29er Tire Combos/Recommendations

I demo'd 2 bikes with Crossmarks...nick named them "Death tires"... other may like them me..I could not corner on them seriously I slid out on a couple turns that I had no business sliding out.

I do like the Nobby Nic 29 2.25 Snakeskin, expensive but has been very good to me in SoCal looseness. Of course so many trails are so loose right now because of the drought those trails for me are just not as fast as they can be.

Spesh dare I say.. Purgatory is a big heavy but capable tire... I liked the Eskar better but they don't make it any more...

What rims do you have do you have real UST if some you might try some of the WTB tires.
 
Maxxis Aspen 2.1 and CrossMark 2.1 are not very good as front tires for cornering confidence.
However, they are quite nice as rear tires for 29er single-speed (fast rolling, long lasting, and good enough traction for hammering).

The Ignitor 2.1 worked great as a front tire to compliment the CrossMark at the back.
Good combination of cornering grip, speed, climbing/braking traction.

I have since moved on to wider Schwalbes up front, but the once great Ignitor/CrossMark combo is still on my mind.
 
I've been experimenting a bunch lately as I got my first 29er in December and am gearing up for a VQ attempt. I"m at about 205 lbs with riding gear and Camelbak right now. I'm on a Giant Anthem 29er with stock Giant wheels set up tubeless (19mm inner width, made by DT Swiss). Here's my rundown:

29 x 2.35" Nobby Nic Snakeskin (front): Good but not great. Maybe those squishy side nobs get to me too, as it feels spongy when leaned over at anything under 25.5 psi, but at 26 psi and above it skitters around like a ping pong ball in a paint mixer - just really sensitive to pressure. Light and rolls reasonably well for a toothy tire, but it's no speed demon on the climbs.

29 x 2.20" Ardent Race EXO: Tried it on the front, but it was a bit sketchy for me. It cornered well on clean hardpack and rolls quite fast, but when I'd hit the slightest bit of sand or gravel at speed (ex: Main Divide between Blackstar & Motorway) it would take off in unexpected directions. Might do better at very low pressures (I was running 22-25), but I got nervous about rolling it off the rim in that range. Not worth the pucker-factor, IMHO. Currently running it on the rear at 26-28 PSI and it's pretty good. Skips around a bit under braking, but that's probably just my total lack of skill.

29 x 2.35" Racing Ralph EVO (non-Snakeskin): These came stock F & R on my 29er, and I'd run them as a rear on my 26er, so I immediately replaced the front and ran the RR on the rear only on the 29er. As expected, they are fast rolling with better traction than their low profile might suggest. They also wear very quickly, and I've twice punctured the rear on Motorway (the first sealed with Stan's, the 2nd needed to be tubed). Since I had a 2nd brand new RR sitting in the garage, I just tried it as a front and rode it up Maple & down Upper & Lower Holy Jim and was pleasantly surprised. Speed was good, there was little wandering, and ride quality & traction were better than I expected, especially since I had to use a tube to get it to seat since the tire had been sort of wadded up in my garage (oops!). No way I would run the non-Snakeskin versions on a regular basis, but the tire impressed me enough to buy the Snakeskin.
 
I just put on a set of Tsali's on replacing the ITS System 29er's.. Between the two it was close to a full pound! I'm riding the 2nd half of the CC course tomorrow, so I'll have a good idea of how they ride..
 
TranceRider said:
I participated in the US Cup race at Fontana over the weekend and had a great time. They shortened the course so we ended up doing 4 laps (Cat 2).

