I ditched my rear Ardent pretty fast - I was forced to due to a sidewall slice, but I would have anyway. Let us know what you think of the Trail King.
The Conti tires have very thin sidewalls. My Mtn King 2.2 lasted 3.5 weeks before I sliced the sidewall. Great traction on the rear of the SS......and very light for such a knobby tire.
Put an old specialized ground control on front of my hardtail and a small block 8 in the rear, rode the loop last night and my bike now feels like a formula 1 racer. Good traction, lightweight, and awesome rolling. Thanks jsd for the small block 8
cst tires Anyone running or tried the CST camber tires ? They look like they are a fast rolling tire. Just wondering if anyone has tried them and how they liked them.
FWIW, there's a 10 tire shoot-out in the latest Mountainbike Action Mag. Ease of installation and price are part of the rating... The Specy s-works ground control gets their highest overall score. Hans dampf gets similar performance scores and has the widest casing and tread (dinged for the price mostly, and weight). My experience with the Conti Trail King (similar to mountain king/rubber queen) is the thin sidewall and the fact that the casing is wider than the tread. I too had 4-5 rides on one in the rear and cut the sidewall. It hooked up real good up until that point.
Of course the SpecialEd gets the highest rating in Mountain Bike Action. MBA is in the pockets of SpecialEd. They never talk bad or give them a bad review and they push the brand when ever possible. I had a Continental X King and it only lasted 5 rides before the sidewall ripped.
Re the Ground Control, they say "these are cheater tires, don't expect them to last a lifetime...." They talking about tread wear or sidewall or both? I wonder how durable they are at only 555 grams, a half pound lighter than the HD. Can they withstand rocky knarly stuff, or more of an XC tire? Any one care to give a non-biased opinion?
I've been running a Schwalbe Nobby Nic on the rear of my 29er Stumpy and like it so far, but I'm wondering if anyone has seen a lot of punctures with this or other Schwalbe tires? I can see 13 "wet spots" where the Stan's has leaked through a little before sealing. So far these punctures haven't caused any problems, but they are a bit concerning, especially since I'd like to try the Hans Dampf on the front. As for the Speshy Ground Control tires, I have non-S-Works GCs on my Surly Ogre I run as a rigid singlespeed. Had them about a year and they seem to be holding up well. This bike doesn't see a lot of mileage, but a significant amount is on pavement. I run them about 30psi and never have a problem with burping unless I let the Stan's dry out. I will say that the Speshy tires I've had - GC, Purgatory, Captain - have all mounted up very nicely tubeless, with a hand pump. So if that was part of MBA's assessment, then it doesn't surprise me that they won (and I'm pretty happy with the GCs anyway, although they're on a bike on which I don't get real aggressive). The Nobby Nic was not an easy tire to mount tubeless, but I've had no problems with it once I did.
Sounds like everyone was looking for deal and didn't pony up for the Protection Sidewall versions. I shredded a standard (light) sidewall too. I've hod no problems with the Protection version MK/TK combo I run now. In fact, there is a visible slice between the lugs and down over the edge on my front tire that I would have thought was going to cripple my tubelessness. Nope. It's holding fine.
I have a ground control on my hardtail and the sidewalls are very thin. I wouldnt take it through any rock gardens
Well, you'd expect a $50 tire to hold up just fine and a $65 tire is just F'n retarded expensive. I can buy a tire for a Honda for that price. I have a $25. tire that I bought at Performance that is holding up much better than my Continental did. Plus I gotta add, Continental tires sizes are very inconsistent. I have an earlier version of the 2.4 Trail King and it's casing is narrower than my 2.25 Intense System 4 and I know the newer version of the 2.4 looks like a 2.0. But then my 2.4 X King was huge.
You get what you pay for I guess. I do agree with what your saying about size/models though. The mountain king 2.2 is the same size as the 2.4 TK, both look to be about 2.3" Still, I like the weight, traction, and durability I'm getting for my money.
Just got a 2.4 Schwalbe Hans Damph (snakeskin) on the front and a 2.3 Nobby Nic on the back. The Hans Damph feels really sturdy on the front, holding the line really well. The side knobs feel stiff and dig in under a side load. The Nobby Nic on the other hand feels great in the straits and climbing, but when I load it up on a hard corner it feels like the side knobs wash out. It also feels like the sidewall buckles a bit when I leave the lip of a jump. I'm guessing it may be my body positioning on the bike and just getting used to a different compound and tread of tire ( I came off Wtb weirwolf front and wolverine rear). The wolverine felt really stiff on the jump lip. Thoughts?
For those who've experienced sidewall cuts on newer tires and simply can't stand replacing it because it was stans, run a tube. Dang this is all too common unfortunately. I disdain the occurrence when happening to a new tire. Tire boots work for me just fine! Sure it's messy cleaning a prior stans liquid tire and all but once at home, just clean tire interior, THOROUGHLY and locate sidewall cut and apply boot, cut to your preferred size. Then, I apply electrical tape at both ends on boot and install tire & tube to wheel, inflate. Now, have some coffee or a good ale and apply Super glue to the sidewall cut and allow to dry. This serves as a filter to keep crap from entering the tire to some degree and when it sets it has created a bond with the boot. Having the bond between the boot and sidewall, via super glue helps greatly when/if you have another flat. Your sidewall is still well protected while you deal with the stress of changing tubes in whatever the conditions may be. Hopefully optimal.
I've never seen that sort of leakage on any tire I've run tubeless (Schwalbe, Specialized, Maxxis). I'm running a Hans Dampf Snakeskin on the front right now and it was easy to mount, the bead set easily, and it sealed well. Oh yeah - it rides great. Totally agree with you on the HD, and had similar issues with the Nobby Nic. Lots of people love it, but I could never come to terms with it, including that lack of trust in the side knobs you mentioned. But I gave to to a friend who has been riding it for months. I mentioned that it seemed very sensitive to PSI, and he experimented even more than I did and eventually found a level that worked well. My girlfriend also has one and she seems happy with it so far. Maybe it has something to do with me being taller & heavier than both of them, or maybe I just didn't experiment quite enough. :?:
I know exactly what your talking about. I was actually going to ask on here the other day. Its like a bunch of dots that almost look like you dropped a drop of water on it and then you look close and you see a sort of puncture. I think its because the noby nic is a tire that wears super fast, especially in the middle of the tires and its not preventing a small puncture ( i.e cactus and what not). As long as you have sealant in there your fine. I ll update you if anything happens with my tire. Also , if your running the noby on the rear, its going to wear alot faster.
Im 6'3 and 230 with no gear so size and weight I definitely understand. Possible that us "hoss" type riders just overload the tire and it can't handle us. Lol
trying to figure out a tire replacement forthe OEM Maxxis Aspens that came on my bike, a very good climbing tire but somewhat sketchy on the descents when cornering. Is there a preferred all purpose tire people are running? I used to really like Velociraptors but am wondering if there is something else worth trying, my usual ride locations are at Bonelli, Claremont, and Turnbull. EDIT: Just ordered a Pisgah front and Tsali rear...the descrip. and reviews sound like the kind of tire I'm looking for. Cheap too!
I really like the Pisgah. I had it in the back for a few rides and although it is a good rolling tire, it's not the best climbing tire (I think it's due to it being a soft compound). so I put it up front and and really like it. It really rolls and hooks up well as a front tire.
I too liked the Pisgah, but I hated the Tsali when I was on dirt - not nearly enough traction for me with it on the rear. I ride similar places, btw.
