[galpinos]

Right, I'm after some info/help on waht mountain bike tyres to get. I've got a Genesis Altitude hardtail which is currently shod in Continental Mountain King 2.2s (which it came with).

Due to the combination of commuting on the road, disc brakes and my insistance of doing a little skid like a 7yo child everytime I stop hass lead to losing most of the centre tread on the back tyre and it now feels pretty sketch off-road.

I don't do loads of mountain biking having only got my bike 10 months ago, but am doing more and more. Predominantly in the Peak District and at Trail centres (I've sampled Llandegla quite a few time, Dalby Forest and am heading to Coed y Brenin soon). I'm pretty rubbish but am gettiong better/more confident all the time.

I'm basically after a do it all tyre for the back. Not a super mud pluger but not some supe-lightweight XC racing tyre.

I was recommended the Maxxis Crossmark (think I'd go for the 2.25). Any experience with this tyre or others like it, High rollers, Advantage, Aspen etc? Does it make that much of a didderence at my level? What the advantage of folding, they seem to cost quite a bit more? is 60a a suitable "hardness"? Any other brands to consider?

Some insight into the world of tyres would be greatly received as I've not got a clue!

[SA Chris]

Some blether buried in here http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10103.275.html

I really like the High Rollers, but haven't had masses to compare them against. Unfortunately soft and grippy seems to mean they wear out quicker, esp on tar.

[fatboySlimfast]

fatdoc is away at the moment, the ultimate geek tyre obsessive. Offer him some cash for the 30 odd pairs he has in his cellar

[Probes]

Ive a hard tail and I go for panaracer xc cross things, both front and back. great climbing tyre. Ive some maxis uber light things (ignite xc) but they are obimissal in damp/wet so i wouldnt recommend them.

[galpinos]

Some blether buried in here http://ukbouldering.com/board/index.php/topic,10103.275.html

I really like the High Rollers, but haven't had masses to compare them against. Unfortunately soft and grippy seems to mean they wear out quicker, esp on tar.

Cheers Chris. That all got a bit technical. With regards to the progressiveness of the slide of a tyre, I don't think I go fast enough to tell, I'm either on or off the bike, if I'm sliding, I'm pretty soon on the floor.

Re. the High Rollers, are they a bugger to climb on/do they have a high rolling resistance? They guy in the shop seemed to imply they weren't fast rolling, which seemed to make the name a bit or a misnomer. Would they be overkill for a do-all tyre?

Is 60a hard or soft? (I'm going to keep commuting with the bald mountain king on the back till I can get the cycle to work scheme up and running at work)

P.S. I'll spell check my post from now on. That first one looks like something of UKC. 

[galpinos]

fatdoc is away at the moment, the ultimate geek tyre obsessive. Offer him some cash for the 30 odd pairs he has in his cellar

If you're seroius, I'll happily grease his palm for some decent nick second hand tyres.

[galpinos]

Ive a hard tail and I go for panaracer xc cross things, both front and back. great climbing tyre.

I've not heard of these so will go and have a ggogle. Cheers.

[Probes]

These are them... they do do them with black walls as well 
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=473

[SA Chris]

That all got a bit technical. ........R the High Rollers, are they a bugger to climb on/do they have a high rolling resistance? They guy in the shop seemed to imply they weren't fast rolling, which seemed to make the name a bit or a misnomer. Would they be overkill for a do-all tyre?

Is 60a hard or soft?

Now you are getting all technical! No idea TBH. Don't have much prob with them going uphill, I use them for a do-all, summer and winter. Although we don't get a lot of mud here, the granite soil seens to turn to grinding paste when wet.

60a - Soft? My back wheel is showing a bit of wear, but I have been on tar quite a bit lately.

[cofe]

Try WTB Weirwolfs 2.1s. Good all round tyre and should be a good compromise for what you're after.

[Falling Down]

With you commuting to work, it might be worth swapping to slicks during the week.  I have a pair of Mavic wheels plus offroad tires you could have for a small fee that you could use to to put slicks on for commuting.

[fatkid2000]

 

Get some commuting slicks - way faster than normal MTB tyres.

I needed some tyres for my AM bike when I was in the Lakes a few months back - and got some Specialized ones which seem pretty good. Can't remember what they're called but they were alot cheaper than Maxxis. 

[galpinos]

Cheers everyone.

Chris, the High Rollers sound good. i'll have another look.

With you commuting to work, it might be worth swapping to slicks during the week.  I have a pair of Mavic wheels plus offroad tires you could have for a small fee that you could use to to put slicks on for commuting.

Assuming you're not trying to profit from emptying your shed.........., I'll have a look at the weekend if that's ok?

[Norton Sharley]

High Rollers are pretty slow rolling compared to most other tyres.  60a is the hard compound whic do last a lot longer than the softer compounds and will generally be fine for xc related mtb.

I'd buy the second set of wheels and fit some 'slicks'.

[clm]

i buy the expensive ones when they are in the sale bin.  with the big nobs on.  usually several at once.

[tomtom]

High Rollers are pretty slow rolling compared to most other tyres.  60a is the hard compound whic do last a lot longer than the softer compounds and will generally be fine for xc related mtb.

I'd buy the second set of wheels and fit some 'slicks'.

Naive question - but if you have another set of wheel/tyres are there not issues with running a different cassette on the same chain/deraillier(sp?) etc..? Even if it has same spacing? Years ago I was led to believe that the chain/gears/cogs kind of wear together and get used to each other (for want of a better description) - and would this also cause some alignment bother for disc brakes...?

(probably silly questions - just wondering)

[Norton Sharley]

You're not wrong, but is any difference sufficient to notice?  Not in my world.  A few slipped gears are bearable compared to dragging off road tyres long distances on road?

[chris j]

These are them... they do do them with black walls as well 
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?PartnerID=79&ModelID=473

Been using the Fire XCs for a couple of years and they are great on trail centre trails and on the dusty/stoney trails we have down my way. Tried the Crossmarks briefly and while they were good on professionally laid trails at Glyncorrwyg and the like on anything dusty or damp the grip was rubbish.

I`d second the idea of having two sets of wheels though, if you`re swapping between them fairly regularly you shouldn`t have any problems worth mentioning with chain wear and gear skipping.

[gremlin]

I've been running WTB Velociraptor 2.1's. They're like the old Panaracer Smoke\Dart combination. A tenner each from CRC. They're not tubeless but been running them as tubeless on my Mavic tubeless rims with a bit of sealant. 

[chappers]

or you could just swap the cassette from one wheel to another - takes less than a minute.
Thats what i do anyway.