During the race I continued to have front tire wash-out/slipping problems. One of which resulted in me falling and messing up my left leg, shoulder and wrist. Other times I almost ate it but was able to stay on the bike. It's gotten to the point where I don't trust my bike to handle well on the turns - especially the sandier downhill sections. It's not a good place to be where one doesn't trust the bike on turns - have to go much slower than I'd like. I had the same issues on the muddy trails at Vail Lake. #-o

I checked out the reviews of the Maxxis Cross Mark and one of them nails my issue on the head: "Personally i hate these tires because as soon as a want to do tech stuff down or uphill they slip and slide everywhere! "

I've tried to lower the air pressure to 25 psi (tubeless), but at 195 lbs I know I'm pushing the limits. Any recommendations for a tubeless tire that's capable of better cornering grip? Thanks in advance!
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I saw you had a Crossmark up front last year at our lesson but I didn't say anything…sorry! I gave up on them after a couple months when I had my SC Superlight. On my new bike, I'm running a tubeless Bontrager 29-3 aka Team Issue XR3 2.3 on the front (I guess that's the name--the new one, not an old Bonty) and a 29-1 XR1 2.0 on the rear (also comes in a 2.2). They hold great--I've never had the 29-3 wash out, floats over sand well too. The 29-1 hooks up great for a low-knob XC race tire, I can finally break it loose now after 6 months use. I'm about to change it out though as I'm losing traction climbing on loose-over-hard.
http://www.bontrager.com/model/11640
http://www.bontrager.com/model/11869
 
Kenda - Happy Medium 29'er

Came across this tire and was wondering if anyone had experience with the tires. Seems to be a best of both worlds, fast rolling and knobs for handling.

K1083A.jpg
 
templar said:
Came across this tire and was wondering if anyone had experience with the tires. Seems to be a best of both worlds, fast rolling and knobs for handling.
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Looks like a gravel grinder... Cross tire... for that maybe..
For upcoming summer of dusty dry socal trails with any reasonable steep ascent / descent... looks like a widowmaker :)
 
templar said:
Came across this tire and was wondering if anyone had experience with the tires. Seems to be a best of both worlds, fast rolling and knobs for handling.

View attachment 161779
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I believe Eric Carter ran that on the back of his GT Force racing at Fontana a few years back. I don't recall it being marketed much at all, compared to the SB8, Slant Six, new Nevegal Pro, or Honey Badger. Now this style is being popularized by the Schwalbe Rock Razor and the just revealed Specialized Slaughter.
 
bvader said:
Well I rode 40 miles on the tire... result...undetermined / meh maybe minor improvement in the loose.
At first I was "over-analyzing" on the MD divide purposely trying to find the break point (yeah kinda dangerous) found it a few times, lowered the pressure and rode the rest of the ride maybe at 23 lbs. Did fine on Motorway...and descending Maple Springs which can be fun in the right conditions, but pretty much fully blows on the Hardtail right now. In those loose corners I would say I was not overly confident on the tire. Although I wouldn't say there was a big "missing gap" in the transition into turns etc and I did feel on occasion I was getting better bite, but that may have been jsut the lower pressure. But it was NOT noticeably worse NOR noticeably better. So not sure if the cut help or lower pressure it was a bit better but not night and day.

I rode my other bike with my Nobby Nic on it at 25 lbs and felt way more confident, but conditions at OAKs was better and FS keeps the wheels better grounded.

I am debating whether I should bother spending more time on it or just move on.

I think I am open to letting someone else try franken-this tire (as soon as i get a replacement) if interested in experimenting...no strings attached other than no liability on my part of you end up doing dirt inspection.

"C'est la vie"
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So, did you reach a final verdict?
If you still have the tire, I'd be interested in trying it - not to mention it would be a good excuse for us to finally go for a ride together!
 
Waldo said:
So, did you reach a final verdict?
If you still have the tire, I'd be interested in trying it - not to mention it would be a good excuse for us to finally go for a ride together!
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I ended up putting a Nic on, Still Got the Tire, and would be happy to pass it on to you.
Later this week I will figure out Saturday / Sunday rides... I may be heading up to Santa Monicas...
 
