Lots of folks here (myself included) like to talk about tires and how they perform, but the discussion tends to get split up into very specific threads for one tire/brand, or new threads every time someone has a question on how things compare. I thought it might be cool to have a thread for tire discussion to have ongoing conversations.
I wasn't up to my usual tire nerdery over the first half of the summer, as I committed early on to the WTB Macro as my race tire, and was pretty much just riding that. However, I am now in the post-race part of the season, and have more room to try stuff out. On my 120/140 bike, I've been trying out the Macro on my XC wheelset, but with the Light/Fast Rolling that I've been using out back, with the new Light/High Grip version out front, which is a huge step up in confidence for a barely noticeable increase in rolling speed. On the trail wheelset, I've been running my old mainstay Vigilante light/high grip out front with the new Peacekeeper out back - haven't had enough rides on the Peacekeeper to say much about it yet.
I just built up a bigger bike again, which has given me the opportunity to try some more aggressive tires. I ran some Kryptotal Fr/Xynotals from Conti in the DH casing, which gripped well but feel very wooden (they kind of beat me up). Most recently I'm running the Gravity Pro Alberts from Schwalbe, which have a great casing feel but feel a bit vague, like I don't know quite where I am relative to side knobs, or if I'm about to suddenly run out of grip. I'm going to keep playing with those, but may order some Enduro casing Contis to see if that's the sweet spot.
I wasn't up to my usual tire nerdery over the first half of the summer, as I committed early on to the WTB Macro as my race tire, and was pretty much just riding that. However, I am now in the post-race part of the season, and have more room to try stuff out. On my 120/140 bike, I've been trying out the Macro on my XC wheelset, but with the Light/Fast Rolling that I've been using out back, with the new Light/High Grip version out front, which is a huge step up in confidence for a barely noticeable increase in rolling speed. On the trail wheelset, I've been running my old mainstay Vigilante light/high grip out front with the new Peacekeeper out back - haven't had enough rides on the Peacekeeper to say much about it yet.
I just built up a bigger bike again, which has given me the opportunity to try some more aggressive tires. I ran some Kryptotal Fr/Xynotals from Conti in the DH casing, which gripped well but feel very wooden (they kind of beat me up). Most recently I'm running the Gravity Pro Alberts from Schwalbe, which have a great casing feel but feel a bit vague, like I don't know quite where I am relative to side knobs, or if I'm about to suddenly run out of grip. I'm going to keep playing with those, but may order some Enduro casing Contis to see if that's the sweet spot.
