[ejosrq]

Anyone have a feel for the largest recommended tire to fit a Trance? I looked over the bike setup section and see some outfitted with 2.35 & 2.4 tires. I'm suffering a bit on rocky/rooty trails by continuingly bashing pedals while pedaling. I can only get through these sections by keeping the pedals level and coasting through. Problem is, other riders are powering through these sections, leaving me in the dust. I'm currently using Panaracer Fire XC 2.1 tires which are known to be slightly under-size. I measure the BB clearance at 12 1/4 with a Reba 100mm fork. My ideas: pull the 15mm limiter out of the fork and run it at 115mm and try some larger casing tires in hope of getting some more clearance under the bike. Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[fsrxc]

Anyone have a feel for the largest recommended tire to fit a Trance? I looked over the bike setup section and see some outfitted with 2.35 & 2.4 tires. I'm suffering a bit on rocky/rooty trails by continuingly bashing pedals while pedaling. I can only get through these sections by keeping the pedals level and coasting through. Problem is, other riders are powering through these sections, leaving me in the dust. I'm currently using Panaracer Fire XC 2.1 tires which are known to be slightly under-size. I measure the BB clearance at 12 1/4 with a Reba 100mm fork. My idea are to pull the 15mm limiter out of the fork and run it at 115mm and try some larger casing tires in hope of getting some more clearance under the bike. Any thoughts or observations would be appreciated. Thanks.

I'm guessing the fork and frame won't have clearance for anything more than 2.5" wide, so maybe Maxxis Minion 2.5? They run narrow but are fairly tall. Another option, Hutch Barracuda 2.3, they have a decent volume and a real 2.3" wide.

 

[ejosrq]

To answer my own question, I purchased a set of WTB Mutano Rapter 2.4 folding bead tires. They fit the Trance well with room to spare. Good news is their added width and diameter pick up the bottom bracket height roughly 3/8" and their light weight (595g) dosent make them a penelty over the Panaraer Fire XC 2.1's I have been running. I rode the WTB's this past weekend in mixed conditions and found them to be quite reasonable overall. Running 38-40psi in a big tire really helps smooth out the ride. I found the + 3/8" in ride height made for far less pedal bashing. I could even doze over small logs without gringing the chainring. Next up is to pull the limiter out of my Reba fork for the extra 15mm of travel. I think at that point I'll have all the clearance under the bike I could hope for.

 

[bonesetter2004]

I had exactly the same problem on my '07 Trance - turned out the shock was stuck down. Got that fixed and it was like a different bike after that, can power through all the ruts and stuff

 

[Bogdan]

Question for bonesetter2004 ... with the shock in a stuck-down position were you still getting travel? (Just curious here as I'm assuming the rear of the bike would feel quite rigid.)

To the OP ... same pedal-bashing problem was improved quite a bit by a new fork (+20mm) and taller profile tires. Overall BB height gain was similar to yours (about 3/8") which brought it to 13" in all.

 

[bonesetter2004]

shock stuck down

i was still getting travel, yes. The bike was brand new and I had gone from a hardtail, so did not know it was stuck, till a friend spotted it. If you fix the back wheel while pulling up through the seat post (so trying to extend the shock) you will see it extend a little more. This is stuck down.

 

[ducktape]

Maxxis Advantage 2.4 tires are the biggest that the Trance can fit (only just though), and they are a huge tire for a 2.4 (really tall/big volume), I found it would fit only just in the rear and also with the Tora fork, that is of course providing your rims are 100% true otherwise expect some side rub.

Syncros Point & Chute 2.5's fit comfortably front & back, I imagine they run fairly true for a 2.5 tire size (ie not on the big side or small side). I'm very happy with these tires at the moment.

 

[2fst4u]

2.4 mutano raptor in front, panracer fire XC pro 2.10 in back. This setup (for me) proves perfect for all trail riding. I actually race this combo in cross country on my trance. Works really well for me and "floats" over big, loose rocks and makes me faster than most on the downhill sections.