[mahgnillig]

I'm looking for some new tyres for my Ibis HD3. Currently I'm running 2.6 Nobby Nics front and rear on 30mm ID rims. They came with the bike and I've been mostly happy with them, but as my high speed cornering skills get better I've started to notice them squirm, which is quite disconcerting and isn't helping my confidence. I tried adding a bit more pressure but I don't feel like it helped much, and just made the bike feel bouncier on everything that wasn't a corner.

About my riding: I'm 115lbs and run my pressures at 13 front and 15 rear (tubeless). I experimented quite a bit with this and found these pressures to work well for me for most riding. I ride a wide variety of trails, mostly in the Tahoe area, so anything from sand to rocks, loose dirt, fine dust, forest etc. I also ride occasionally at Northstar and Downieville (I add a few psi to each tyre for these). I do lots of climbing and I'm a slooow climber (like, getting passed by hikers slow) so I'm hesitant to try the DHF/DHR combo that everyone around here seems to like. On descents I'm pretty average, and getting better with leaning the bike over and techy stuff, but I'm not exactly breaking any records.

So I guess I'm looking for the goldilocks tyre combo: burly enough so that the sidewalls don't deform when cornering at speed and I can ride Downieville without punctures, but without handicapping myself too much on long ascents. Any help is appreciated

 

[One Pivot]

The 2.6 NN's dont get the favorable reviews that the smaller NN's get for some reason. There seems to be an issue with that tire in that size.

Also, thats a THIN fragile tire. If you're not completely ruining it, you have a whole world of options available to you. Going to DHR/DHF's would be be grossly overkill if the NN's otherwise do alright for you.

Im in norcal, so similar'ish area. I'd give the hans dampf a try up front, in 2.35. Its significantly stickier and meatier, but it rolls well for me. Maybe try the smaller nobby nic out back... actually out back, theres tons of good options these days. The bonty tires are good.

I think sticking with the 30mm rims, but going down a tire size will reduce squirm and increase stability.

 

[mahgnillig]

I'm kind of wary about going any narrower than 2.6 as my local trails have a lot of sand on them and the 2.6's have been a revelation for my confidence when it gets really sketchy. I was considering going to 2.8's but I would need new rims to really take advantage of the extra width, and then there's the extra rolling resistance. I will check out the offerings from Bontrager though... the XR4 looks like it might fit the bill and it comes in 2.6.

 

[gregnash]

Mahgnillig you are running 27.5 wheels right?
For me I have found no better combo for our area than the Vittoria Goma front and either Martello or Barzo rear if I am not running another Goma(depending on what you are looking for tread pattern wise). I did not like the feeling of my 2.3 Maxxis DHF when I got my new Smash so have switched that over to the spare Goma I had laying around. The bike came with a 2.3 Maxxis Aggressor in the rear and that has been good however it does break loose easily under hard braking (something I haven't really had issues with on the Goma or Martello).

Nurse_Ben I believe runs Maxxis tires, one buddy runs Schwalbe Magic Mary/Nobby Nic combo and another runs the Bontrager XR4 front/rear and loves it.

Next time you are out on the girls ride talk with some of the more aggressive riders like Kristen or Ash-Dale and see what they are riding. Personally, I think tires are a lot like saddles, they are quite personal as it has to do a lot with how you "feel" the trail and what you notice over other things.

NOTE: Vittoria took the Goma off the table for 2019/2020 as it looks like they are doing a redesign for the new Graphene 2.0 and 4C compounds. You can still find the original Graphene tires out there (TNT) on some sites. Since they aren't being sold anymore I am looking at running a Martello front and Barzo rear when these tires wear out or maybe doing the Teravail Kennabec/Coronado or Honcho front and rear. Or the other ones I was looking at were the WTB Trailboss with something like the either the Vigilante or Ranger (front/rear)