I'm riding a Captain 2.2 on the rear - tried it on the front and didn't like it here in NorCal. Intermediate knobs are sparse and the tire didn't corner predictably enough for me at partial lean angles on hardpack... If your style is different, or the ground is always soggy enough, that may not be an issue for you. On the rear, it does still drift a bit in the same conditions - faster sweepers, partial lean, but it hasn't let go - just drifts a bit more than I would prefer. I would think that it would work well with any somewhat larger, knobbier tire up front. IMO you can get away with a "slower" tire up front if the rear rolls well. WTB Wolverine looks interesting to me too..
Tyre Combos: Final possible selections....Specialized/Maxxis/Schwalbe
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As I own both the Nevegals and Small Block 8's, I can understand what you mentioned. The Nevegal simply is slow and requires some extra watts to keep moving.metelhead said:
I can suggest other tires (only from ones I own) that I have found to work well on a full suspension bike (at least on my Sugar 293, RIP 9 and JET 9). Although your terrain and riding style is different than mine.
I'm sure you've found that the 29"er full suspension keeps tires glued to the ground and running them tubeless allows you to run air pressures much lower to get great grip, yet not lose any rolling resistance benefits of a minimal or lower tread tire. End result - faster and less wattage to get there. At your weight and on that bike, I would be running psi in the 20's tubeless for most of the tires I use.
Until one really tries a minimal tread tire at low air pressure, it's easy to say it's not enough tread for the rear. I can imagine with your background in DH, a minimal tread tire is nearly a joke in your mind. Heck, even Richard Cunningham at MBA was surprised and sarcastic about one of the most minimal tread tires out there (the Raven 2.2) until he rode them and wrote this review.
If you want to stick to a big volume front tire, I would dump the slower running Nevegal up front and replace with a 2.4 Ardent. Great traction, braking, cornering and much, much better rolling resistance over the Nevegal. How much time to get used to the Ardent tire up front? About 15 feet.
It doesn't make your weight savings requirement, but the rolling resistance will make up for it. You could drop down to the 2.25 up front, but the 2.4 works like a dream up front. Racing Ralph is good as well, but not as good as the Ardent in terms of traction, durability and braking.Small Block 8 is a good rear tire in the right conditions (dry hardpack), but I think you could keep your speed, rolling resistance and gain a bit of traction and braking by swapping to one of the following lower tread tires: Maxxis Aspen, WTB Nanoraptor, Racing Ralph 2.25 or for the burlier choice an Ardent 2.25. The Aspen, Ralph and Nano are standard XC racing tires, so they are lighter and not burly - but offer better traction and braking than the SB8 without sacrificing any speed. When run tubeless and at the right air pressure, I find they give plenty of traction and cornering (I run 'em front and rear). I've found all three to have tread that is more versatile in terms of conditions than the SB8. But that's just me. I've found the Aspen to be the hit tire of the year for my needs. Supple, fast, light, plenty of traction on the rear going up and down. Best way for me to look at the Aspen is that it is very similar to the Racing Ralph 2.25, but lighter and faster. So i think of it as a "Racing Ralph 2.1". ;-} I weigh around 180 and run it around 24-26 psi in the rear.
I haven't used any of the Specialized tires, but assume those are some legitimate choices as well.
You don't want to buy too many tires that are out of your budget, but you can always sell what you find does not work for you.
Dark Horse "Take a Risk" choice tire to have in your staple for the right conditions/trails: Raven 2.2
The Aspen and Raven 2.2 are pretty much in the same "class or category" - big volume, low tread, light weight race tires. As I mentioned above, they are just a bit lighter and faster than the Racing Ralph 2.25 which is more or less in the same class, but has more volume. The Aspen and Ralph perform in a similar manner. I'd certainly give the nod to the Aspen for traction and breaking over the Raven as the tread is taller and it grips better and has more volume. However, run tubeless at lower air pressures and they all knock the stuffing off all of the myths/thoughts that you have to have big tread on a 29"er tire to go fast and still get traction in the rear. I race and ride all three.
You could narrow it down to 3 or 4 tires. One Ardent 2.4. One Ardent 2.25. One Aspen. One Racing Ralph 2.25. Mix and match with the possibilities as well as the possibility to keep your Nevegal up front. Want one more? Throw in one Nanoraptor as well to increase the amount of possibilities. What you don't like for your needs, pawn off on eBay or the classifieds here.
Just my thoughts.
BB
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