[Untitled]

What is the benefit/drawback of a round profile? What is the benefit/drawback of a flat profile? I've heard people say: "So and so are great rims because they're wide and give the tire a nice, flat profile." I've also heard people say: "So and so is a great tire because it has a nice, round profile." I've also heard people say "I remember chewing the corn thoroughly, but it still came out in kernels." That last one is irrelevant.

I'm looking at some new rubber (I know, do a search) that is single ply and corners well. 2.35-2.5 range. I ride 6-7 miles on pavement to get to my local trails (dry and rooty), so wear is an issue. I'd like to try Stan's but I hear it can be tricky with ex721s. I'm not asking anyone to pick my tire, I'm just looking for some feedback. As simple as they are, I always feel like I picked the wrong tire. A few I'm looking at: Nokian NBX, Kenda Kinetics, Maxxis Minion.

Thanks for any "Tires 101" info you can offer up.

 

[crashing_sux]

Bump because I want to hear feedback on this as well. Good luck though, I've asked this question in the past and never had any responses, maybe none of has any idea?

I wonder how it relates to inclination vs. angulation when cornering as well.

 

[Mutt]

well I can attest to the corn thing....... never mind. I would imagine (imagine being the key word here) that those two statements were made with different specific applications or performance desires in mind. If it was the same person, reffering to the same type of riding, then I have noe idea.

As I'm sure you know, different riding conditions, and types of riding have different 'ideal' tire setups/shapes. A good example is the traditional 3.0 gazzilodi on double wide rims for hard-tale street riding. or... maybe not. If I were to let my personal prefferences talk, they would say that for hard pack surfaces, a rounder tire woulde be preferable, while in slop, something flatter with a big-ol' footprint may provide a better ride.

Don't hold me to this, hopefully someone else can expound upon this and correct me if I am wrong, or validate my falacious claims. Word.

 

[Kornphlake]

something about a square profile on the rear and a round on the front because the knobs do something. IIRC a round profile is better for people who don't lean their bikes to extreme angles because the round profile doesn't have stiff enough knobs to keep the tire hooked up, but with a rounder profile you get more consistant traction rather you're turning hard or riding straight. That's what I remember hearing once, I've really got no opinion on either.

JM seems like the kind of guy who'd have a really good answer.

 

[Untitled]

"..while in slop, something flatter with a big-ol' footprint may provide a better ride."

In slop, I would think that a skinny tire would be better, ot at least faster, simply because it cuts through it better. Like those swamp buggy things. Having said that, it would probably corner like sh*t.

Like crashing_sux, I'm curious as to what kind or profile/width/tread design excels (or blows) while cornering/leaning. I'm talking typical dry red dirt trails of the Southeast with roots and occasional rocks. Nothing that would require a specialty set up. And as for braking, I try not to do that.

 

[Tame Ape]

Originally posted by Untitled

Wow! is that thing a junglegym in water?

 

[Untitled]

It's a swamp buggy. I wasn't making that up. Theys been a racin' in the slop down South for years. Like Pre-Duke Boys. (I have no interest or knowledge of this sport, it's amazing what you find on Google.)

 

[profro]

My general idea is that on hardpack and firm courses a rounder profile works nice. It will give a nice even tire patch when leaning the bike.

But if you need the tire to "bite" through looser terrain while cornering, then a sharper edged tire will do better. As you lean the tire, the sharper edge digs through the loose gravel, rock, or mud to find somehting harder to grip. Or as is penetrates deeper it has more surface area thus contact to use to hold the tire.

I usually run Minion DHRs on hardpack and Minion DHFs in moist or loose terrain.

But in a single ply tire you might want to check out the Bling Bling. It has the exact same side nobs as the Minion DHF, but with a super fast rolling center tread. I XC ride with a Bling Bling up front and a Larsen in the rear.

 

[Tame Ape]

Originally posted by Untitled
It's a swamp buggy. I wasn't making that up. Theys been a racin' in the slop down South for years. Like Pre-Duke Boys. (I have no interest or knowledge of this sport, it's amazing what you find on Google.)

He needs a windshield

 

[jon-boy]

The question has been pretty much answered...

I think you'll find that the rim your running will also affect the profile of the tire. You'll see a lot of Pro's running 521's (or whatever they are now) over 321's (ditto) to get a rounder profile out of their tires. It means that during the transition from vertical to leant over when cornering the grip is more contstant and it'll give you a softer 'edge' when you start getting to that thresh-hold when you are starting to drift.

A flatter profile will respond better to being aggressively thrown into a corner. However the bike will tend to snap into drifting quicker.

Or something like that.

Basically it'll be down to the way you like to ride. It's a bit like foot out or foot on the pedals cornering. It's personal preference.

 

[Zaskar Rider]

I dunno if this will answer your question but I run the same tire combo on both my hardtail and my bullit at the moment. I have a 2.6 gazzi front and 2.35 high roller rear. On the bullit the gazz is on a 519 and on the hardtail it's on a intense mag 30. the bullits tire is very round and the hardtail's tire has almost a square profile. Now it could be because they are two very different bikes but the hardtail always feels like it turns better and has more traction than my bullit does and the tire on the hardtail is nearly worn out and the bullits tire is brand new.

 

[-dustin]

Originally posted by profro
My general idea is that on hardpack and firm courses a rounder profile works nice. It will give a nice even tire patch when leaning the bike.

But if you need the tire to "bite" through looser terrain while cornering, then a sharper edged tire will do better. As you lean the tire, the sharper edge digs through the loose gravel, rock, or mud to find somehting harder to grip. Or as is penetrates deeper it has more surface area thus contact to use to hold the tire.

agreed. but that's coming from an XC perspective. i will say i think the high roller's profile is perfect.