[mikevonthghmstr]

Hey guys looking for some input. The cycle cross season is quickly approaching (in canada anyways) and I'm looking for a good tire combo for X-racing.

I do alot of training and messing around on nevegals but they fail a number of criteria. I'm looking for something quicker but still want to play in the mud.

Current top choices are front-Conti race king 2.2 or 2.0
rear-SB8 or karma 1.9 (rear)

Thanks!

 

[boomn]

I'd just use regular cross tires for the races and race-specific training, and keep your Nevegals around for mtb rides and resistance training

Any cross tire ~35c or wider should be safe on your rims unless you have really wide rims.

I use 700x40c Ritchey cross tires on this 29er. No cross racing, but it does well on road, trail, gravel, etc

 

[LandSpeed]

https://smtp.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/cyclocross

What kind of bike do you have? Sounds like you're running a 29'er HT or rigid. Here's my CX bike:

Big Apples (28" x 2.0") won't fit, so I'm putting on some 700 x 40c Schwalbe Marathon Supremes. That's mostly for road riding, though... not like you

 

[ktronik]

The Panaracer Fire cross 700/45C (not CX legal) but the best I have found for the mud, on my CX bike...

K

 

[ingsma]

The Raven

I put on Stans Cyclocross Tubeless kit with The Raven 700x35 tyres. Its a great combo although I've played around mostly on dirt, jeep tracks and such so not sure how well they do in mud.

 

[boomn]

The Panaracer Fire cross 700/45C (not CX legal) but the best I have found for the mud, on my CX bike...

K

Not UCI cross legal, but lots of cross races are independent of UCI and don't worry about those rules.

 

[rr]

I bought a set of Bontrager XDX 1.75's for my La Cruz but they were a tad too big for the frame. Nice tires, really liked the volume and traction and they are tubeless ready. Only a few rides so still in newish cond if anyone is interested.

 

[mikevonthghmstr]

Theres the bike, with some super skinny tires I've been training on

 

[p nut]

Don't know much about CX, but don't you want skinnies to cut through that muck on the course?

 

[Blaster1200]

Here's my CX bike:

.

Interesting chain routing you have there. :skep:

 

[AZ]

Interesting chain routing you have there. :skep:

Tensioner , looks like a "dingle'.

 

[ratspike]

I didn't feel like changing tires so I rode a 2.4 Mountain King front/Ignitor rear this past season, but will probably do proper cross tires next time. The Clement Crusade is pretty big for a cross tire, especially on a wide rim like a Flow. Hutchinson Bulldogs are great as well. If I was gonna do 29er tires again here in the Portland mud I'd consider 2.2 Mountain Kings or the Panaracer Firecross.

 

[limba]

The best cyclocross tires will always be tubulars but that might require more time and money than you're willing to invest. If you're serious about cross racing you're going to want/need tubulars.
The next best thing would be tubeless. Again, you will have to experiment and spend money trying things out.
If you're going to stay with clinchers, Conti. Race Kings, Michelin Muds, Ritchey Speedmax and Schwalbe's newest tires are amongst the best.

 

[mikevonthghmstr]

pretty good suggestions so far, and as far as running tubeless; I know it creates great traction and feel but how does it affect rolling resistance?

Also another front tire candidate? (maybe tubless candidate?)

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=58032

 

[LandSpeed]

Tensioner , looks like a "dingle'.

Actually, it's neither. It's a cassette-free bike. Whenever I want to change gears, I just reach down and pull on the chain while pedaling. I'm kidding. It's a wheelset that I put on there that doesn't have a cassette just for the photo. I'm waiting on a set of Stans Arch wheels (w/ king bling) from Chad at Red Barn Bikes.

 

[LandSpeed]

pretty good suggestions so far, and as far as running tubeless; I know it creates great traction and feel but how does it affect rolling resistance?

Also another front tire candidate? (maybe tubless candidate?)

http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/SBCEqProduct.jsp?spid=58032

Above I mentioned that I'm running a schwalbe marathon supreme http://smtp.schwalbetires.com/bike_tires/road_tires/marathon_supreme
with some stans arch wheels (19 mm inner rim diameter). The tire is rated at 50-80 psi, the wheel at 45 psi. I'm still on the fence about whether to run this tire tubless, or not.

I hope that this info helps, but it doesn't answer your question. I can let you know when I ride tubeless and tubed next week. I'll be testing both setups to see which I prefer. Like I said, I do a lot of road riding, so this might not be what you're looking for. But still.

 

[MrRogers1935]

No one has mentioned them (good thing) but steer clear of Hutchinson Bulldogs. I got them on the recommendation of my local shop and they were a waste of 120$. Tried to run them tubeless and they failed miserably (after I rubbed the skin off my hands trying to stretch them on my rims). Ran with tubes, and they still sucked. Going to try some vittorias next.

MrR

 

[boomn]

Theres the bike, with some super skinny tires I've been training on

Oh, so you do already have cross tires. What is your reasoning for wanting to get mtb tires for the races instead?

 

[mikevonthghmstr]

The problem is the tires on there dont suit the bikes purpose very well. If I was riding one of my old road bikes with enough clearance they'd be awesome. But my whole reasoning for going with the 29er is that it rolls over anything and everything. When the main path gets jammed up with people taking it slow I'm really looking for the option to bomb around them. The nevegals were very well suited to that purpose but were lacking on the flats.

I did put the current skinny tires on to see if they would be a good match but they just arent aggressive enough and most importantly their over all circumference (2135mm) is so small for a 29er if I was to run them I'd have to change my front chain ring to make any speed. But it was a fun experiment.