[-BB-]

I'm looking for a good trail/freeride tire that is a 2.35 or WIDER and is still fairly light (about 7-800g)

Mostly for dry hardpack and loose dust (SoCal conditions)

Recommendations?

 

[dante]

not sure if you can find them, but I've been happy with some OEM maxxis highroller 2.5s, 60d with single-ply casing. note, had to put a DH tube in the rear of my FR HT b/c I was blowing tubes (3 in one ride at one point). hope this helps, not sure where you can buy them though...

 

[-BB-]

Right now, I'm looking at teh Maxxis Highroller UST.

It is weird... the 2.35 is 740g
but when you jump to a 2.5 the weight is over 1300g

 

[Wumpus]

Kenda Blue Grooves

 

[sanjuro]

WTB Weirwolf Race

 

[JRogers]

I'd take a look at single ply 2.5 Blue Grooves or maybe Nevegals (which would probably be better in the loose dust, worse in hardpack). They are light with a proven tread, light weight and good rubber compound. I have a Nevegal 2.5 and a Blue Groove 2.35 with the lighter casing and the have worked well. The casing is pretty thin, though.

If it were my money, I would probaby just get a pair of regular comp 16 2.2s or 24 2.2s. I'd take the better casing and narrower width for the security and performance.

 

[bullcrew]

Go with maxxis minions, 26X2.35 single ply slow reezay. The extra little bit of weight is worth the added benifits of a tire like it. I ride them and love em. Do drops, DH, huck, FR, retaining walls and oh yeah trails. If you ride on the street forget about it though. They have a rolling resistance thats no fun, unless you have HUGE thighs.
As far as there dirt characteristics they absolutely perform flawless with a huge advantage in the handling area. The 40 duro is awesome, just beware it sticks to everything so if you ride by small animals and kids they might end up stuck to your tread.

 

[gschuette]

The Highrollers are nice tires. They work in a ton of different conditions. They do for me anyway.

 

[RhinofromWA]

The WTB MotoRaptors I have (2.4) seem realy light. THe side walls are soft too. A lot lighter (via my atomically acurate fore arm scale ) than my Maxxis DH 2.5 tires.

FOlding is apperantly 775gr and wire is 810
from http://www.mtbr.com/reviews/Tire/product_68392.shtml

From WTB web site:
Moto Raptor
Size GMS Model Weight
2.14 49/52 Race 550g
2.14 49/52 Comp 600g
2.24 52/54 Team FR 695g
2.24 52/54 Race 595g
2.4 55/60 Race 800g
2.4 55/60 Comp 850g
2.1 (29") 49/52 Team XC 595g
2.1 (29") 49/52 Comp 640g
http://www.wtb.com/motoraptor.html

The 2.4 Mutano tire is said to be 565g
http://www.wtb.com/mutanoraptor.html

 

[Bulldog]

Kenda Nevegal XC (=single ply) Stick-E rubber 2.35 (just under 800g) or even 2.5 (just over 800g). The sticky rubber grips great but also wears well. Good for the extra mileage of trail riding. I ran the 2.35's ft/rr this past year, and want to try some 2.5's this next year. Will be the first tire I've bought twice, if that says anything.

 

[Lefty]

Maxxis Larsen TT 2.35 they rule in the dry...


26x2.35 1-Ply
TPI 60
Bead Wire
Max PSI 65
Weight 750 g
Durometer 60a

http://www.maxxis.com/products/bicycle/product_detail.asp?id=272

I've tried them numerous times in Winterberg and Willingen and our own 4x track/dirttrack, who was really dry and muddy to sometimes never a problem.

 

[Acadian]

Kenda Nevegal XC (=single ply) Stick-E rubber 2.35 (just under 800g) or even 2.5 (just over 800g). The sticky rubber grips great but also wears well. Good for the extra mileage of trail riding. I ran the 2.35's ft/rr this past year, and want to try some 2.5's this next year. Will be the first tire I've bought twice, if that says anything.

