any ideas for a good front 29er tyre???

the criteria it needs to fulfil are:

- cheapish (sub 30 quid ideally but willing to go up to 40)

- 1.9" - 2.1" (so it fits inside my fork)

- hard wearing (nothing with a crazy soft compound)

- will mainly be used on hard-packed rocky trails (and mud twice a year when i visit the UK and ride in Wales)

- black (possibly the most important criteria)

let me know your suggestions.....

I'v got schwable rapid rob tyres on my 29er. They are good tyres at an excellent price, but may be slightly too wide for you at 2.25?

I love my nobbly nicks - but again not a help as they are too big.

Hi Gairym, can't recomend a specific tyre as such but Chain Reaction Cycles seem to have a few tyres that fit you criteria, good delivery times too.

Maxxis Ignitor, Crossmark, Continental Race King?

If it's on hardpack for 99% of your riding I'd be looking at something specific to that which rolls well, then try and pick up a cheap 2nd hand tyre for the 2 rides in Wales out of the year.

I found Crossmarks a bit sketchy on the front in the wet and mud and swapped to a gert big Ardent instead. If you're mostly riding hard and dry (oo-er) they should be ok - fast and long lasting too.

I'm a fan of Conti Race Kings but can fully understand that many folk are put off by the lack of tread. They've never given me any cause for concern though, they also roll very well.

If you can find one (although it may not fit in your forks) a WTB Weirwolf LT in 2.55 flavour is a superb 29" tyre. Nowhere near as heavy as you'd imagine, fast rolling and plenty of grip.

These came on my Fargo, very nice they are too

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/con ... e-ec027268

s8tannorm wrote: If you can find one (although it may not fit in your forks) a WTB Weirwolf LT in 2.55 flavour is a superb 29" tyre. Nowhere near as heavy as you'd imagine, fast rolling and plenty of grip.

I had WTB ExiWolfs on my bike, they were excellent tyres with loads of grip, but they were huge! They rubbed on my front shifter, and they were only 2.3 :O i changed to schwable rapid robs 2.25 and i now have about an inch of clearance between tyre and shifter :S
I dont know if all wtb tyres are the same, but it might be one to steer clear of if you have clearance issues.

thanks all for the suggestions.

for now i've ordered one of the schwable rapid rob's as they're too cheap to pass up (and if it doesn't fit i'll know for the next time and that tyre can wait for a future bike).

cheers, gairy.

While we're on this, suggestions please for 29" tyres for Stans rims / tubeless / riding Wales (been on 26" Conti Speed king 2.1 mainly)..

Thanks

Roy, if you don't mind Conti's then give Race kings a whirl ... it's surprising just how much more grip you'll gain simply by running 29" wheels, so you can often get away with less tread than you would on 26".

+1 on the Race Kings for a fast tyre, reasonably tough. Crossmarks are my favourite tread but they're soft as cheese unless you get the LUST version (which incidentally will seal & run for ages on a Stans rim without sealant!). Snakeskin Racing Ralphs are decent too, seal well and proving to be very tough. Standard carcass RaRa is so fragile it's useless. Ignitor is ok at the front, seals relatively well tubeless, not the toughest though. WTB Nanoraptor is fast and grippier than you think it'll be, but also sadly has sidewalls of cheese. If grip is a priority over outright speed then Ardents are a really good option. Ikon EXO is really nice, lightweight, fast, but sadly I put a hole in that one too after a few rides (£50 bloody tyre! :evil: )

I tend to run fast summer tyres all year 'round as I reckon you can get away with it more on a 29er. Plus, I'm lazy and don't like changing tyres unless I have to. Also, I ride a lot amongst the Chilterns flint which eats weak tyres for breakfast.

Conti Race Kings are good. Got about 3,000 miles from a pair last summer run tubeless. Rear was looking a little sorry for itself by the end but the front was still good.

3 of us rode them at Tour Divide last year and had one puncture between us - that rider thought that it was where he left it by the track over night and picked something up.

Kevin did you run the 2.0 or the 2.2 for the TD? The 2.0 felt very skinny indeed to me, but I really like the 2.2.

edit - incidentally, did you find the tread nobbles have a habit of coming away? I found the sidewalls to be quite tough but the tread was in a bit of a mess after last winter.

Btw, there's a useful spreadsheet maintained by a chap on mtbr all about 29er tyre weights...

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc ... tQnc#gid=0

Pedalhead - Martin and myself used 2.2 but Mike Hall rode 2.0. No problems with nobbles coming away but by the time I reached Mexico there was not a lot of tread left.

I alternate between Maxxis Ardent 2.25r/2.4f and Conti Race King 2.2's. Both are good, but the transition from the former to the latter is interesting

Do people find that the 29er version of 26" tyres like Nobby Nics, comparable? I imagine they would be, but want to be sure before I buy some NNs and regret it.

Blackhound wrote:Pedalhead - Martin and myself used 2.2 but Mike Hall rode 2.0. No problems with nobbles coming away but by the time I reached Mexico there was not a lot of tread left.

Cheers. I think as "affordable", quick, strong tyres go, the Race Kings are at the top of a very short list!

Do people find that the 29er version of 26" tyres like Nobby Nics, comparable?

Often a tyre that you'd consider to be a dry weather/summer tyre in 26" guise will make a decent all rounder in it's 29" form ... Race King is a good example.

Thanks all. I like Conti's so good to hear that they do the job in 29".

Further Q - I came across this while researching;

'To install a brand-new tyre on a tubeless system, put an inner tube inside it and pump it to 60 PSI. Leave it a day or two in a warm place, or go riding on it. The tyre bead smooths out against the rim and takes the "folds" out of a Kevlar-bead tyre that's been in a box. Then take the tube out and inflate the tyre with sealant.'

Does it sound like good advice? For some (probably wrong) reason I thought 'folding' tyres and UST didn't mix..

First time I tried tubeless I used a tube to seat the beads, then I thought "whats the point" I've got to take a bead off to get the tube out.
Never had any problems since my first attempt which was probably due to incompetence.

I've found that some tyres do benefit from being run with a tube for a short while. You can tell if it's required by looking at the bead of the tyre out of the box. If it's all wonky and won't seal easily straight away, then it's worth using a tube for a ride. But if it seals up straight away, don't bother.

Cheers. Sounds like, as always, 'use common sense' & you can't go far wrong.