Schwalbe Smart Sam 29x2.1

templar said:
Came across this tire and was wondering if anyone had experience with the tires. Seems to be a best of both worlds, fast rolling and knobs for handling.
Click to expand...
Kenda's page shows it as CX tire and might be pretty narrow for most MTB use (40c widest version, ~1.5-1.6"). There are some other similar tires as mentioned in more MTB friendly widths but conditions need to be just right that kind of tire. If the fast rolling with some side lugs for grip is appealing, I haven't posted a formal review but have been reasonably happy with Schwalbe's Smart Sam. It's been a long time since I've run wire bead tires and I've been running one in their Performance compound, 29x2.1" size (tubed) on the rear of my 29er for about 800 miles.

I was mainly looking for a rear tire that rolls great on pavement and hard-pack since I've been mixing in a lot of road miles and was burning through knobby tires pretty quick (primarily the rear of the bike where the stock Rocket Ron was almost done for within ~400 miles). The wire bead Smart Sam isn't super light but is cheap (~$30). I ended up ordering online as I haven't seen any shops in my area carrying them and it would have been a pain for my local shop to get one. They also make a better gripping Evolution version with PaceStar compound in a 29x1.75" that's a lot lighter but also quite a bit more expensive.

Considering the mileage, the side lugs are starting to take a beating but it has done pretty good for wear. Aired up it's been my choice for the last couple century road rides and it still grips enough that I've run it out at Vail Lake and did the mixed surface Redlands Strada Rossa last month where most other road/CX bikes were running wide CX tires. It does pick up mud and doesn't have the best grip for loose technical stuff, doesn't excel at any one thing, but is long-lasting, reasonably cheap and rolls very well. Don't expect it to replace a good knobby tire for all-out grip but for mixed surface riding it's a good choice.
 
Schwalbe Rocket Ron & Nobby Nic

While on the topic of 29er tires, some other thoughts on tires I've run recently. The Schwalbe Rocket Ron in Evolution Line, 29x2.25" size. Light tire, rolls very well but used on the rear it wears extremely fast (and the lugs don't start out with much profile to begin with). Probably best as a race tire or one that isn't ridden daily. Grips better than you'd expect when not aired up too much. Still running one on the front of my bike currently paired to the above mentioned Smart Sam in the rear.

I couple months ago I also swapped out and tried a matching pair of Nobby Nic (HS 411, Evolution Line, SnakeSkin sidewalls) in 29x2.25. Surprisingly not much difference in weight over the Rocket Ron and accelerates well. This has been one of my favorite tires on my 26" bike for years but I haven't been that impressed with it on the 29er. Grip and traction are okay-ish but next time I swap them on definitely need to play with air pressure. Running them tubed with higher pressure like I was used to on my 26" bike isn't very confidence inspiring in the corners. The PaceStar compound does roll very well for a knobby.
 
Good to know. Went to check what sizes they were making before the last post and didn't see they were also listed under their "trail/all-mountain" section and thought they dropped the larger sizes. Kind of odd as I'd think these designs would be marketed towards primarily XC racing.
 
I had been riding my Epic with a Ground Control 2.1 in the front and a Fast Track 2.0 in the back. Did not like the Fast Track at all. It felt like I was always near washing out in loose turns. Not very comfortable leaning hard at speed. I just switched to a Captain 2.0 this past weekend and automatically felt the difference...
 
socal_eric said:
I couple months ago I also swapped out and tried a matching pair of Nobby Nic (HS 411, Evolution Line, SnakeSkin sidewalls) in 29x2.25. Surprisingly not much difference in weight over the Rocket Ron and accelerates well. This has been one of my favorite tires on my 26" bike for years but I haven't been that impressed with it on the 29er. Grip and traction are okay-ish but next time I swap them on definitely need to play with air pressure. Running them tubed with higher pressure like I was used to on my 26" bike isn't very confidence inspiring in the corners. The PaceStar compound does roll very well for a knobby.
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Run my 29er NN 2.25 tubeless at 25psi I weigh about 190lbs all geared up. Very happy with it.
 

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