Mopkop Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Hi mense I've got a quick question, which combo would you recommend? *Maxxis Icon front and rear*Geax Saquaro front with mezcal or aka rear*Continental protection Xking front Raceking rear. I've had the contis before so I know exactly what to expect from the them. I would like to try something different though. I enjoy jonkershoek, tokai, bottelary hills and tygerberg. I would like to buy by the end of the week Looking forward to all the responses Mopkop
Vangar Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Im enjoying Maxiss Ardent up front with a Crossmark rear. Nice grip and roll well, but this is in Gauteng, so I'll let the CPT guys add some more.
Mental Mamba Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Maxiss Ardent Front and Maxiss icon or crossmarx rear....
jcmeyerSS Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I am busy testing the SpezGround control 2.3 front and Fast Track 2.2 Rear. So far so good.I have always ridden Maxxis crossmarks but wanted something a little beefier on the front and there were no Ardents available when I was buying so at R450 a tyre I thought I would give this combo a try. The fast track does lack a little grip in the wet and i may be putting a GC on th eback to once the rain eventually starts up here.
nickcza Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I find with Maxxis Ikons front and rear, that the front tends to wash out. The Ikon is a strong, long lasting, fast rolling tyre, but maybe put something else up front (Ardent Race?).
camelman Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 For a Cape Town summer you can do with the Geax Saguaro/AKA combo. Nice and fast and bulletproof, but not as much grip as the Spez ground control/Fast track combo. The Ardent Crossmark combo is also a nice tough tire combo and should not give you too many hassles in the Cape although for me that would be my second choice. I rode the Spez combo and found that the sidewalls on Spez tires in the rear just too soft for my weight(95kg). I think they should be fine for anyone under 85kg though. The Geax and Maxxis tires have nice strong sidewalls and that enables you to run slightly lower pressures for better grip. They stronger sidewalls also seat much easier on a non tubeless specific rim. To give you an idea of the toughness of the Geax. I did the Tankwa Trek, GR300 and a Epic and all the training from mid February to March on the same Geax Saguaro on the rear running it at around 1.4 bar. I eventually had to take it off as the tire was not really suited for a wet Europe.
Fabian46 Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I'm 85kg and running Spez Ground Control front and back( both 2.1). Fairly lightish, no sidewall issues, sand, rock gardens, hard ground...all good. Want to change to the GC 2.3 front, Fast track 2.2 back. And its cheap!
Nick G Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Maxiss ARDENT front and Crossmarks on the back originally but changed to ARDENT on the front and BRONSON on the back (You could probably use another ARDENT on the back as well as the BRONSON and the ARDENT are very similar) as this gives you a bit more traction going uphill (and more confidence I might add) when grinding in granny... I felt that the Crossmarks would slip / spin and (for me) and just didn't give that little bit of extra grip that I needed when I had to stand pedaling uphill. FYI if I had a choice of your 3 above I would go for :*Continental protection Xking front Raceking rear"
arendoog Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Maxiss Ardent Front and Maxiss icon or crossmarx rear....
arendoog Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Rear .Saguaro Front X-king on my SSRear Raceking Front X-King on my Tallboy ,sometimes RR nobby nic in frontRear icon Front vredenstein black panther on HardtailRear crossmark Front Ardent on old HardtailIMO best rear is saguaro .race-king is good but don,t last long .Crossmark bad for wetIMO best front is x-king .If expecting lots of mud rather nobbynic or ardent
Mopkop Posted October 13, 2014 Author Posted October 13, 2014 Rear .Saguaro Front X-king on my SSRear Raceking Front X-King on my Tallboy ,sometimes RR nobby nic in frontRear icon Front vredenstein black panther on HardtailRear crossmark Front Ardent on old HardtailIMO best rear is saguaro .race-king is good but don,t last long .Crossmark bad for wetIMO best front is x-king .If expecting lots of mud rather nobbynic or ardentWould you recommend running the Sagauro on the front? I know how good those protection tyres can be as Ive had them for about 19 months without ANY k@k. I feel that a new setup should be tried but theres just WAY too many options!!!
johanpre44 Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Also running Spez Ground Control 2.3 and Fast-track 2.2 on my 29er, 700km done and no issues. Not too much wet riding on this combo, but have done some muddy patches on local trails without problems. Running Ground Control 2.1 front and back on my 26er which performed very well at a wet Sabie Half Marathon earlier this year. Done just over 1500km on the tires and the back is showing some wear (note that I also use this bike for commuting so there is plenty of tar on them). I'm a 95kg rider and have had no sidewall issues (but I'm a very cautious rider that doesn't just bomb over rough terrain). Like most MTB tires, these seem to sing on smooth tar when you roll at a nice pace, but I will rather live with this and have good grip off road. My biggest reason for going with the Spez tires was cost (R420 for the Control/2Bliss versions), and I was pleasantly surprised at the performance afterwards!
Beefy Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 Is the general consensus that the Ardent is too aggressive for the rear and not fast rolling enough?
burty Posted October 13, 2014 Posted October 13, 2014 I rode Ardent Front Ikon back which I enjoyed but bought a new bike with Schwalbe Rocket Ron front Racing Ralph back, both snakeskin version and find the grip and rolling to be way better than maxxis THE ONLY negative is that it wears quicker
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