Tires?

nevegal sticke upfront(2.35) and excavator(2.10) in the rear for me. Though one of my friends runs nevegals front and rear. Sticke upfront and dtc in the rear.

I'm running UST Maxxis High Roller 2.35's right now... good all around tire. The Maxxis Minion 2.5's I run in the summer for (real) mountain DH road trips seemed a bit overkill...

Schwalbe Rocket Ron 2.1 UST front & rear on both of my bikes. Work fine for me at Santos, Carter Rd, Alafia, and Boyette.

Thanks for the info. Mine are just to slippery.

Mitch what tires do you have that are "too slippery"? I find my MK's don't lose traction and I am getting to the point were I trust them as much as the nevs to lean them over in turns.

You can't go wrong with nevegals though.

ive got the stock specialized tires on it! Actually has specialized on the sides.

Any body got some suggestions for tires that are good on rooty trails? I am just getting started and the Bontrager Connection Trails that were oem on my bike slide off of even the smallest roots. A friend gave me an ancient Univega with the original Kenda tires (no model name) that grip better over the roots than the Bontragers on my Trek. I was following my girl who was riding the Univega and over the same spots those old Kenda's were hooking up and my Bonts were slipping all over the place.

FotoJesse said:

Any body got some suggestions for tires that are good on rooty trails? I am just getting started and the Bontrager Connection Trails that were oem on my bike slide off of even the smallest roots. A friend gave me an ancient Univega with the original Kenda tires (no model name) that grip better over the roots than the Bontragers on my Trek. I was following my girl who was riding the Univega and over the same spots those old Kenda's were hooking up and my Bonts were slipping all over the place.

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Tire pressure could be causing your problem. What pressure are you running? Too much pressure can cause the best tire to slide on anything it hits. For my setups with tubes I run around 40 psi. If your pressure is too low with tubes you run the risk of pinch flat (looks like a snake bite). On my tubeless set up I run about 35 psi. Generally, lower pressure = greater traction and higher pressure = lower rolling resistance. The key is to find a balance between the two. I have found that just a few psi can make a huge difference in ride quality.

So if you haven't already, try this and maybe you can get some mileage out of those bontragers.

msimmons said:

Tire pressure could be causing your problem. What pressure are you running? Too much pressure can cause the best tire to slide on anything it hits. For my setups with tubes I run around 40 psi. If your pressure is too low with tubes you run the risk of pinch flat (looks like a snake bite). On my tubeless set up I run about 35 psi. Generally, lower pressure = greater traction and higher pressure = lower rolling resistance. The key is to find a balance between the two. I have found that just a few psi can make a huge difference in ride quality.

So if you haven't already, try this and maybe you can get some mileage out of those bontragers.

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Great info, but I would also like to add to this by saying that lower pressure does add to rolling resistance considerably as well as adding to traction. Forty psi is a comfortable PSI for all around trail riding. If you can get away with it, when you are riding on root bound trails, try running around 32 to 35 psi like msimmons mentioned above. Also, getting tires more suited for your style riding would help as well. Some tires just suck in regards to traction on roots. Nevegals are super great tires for gripping many different type terrains and run very well on lower tire pressures, but there are others as well. Good luck bro! :thumbsup:

Yeah I have lowered the tire pressure down to 42. I will give it a try at 40. Thing is I am 200lbs geared up and I wasn't 100% sure about running the lower tire pressures at my weight. Thanks for the suggestions.

FotoJesse said:

Yeah I have lowered the tire pressure down to 42. I will give it a try at 40. Thing is I am 200lbs geared up and I wasn't 100% sure about running the lower tire pressures at my weight. Thanks for the suggestions.

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All good bro. I weigh in around 215 - 220 geared up and run between 32 to 40 psi tops. If I am riding on smooth hardpack or road, I will run 40 to 42 tops (45 to 50 for urban tires), but the more gnarly the terrain or if I am DH/FR, I will run 32 to 35 tops. I am familiar with those Bontragers, and they are OK. Try to stick with a tire tread more versatile for your riding style or discipline. Try the lower pressure, if it works for you, then that is great, if not, fly with a more versatile tread tire. Lots of great tires out there. A good fast rolling tire that sticks to wet roots and rocks for FL is the WeirWolf 2.3 AM & Schwalbe Fat Albert 2.4 for starters. Anyways, good luck bro. :thumbsup:

BTW, what is the width of your tires? 2.1, 2.3, 2.4.......

Ahh. Ok. I just read so many of these threads where the riders are 150-160 so I was wondering if running pressures that low would work for me. The width of these tires are 2.0. A bit on the narrower side it seems compared to most of the more popular tires.

Nothing wrong with 2.0's bro. That just means less rolling resistance. You may want to try 2.2 or 2.3's, they will give you a bit more traction, especially over gnarly terrain and in turns.

True. Well I dropped my pressures down to 36 and went for a run through the same rooty trail that I took on Sunday. MUCH better... although now that I have more confidence in the tires grip I found my self carrying more corner speed and nearly lost the front a couple of times. I am riding Hanna Park here in Jax which is rooty and sandy and in a few of the sandier turns this time round I could feel the front pushing. Well it is a step in the right direction for now.... Thanks for the info everyone.

FotoJesse, I'm a 155 lbs rider and ride Hanna everyweekend and I've found that the fastest set up for me is Kenda Excavator 2.1, 15-20 psi on the front and Maxxis Crossmark 2.1, 40-45 psi rear, rear shock set open and 10 psi over the psi suggested for my weight. This set up gives me the best balance between speed, traction, rolling resistance, efficiency and comfort.:thumbsup:

Thanks for the info. I am on a HT but I will look into your tire recommendations. Maybe I will catch you out on the trail sometime.

LS39 said:

FotoJesse, I'm a 155 lbs rider and ride Hanna everyweekend and I've found that the fastest set up for me is Kenda Excavator 2.1, 15-20 psi on the front and Maxxis Crossmark 2.1, 40-45 psi rear, rear shock set open and 10 psi over the psi suggested for my weight. This set up gives me the best balance between speed, traction, rolling resistance, efficiency and comfort.:thumbsup:

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you guys seem to be running some awefully big tires for florida. i have ridden everything at santos, alafia, boyette, and snow hill on 2.0 sworks camptain up front and a 1.9 kenda kozmic lite 2. magic mountain tubeless no problem and its great to ride the epic on.

Chili, I would have to disagree with you about RR. Lower pressure doesn't increase RR, but I believe it reduces it. Your tire can deform to roll over a rock or root as apossed to bouncing over it. This is one of the many benefits of tubeless and it is different offroad as compared to on road.

I noticed the difference when I went to 30-32 psi from 38-40 psi running nevegals. Better traction and less rolling resistance. I dig go tubeless that allowed me to drop the pressure. It was a very obvious difference.