I have a Tallboy2 with the original i19 rims. Bike came with Ikons, I’ve tried various wider and more aggressive tires but keep coming back to Ikons, currently running 2.0 front and rear and find traction adequate, cornering feel good, and acceleration and rolling are great. But it’s getting hard to find this size in the compound and casing I like, so I wondered about a cross/gravel tire like the Maxxis Rambler in a 700x50 size. It’s TR and available in 120 tpi which is what I use with the Ikon. I think Panaracer also has a tire in this size with similar tread pattern. I’m not at all an aggressive rider, but ride a lot and while local trail conditions are mostly loamy with a bit of rock, and not much mud, I would like to run the same tire when I’m out of the area which in a typical season includes Downieville, Tahoe, Mammoth, Moab, SW Utah etc. Thoughts? Thanks in advance.
If you really like a light tire and don’t want new rims, I’d throw on some Ardent Race 2.2s, Aspens (I think those come in 2.2s), Continental Race King 2.2, or something equivalent in other brands. I think you’d be constantly washing out and flatting with a gravel tire, especially since you’d probably have to run them at a much higher pressure due to lower volume. I’ve ridden all those places you mentioned and they all require a real MTB tire. Plus, don’t humiliate your Tallboy by putting gravel tires on it.
I'm very tempted to try 50mm Ramblers on my Anthem. I love the 650x47 ones on my gravel bike.
But changing from 2.35 Ikons to 2.3 Fasttrak/Renegade dropped rolling resistance a lot.
Thanks for the suggestions. The bike came with 2.2 Ikons and I’ve run tires as big as 2.5 front and 2.4 rear (mistake) before going to my current 2.0’s. For what it’s worth, WTB’s tire/rim chart shows even 2.0’s as on the limit for an i19 rim. But I could check out the Aspen or Ardent, or even a non-Maxxis tire. Also the Fastrak as Specialized tires are usually pretty available in our LBS-es. But does a 50mm Rambler really have less volume than a 2.0 Ikon? As for new, wider rims, I’m hesitant to invest a lot of money other than maintenance in this bike and I’ve had little luck finding appropriate affordable wheelsets with non-Boost hubs, even used. And I’m not a wheel builder 😀
Thanks for the suggestions. The bike came with 2.2 Ikons and I've run tires as big as 2.5 front and 2.4 rear (mistake) before going to my current 2.0's. For what it's worth, WTB's tire/rim chart shows even 2.0's as on the limit for an i19 rim. But I could check out the Aspen or Ardent, or even a non-Maxxis tire. Also the Fastrak as Specialized tires are usually pretty available in our LBS-es. But does a 50mm Rambler really have less volume than a 2.0 Ikon? As for new, wider rims, I'm hesitant to invest a lot of money other than maintenance in this bike and I've had little luck finding appropriate affordable wheelsets with non-Boost hubs, even used. And I'm not a wheel builder ?
I think you're right, the gravel tire probably wouldn't have that much less volume than a 2.0 Ikon. It would certainly have less volume than a 2.2 Ikon or Ardent Race though. You might have good luck with the gravel tires so maybe it's worth a try. I just think they would really struggle in anything less than perfectly ideal conditions. I believe WTB lists 2.2 as being "compatible" but not "ideal" for i19 rims.
Let the thread know how it goes if you do run the gravel tire. Maybe it could be an option for a rear tire in less-technical races!
Go with the new 2.2 Continental Race King Protection with Black Chili compound...one of the fastest rolling MTB tires out there. I just bought two and they roll so fast.
Seems like the consistent message here is to go back to larger tires than 2.0 which with 2.2’s should probably be OK even on my skinny li’l rims. Thanks.
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