I haven't personally tried those tires, but everyone I've talked to that have simply rave about them.

 

[Mike B.]

I had some Blue Grooves 2.5f/2.35r on my hardtail that peformed pretty well. They actually measure what they're marked (go figure) and with the Stick-E they grip well without wearing too fast. I think they weighed 806g for the 2.5 and 769g for the 2.35. Next year I'll probably try the Nevegals or Nevegal/Blue Groove combo.

 

[Castle]

when using single ply tires, don't you guys get tire wobble in hard cornering, folding and rolling feelings? pinch flats too? I get tired of changing tubes on the trail....

I run dual ply's on my trail bike....??????????

is everyone running tubeless, am I just old skool?

 

[Softy]

Tioga Yellow Kirin 2.3s are fatter than some 2.4s. Kevlar bead ones are light and convert to tubeless easily.

 

[buildyourown]

It is weird... the 2.35 is 740g
but when you jump to a 2.5 the weight is over 1300g

I think that's cause the 2.35 is single-ply and the 2.5 is double-ply.
I run high roller 2.35 on my trail bike. single-ply in the front to save some weight and double in the back for some flat protection.

 

[djjohnr]

WTB does a cool thing where they have a foam sidewall core in their laser FR tires, so you get the light weight but good sidewall protection. They also are dual compound. I used to run WTB Motoraptor 2.24 Mutana Raptor Lasers, which were 800g each, but they stopped making them this year, and none of their other FR tires have a decent tread pattern/width combo.

 

[BMXman]

hey BB if you're ever riding in my neck of the woods let me know and you can try any Kenda tire you want.....D

 

[MTDBIKE]

Tioga Yellow Kirin 2.3s are fatter than some 2.4s. Kevlar bead ones are light and convert to tubeless easily.

I used that tire for a while but it wore fast and the side lugs fell off,

 

[scrublover]

WTB 2.5 Weirwolf

IRC 2.5 Trailbear

Panaracer 2.4 Fire FR

The WTB is the smallest, Pana the largest, IRC in the middle. All are in the 750-900 range.

I've been loving the Pana in the front and rear, but am mostly using the Trailbear in the rear, with the Pana in front.

On my SS bike, I've got a WTB in front, and the IRC in a 2.25 version in back.

Great combos either way, and all of them are decently priced.

 

[MikeD]

I used that tire for a while but it wore fast and the side lugs fell off,

Same here...loved that tire, awesome for SoCal, but it was dead within 2 months (and I'm no tire-killer...)

I'm trying a set of Nokians for trailriding, NBX 2.3 UST up front and UST Lite 2.2 UST in the rear. I'll let you know how they are once I get them and get a ride or two in on them.

I'd also look at the new Michelin All-Mtn range...they have a hot-s/comp 24ish style UST in 2.5 (in heinous red) that I'd love to try; I just can't find them for sale anywhere yet. If you find them, let me know... The comp 24 is my alltime favorite SoCal tire (in terms of performance/rolling/wear), but it's damned heavy. If I can't find a light alternative, though, I'll be going back to Comp 24s run as UST for my all-round tires.

MD

 

[MTDBIKE]

I'm running these 2.4 05 Enduro Pro UST dual compound, 980 grams on a set of Crossmax XL's for agressive trail use. So far works well on all soil types.

 

[Bulldog]

when using single ply tires, don't you guys get tire wobble in hard cornering, folding and rolling feelings? pinch flats too? I get tired of changing tubes on the trail....

I run dual ply's on my trail bike....??????????

is everyone running tubeless, am I just old skool?

Funny, I run single ply for DH.

To me air pressure can make up the difference in tire stiffness due to plies, but anyone can tell that there is no substitute for lighter weight wheels and tires. I run an extra 5-10psi in the single ply tires and notice no ill effects in traction or pinch-flatting, and reap huge benefits in rotating weight. I don't tear tires open on a regular basis so that benefit is unimportant to me.

