MTB Tyre Choices

[dasilvarsa]

Ardent F & Forekaster R

Edited August 29, 2019 by dasilvarsa

[JohanDiv]

Anybody here that have ridden Aspens and can give some feedback?

 

I've ridden with an Ikon 2.2 at the back and Ardent 2.4 on the front (XC) for the last two years. Seemed like the perfect combo and did not puncture or give trouble once.

Then recently bought Aspen 2.25 front and back because they were on special and needed new tires. Really like them, rolling resistance uphill is great while sacrificing very little going down. Had them for about two months now, but on the last three rides I had to plug three different holes. On straight forward gravel roads.

 

Unlucky? Or are the prone to puncture frequently? 

[Straight Line]

3 puncture in 3 rides. That's heavy. Try Continental tyres with Protection sidewalls They can take  serious punishment especially in rocky terrain. They're expensive but they last and handling is top notch. 

[naptalene]

Hi everyone

 

I got my first MTB which came with Maxxis Sphinx 29.1 tyres.  I have been running them with tubes at 2.1 Bar and they are now basically slicks.

I'm 1.74m and weigh 73kg

 

Riding in Randburg, mainly on the footpaths/tar in my area for short blasts whenever I can and then The Delta/Spruit and Modderfontein. Big Red Barn is epic and want to do more rides there.

 

Could you just confirm that I've got this correct please.

 

• My rims are Sunringle Helix 25 and only 21mm internal so I'm assuming I stick with the narrower tyres (29.2/3 max.)
• Ikon on the back, Aggressor or Ardent on the front? I currently wash out at Modderfontein on nearly every dusty 180 bend and I'm only a year into riding so any help here would be freaking amazing.
• As I'm not that experienced I'd rather go for a strong tyre than worry about rolling resistance or weight - this means I need EXO?

Thanks everyone, sorry if there are daft statements/ too much info.

[Rigardt@Scott]

Hi everyone

 

I got my first MTB which came with Maxxis Sphinx 29.1 tyres.  I have been running them with tubes at 2.1 Bar and they are now basically slicks.

I'm 1.74m and weigh 73kg

 

Riding in Randburg, mainly on the footpaths/tar in my area for short blasts whenever I can and then The Delta/Spruit and Modderfontein. Big Red Barn is epic and want to do more rides there.

 

Could you just confirm that I've got this correct please.

 

• My rims are Sunringle Helix 25 and only 21mm internal so I'm assuming I stick with the narrower tyres (29.2/3 max.)
• Ikon on the back, Aggressor or Ardent on the front? I currently wash out at Modderfontein on nearly every dusty 180 bend and I'm only a year into riding so any help here would be freaking amazing.
• As I'm not that experienced I'd rather go for a strong tyre than worry about rolling resistance or weight - this means I need EXO?

Thanks everyone, sorry if there are daft statements/ too much info.

 

 

Not much to add - you are pretty spot on with the direction you are thinking. If you want more grip on the front go for the Aggressor rather than the Ardent - it also rolls a bit faster than the Ardent, just slightly heavier.

[naptalene]

Not much to add - you are pretty spot on with the direction you are thinking. If you want more grip on the front go for the Aggressor rather than the Ardent - it also rolls a bit faster than the Ardent, just slightly heavier.

Awesome thanks!! I never would have been able to get that right if it wasn't for this thread

 

My rims are tubeless ready so I should just convert to tubeless correct? I love wrenching on my bike so I'm not worried about any extra work needed.

On some websites they don't necessarily label the tyre as TLR/TR (Seen this for the Ardent) although according to Maxxis they are.... is that an ommision on the reseller's side or do I actually need to watch out for that?

[JohanDiv]

Think you'll like the Ikon 29x2.2 (3C/EXO/TR) at the back and Aggressor 29x2.3 (3C/EXO/TR) on the front combo. Go tubeless, no brainer.

[iTri]

Quick Question : 

I want to put really thin mtb or cyclocross tires on an old roadbike i've converted to like a city bike. 

What size mtb wheels is a roadbike 29' or 26' don't know what 700c is ? 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

29

 

Quick Question : 

I want to put really thin mtb or cyclocross tires on an old roadbike i've converted to like a city bike. 

What size mtb wheels is a roadbike 29' or 26' don't know what 700c is ? 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Not much to add - you are pretty spot on with the direction you are thinking. If you want more grip on the front go for the Aggressor rather than the Ardent - it also rolls a bit faster than the Ardent, just slightly heavier.

This

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Anybody here that have ridden Aspens and can give some feedback?

 

I've ridden with an Ikon 2.2 at the back and Ardent 2.4 on the front (XC) for the last two years. Seemed like the perfect combo and did not puncture or give trouble once.

Then recently bought Aspen 2.25 front and back because they were on special and needed new tires. Really like them, rolling resistance uphill is great while sacrificing very little going down. Had them for about two months now, but on the last three rides I had to plug three different holes. On straight forward gravel roads.

 

Unlucky? Or are the prone to puncture frequently? 

Aspens are a lightweight XC race tyre. Not strong at all, so the punctures are pretty easy to get. 

[Thermophage]

Been working on capturing some MTB Tyre mass data if anyone is interested. Let me know (PM) if there is a make and model you want to have added).

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1dujFCFfN0vkw47tZo96Hr3jJWQ9IVTVdhHPagejZxNw/edit?usp=sharing

[iTri]

29

Do you think a road rim will 'pinch' a 2.1mtb tyre enough to fit inside a standard road brake caliper ? 

[Captain Fastbastard Mayhem]

Do you think a road rim will 'pinch' a 2.1mtb tyre enough to fit inside a standard road brake caliper ? 

Depends on the caliper and the bike, tbh. I know that on my roadie nothing bigger than a 25c (maybe a small 28c) will fit the frame. So that may be your limiting factor. A 2.1 tyre is still pretty large for a roadie / gravel bike. Test before buy, essentially

[JohanDiv]

Aspens are a lightweight XC race tyre. Not strong at all, so the punctures are pretty easy to get. 

 

I think that was a particularly bad batch puncturing on normal gravel roads though.. Fitted a new Aspen since then and done about a 1000km on it, including a stage race on sharp rocky single tracks with zero problems so far. But I do ride them a bit more gingerly than my previous Ardent 2.4

[thebob]

Got some 2.4 WT Rekons coming. Really keen to see how they do based on the good reviews I have seen online. Not expecting as much grip as the DHF up front (which is truly epic now that I trust it), but a lot less rolling resistance and a bit more braking grip at the rear than the current Forekaster I am running