm trying to give relevant info up front.

Thanks
 
#2 ·
The ground control control is a fantastic rear tire. I think its hugely underrated and Im a big fan. Its light, fast, and has sufficient grip for trail riding. Even going to the grid casing, its still light. Its also very fast rolling... I wouldnt ignore rolling resistance, it matters more than weight! But still, most light tires are fast tires, so thats not much of a real consideration. All the tires you listed are quick, except maybe the mountain king.

Nobby nics all around is a decent combo as long as its not too rocky.
 
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#5 ·
One Pivot said:
The ground control control is a fantastic rear tire. I think its hugely underrated and Im a big fan. Its light, fast, and has sufficient grip for trail riding. Even going to the grid casing, its still light. Its also very fast rolling... I wouldnt ignore rolling resistance, it matters more than weight! But still, most light tires are fast tires, so thats not much of a real consideration. All the tires you listed are quick, except maybe the mountain king.

Nobby nics all around is a decent combo as long as its not too rocky.
Click to expand...
Have you ever seen a Ground Control Control on the front? It looks very Hans Dampf-ish and I like the Hans Dampf on my rear tire, but the knobs all look packed together for a front.

I like the idea of Nobby Nics but for whatever reason the Forekasters just look like they would do better in wet and loose/soft. Granted I have zero experience with any of them. Ground Control Control actually has a knob pattern similar to a Forekaster but with larger, tighter packed knobs.

Thanks
 
#3 ·
Schwalbe Racing Ralph 2.25?. I usually run 2.35 Schwalbe Magic Mark, Hans Dampf, Rock Razor, etc. One day I tore a sidewall and had a pair of the Racing Ralphs laying around. I mounted one on the rear. I was surprised on how well it rode on 32mm wheel.
I thing they weigh something like 600 grams.
 
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#6 ·
Actually the Racing Ralph and Racing Ray were on my list, but purely for marketing reasons, I crossed them off. Marketing reason being, my kid thinks a bigger tire is always a better tire, so 2.35 vs 2.25. :) It's his bike and I don't want to discourage him from riding with me.

Maybe I could convince him to go a 2.25 on the back and throw a 2.6 on the front, because then it would match my own hardtail. I don't think I could convince him to like a 2.25 on the front. Maybe we could get to 2.25 rear and 2.35 front.

I am thinking of swapping my 2.25 Kadre / 2.6 Ardent Race onto his bike and let him ride it around and think about it for a couple days. I know that would knock at least 1.5 lbs and he could have an idea about what it is like.

Thanks
 
N
#7 ·
I have seen the Rocket Rons in Liteskin

However, the 24x2.1 Rocket Rons on his old bike performed so poorly, after he rode the Flow Snaps he said he never wanted another pair of Rocket Rons. This is my catch 22 with the Flow Snaps, he likes them more than I do, but I think the Flow Snaps wear him out faster than a lighter tire.

Thanks
 
#8 ·
The Nobby Nics do well in wet and loose conditions. As a plus, Schwalbe Snakeskin casings seem to roll faster than Maxxis EXO casings. I'm currently riding the Speedgrip compound and they still roll about as quickly as the previous Pacestar compound. I like Rocket Rons for dry season riding, but not as much for our rainy season. As a plus, the Nobby Nics are close to Schwalbe's claimed weight.

https://www.dirtmerchantbikes.com/s...spring-2016-endurotrail-tire-test-hans-dampfnobby-nic-dh-fdh-r-butcherpurgatory
 
#10 ·
The Forkaster is a good all around tire that is relatively light weight and has good traction.


Spec tires, like the Ground Control, I thought were quite good as well. Haven't looked at them or used them in a while but in the past I used them and they were good. Maybe a GC out back and a Purg up front. Spec tire are relatively cheap, and set up well tubeless, and just work well.


Its funny that you mention traction. You'd think that for kids rolling resistance would be the main thing. With my son I found him always wanting a tire with more traction. He does not seem to mind lugging around Minions. That said he doesn't like bland sit and spin xc-type trails. He's into tech riding and gets bummed out if he misses a climb or some other move if he spins out.

Tubeless - yeah, go tubeless. It makes a huge difference, even with traction. While set up takes a bit more effort in the long run I found it way better instead of constantly fixing flats on my kid's bikes. Kids just have a way of getting lots of flats.


Good luck and let us know what you decide.
 
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