tires size
- Thread starter dhrace
- Start date
Well, the front and rear tires do very different things, so if you're running exactly the same tire front and rear you could probably stand to make some changes.
Front Tire: This tire is responsible for Corners and most of your braking, basically you don't want this tire slidding suddenly, because when this tire slides, you often go down. I like a tire in the 2.5 ish range for most courses with some nice penetrating cornerning knobs and good braking in the center as well. Having this tire roll fast or be light is of secondary importance. This tire needs to hold and drift predictably above all else. The Michi comp 16 and maxxis minion dhf are some good examples.
Rear: Usually in the 2.35-2.2 range depending on course condition, I find you tend to have more weight on the rear, so a smaller tire can still get good traction, and if it does slide out, nothing major. You can basically get away with a much smaller tire than you would in the rear. So why not run it? Since there is more weight on it, something that rolls reasonably fast would be nice. I usually run a little more durable tire, whether it be stronger knobs or a little harder compound (50a-ish) just because this tire sees the most abuse, and strong traction here isn't essential.
The biggest reason why I run different tires front and rear is because all things being equal, your front and rear will break traction at different times since theres different amounts of weight (usually) on either tire. When the tires do break, I'd like to break at roughly the same time. balancing drifts=good
Front Tire: This tire is responsible for Corners and most of your braking, basically you don't want this tire slidding suddenly, because when this tire slides, you often go down. I like a tire in the 2.5 ish range for most courses with some nice penetrating cornerning knobs and good braking in the center as well. Having this tire roll fast or be light is of secondary importance. This tire needs to hold and drift predictably above all else. The Michi comp 16 and maxxis minion dhf are some good examples.
Rear: Usually in the 2.35-2.2 range depending on course condition, I find you tend to have more weight on the rear, so a smaller tire can still get good traction, and if it does slide out, nothing major. You can basically get away with a much smaller tire than you would in the rear. So why not run it? Since there is more weight on it, something that rolls reasonably fast would be nice. I usually run a little more durable tire, whether it be stronger knobs or a little harder compound (50a-ish) just because this tire sees the most abuse, and strong traction here isn't essential.
The biggest reason why I run different tires front and rear is because all things being equal, your front and rear will break traction at different times since theres different amounts of weight (usually) on either tire. When the tires do break, I'd like to break at roughly the same time. balancing drifts=good
I don't use anything bigger than a 2.5 on the front and ether 2.2 or 2.5 on the rear. Its all about the setup of your bike. With a bigger tire on the front or rear you can run you fork and shock setup a little stiffer. The smaller tire you need to run a little softer plus you have less rolling resistance. Not much.
A good rule of thumb is the course you are racing on. If rocky run the bigger tires to help with the rocks. If less rocks run the smaller tires to help with speed.
My 2 cents!!!!
A good rule of thumb is the course you are racing on. If rocky run the bigger tires to help with the rocks. If less rocks run the smaller tires to help with speed.
My 2 cents!!!!
I'm trying something new which usually means bad things are about to happen.
2.35 highrollers, 60a, front and rear. Looking at that little thing in the front isn't really confidence inspiring, but it did kinda ok on my runs last weekend. Contrary to what most of my friends thought, I'm still alive to talk about it.
I'm going to be testing a 2.5 40a slowreezey high roller up front this comming weekend and see if there really is that big of a difference.
This is of course for the nice loamy area around Santa Cruz, when I go back down south, it's all about a 2.5 or 2.7 front tire for the big rocks down there.
2.35 highrollers, 60a, front and rear. Looking at that little thing in the front isn't really confidence inspiring, but it did kinda ok on my runs last weekend. Contrary to what most of my friends thought, I'm still alive to talk about it.
I'm going to be testing a 2.5 40a slowreezey high roller up front this comming weekend and see if there really is that big of a difference.
This is of course for the nice loamy area around Santa Cruz, when I go back down south, it's all about a 2.5 or 2.7 front tire for the big rocks down there.
Meh...some people like big tires. I almost always run a 2.5 in the back, sometimes a 2.5 in the front and sometimes a 2.7 or 2.8. The Mich Comp 32 2.8 is one of the best front tires out there.
Yes, yes there is. slow reezays are SUPER soft. You can blow through a set in one weekend of hard riding. go with the super tackys. They're almost as soft, but last significantly longer.
interesting, this is the opposite of what I find. In my experience, the ST tires loose knobs...they just rip right off, where as the SYR seem to be better at keeping knobs on. Maybe different terrain types..
They both wear quite fast though. Will be trying some 3Cs in a few months when I can ride again