 

[Kntr]

Panaracer 2.4 FR

 

[Fulton]

The new Continetal Diesel's are badass. 2.5, 780-900 grams depending on bead, ust, etc. http://www.conti-tyres.co.uk/conticycle/

WTB mutano are a great tire imo, I run'em on my xc bike. Not sure I'd put'em on a bike that see's alot of abuse though. It's a very shallow tread, works awesome on hardpack though.

Michelin's got some sweet options as well.

 

[C. Alshus]

Intense System 4. Intense says they are 2,25, but thay are the same size as Maxxis HighRoller 2,5. Great all-around tires! 750gram.

Azonic Vigilante 2,5. I've heard these are nice tires, but a bit slippery on wet stones. About 750 grams.

Schwalbe: Fat Albert, Big Jim, Big Betty. Haven't tried Schwalbe yet.

 

[idontknow]

Azonic Vigilante 2.5, i like the one i have

 

[punkassean]

I have been running the Michi Wilgripper HotS 2.5 for the past year with fairly good results. It works well on hardpack and dusty but I would not recommend it for rocks, the sidewall is too thin to hold up and unless you were tubeless pinchflats would be to common. For instance these tires never would have worked for me in Santa Barbara but in Santa Cruz they are awesome. I think they only weigh in the mid 800g's. The new tires I will be trying on my new bike are Specialized Enduro RS 2.4 2Bliss. They are in the 900g range and have a much thicker sidewall than the Michi's and the tread is more like a High Roller. They are also dual compound with 50 sides and 60 down the middle.

I also like almost all of the large WTB single ply's like the Moto, Mutanoraptor & Wierwolf.

 

[Village Idiot]

Has anyone tried the Kenda Cortezs? They seem pretty good on paper, fairly light too.

 

[Fulton]

They seem pretty good on paper, fairly light too.

Ya, but who rides on paper? oooohhhh wait, do they have "paper trails" in the UK?

 

[MikeD]

The new Continetal Diesel's are badass. 2.5, 780-900 grams

Ridden them? I generally like Conti tires (love my Vert Pro USTs), but had heard little praise for these...

Be interested to hear feedback if you have any.
MD

 

[BMXman]

Has anyone tried the Kenda Cortezs? They seem pretty good on paper, fairly light too.

I like mine but I haven't taken them for a full on trail ride...only street, DJ'ing and the BMX track....D

 

[Village Idiot]

Ya, but who rides on paper? oooohhhh wait, do they have "paper trails" in the UK?

Not in the UK, but I hear theres some pretty good origami North Shore in Japan.

 

[erikkellison]

There was a thread I started about this some time back. If you haven't unarchived it, you should.
Since then though, there are even more tires out there.
For dry conditions that you're riding, I would stay away from the slow reezaay and super tacky tires (and like compounds from other manufacturers) becuase they will wear too fast and are not necessary in your conditions.
If you care about weight (which you obviously do), I would go with a single-ply tire. It won't matter much since this is not a DH bike you're putting the tires on, but in my opinion, the added pinch flat resistance and the ability to run lower PSI on double-wall tires is well worth the additional weight for my type of riding. But, my riding isn't your riding, and you may be perfectly okay with skinwalled tires.
If you can fit them, I would recommend running 2.5's (or at least not something as small as a Maxxis 2.35 as those things measure more like a 2.1). That way you will have the added feel and room for error of a wider tire (this is for freeride in part), and they are still available in light weights.
I think a lot of people that run tires slightly narrower and that have certain tread designs are concerned greatly with rolling resistance, and that may (or may not) be your first concern. Get something that is designed to grip primarily, and after that you can worry about rolling resistance with additional tire pressure (which whill prevent a lot of pinch flats with skinwalled tires).
I personally would check out the Red Michelin Hot S 2.5's because I just got a Comp 24.1 soft, and I really like it (although it has been altered).
If you're interested though, I do have one Continental Diesel w/ ProTection 2.5" for sale, used twice (looks new), $25 shipped.