Tyre recommendation

smacl

First off, great to see this forum up and running!

Very much a noob to mountain biking, having only been out on a couple proper MTB spins, but have been doing a fair amount of hacking about on gravel paths, coilte fire roads, canals and the like over the years. Have an old sports hybrid with deore group that is more or less up to the job for starting out but current CX tyres on it seem way too bouncy descending (60 front / 70 rear). I reckon a wider tyre with lower pressure should be fine to try out some of the easier trails on Ticknock and Ballinastoe. Any recommendations for a decent tyre and what pressure I should be running? I'm about 87kg at the moment, getting on a bit at 53, and not massively fit, so looking for something that keeps things easy for a modest pace.

steamsey

Can you say what the wheel size is? And what sort of rims you have as there could be an option to go tubeless, depending on the rims.

Indricotherium

There are mavic crossmax for 12.50 on chain reaction at the moment. I consider them a rear tyre but for what you are describing I'd grab 2 of them and fling them on the bike.

JazzyJ

What sort of clearance on the frame/fork is there?

And going tubeless is such a big plus - little to no punctures.

Something like an Ardent Race would be good for the trail centre stuff. I've use Ikons during this summer - can be quite sketchy in the wet though, and thrown an Ardent Race on the front the last couple of weeks. Not sure what I'll use this winter - I've a set of Hans Dampfs that I used last year, but they're probably overkill for what I generally cycle on.

Most of the recommendations I've got for an all-round tyre have been for an Ardent.

60-70psi must make for an interesting ride!

smacl

steamsey wrote: »

Can you say what the wheel size is? And what sort of rims you have as there could be an option to go tubeless, depending on the rims.

700c / 29"ish, cheap but reasonably bulletproof stock wheels. I don't think tubeless would be an option, though may get new wheels (or just a whole new bike) if I get the bug.

ford2600

smacl wrote: »

700c / 29"ish, cheap but reasonably bulletproof stock wheels. I don't think tubeless would be an option, though may get new wheels (or just a whole new bike) if I get the bug.

If running at the pressure that gives you decent grip and control non tubeless wheels will give you a lot of pinch flats.

I built dt SwissR460 rims into a decent tubeless wheels for small money. 120 all in.

The 35mm schwalbe one tyres nearly cost as much but no more spins ruined by a 10 min puncture repair. Great tyre for anything other than mud so far. What is your max clearance?

BTW Schwalbe tubeless easy is what it says. Almost fool proof

I've never done a ghetto tubeless conversion and not sure I would, but plenty others have.

smacl

JazzyJ wrote: »

What sort of clearance on the frame/fork is there?

And going tubeless is such a big plus - little to no punctures.

Something like an Ardent Race would be good for the trail centre stuff. I've use Ikons during this summer - can be quite sketchy in the wet though, and thrown an Ardent Race on the front the last couple of weeks. Not sure what I'll use this winter - I've a set of Hans Dampfs that I used last year, but they're probably overkill for what I generally cycle on.

Most of the recommendations I've got for an all-round tyre have been for an Ardent.

60-70psi must make for an interesting ride!

Loads of clearance, I've run big enough studded marathon ice tyres in the winter with room to spare. Best value I can see on Ardent race is here for the 29x2.2 which should fit handy enough. Current set-up is a bit bouncy ok, I set the pressures more for road.

smacl

ford2600 wrote: »

If running at the pressure that gives you decent grip and control non tubeless wheels will give you a lot of pinch flats.

I built dt SwissR460 rims into a decent tubeless wheels for small money. 120 all in.

The 35mm schwalbe one tyres nearly cost as much but no more spins ruined by a 10 min puncture repair. Great tyre for anything other than mud so far. What is your max clearance?

BTW Schwalbe tubeless easy is what it says. Almost fool proof

I've never done a ghetto tubeless conversion and not sure I would, but plenty others have.

The bike and wheels probably aren't worth the investment if I'm honest. The frame could probably handle about 2.4" max but going smaller allows a bit of margin if the wheels are off true. No issue at the front, but if the tyres are high profile and widest at a high point it could be an issue. Just checked and the winter tyres are a 38c so quite a bit smaller. Currently on old 35c Schwalbe CX comps which are very easy to change, don't even need levers. Grand at this time of year but crap in mud. Will probably go for 2.1" or 2.2".

Lemming

smacl wrote: »

The bike and wheels probably aren't worth the investment if I'm honest. The frame could probably handle about 2.4" max but going smaller allows a bit of margin if the wheels are off true. No issue at the front, but if the tyres are high profile and widest at a high point it could be an issue. Just checked and the winter tyres are a 38c so quite a bit smaller. Currently on old 35c Schwalbe CX comps which are very easy to change, don't even need levers. Grand at this time of year but crap in mud. Will probably go for 2.1" or 2.2".

Bear in mind, that if you're going for Maxxis tyres, they tend to be a little on the conservative size-wise; so a 2.2 might in fact be a 2.15-ish when fitted & inflated. So you can possibly stretch to a 2.3 or even a 2.4

smacl

Lemming wrote: »

Bear in mind, that if you're going for Maxxis tyres, they tend to be a little on the conservative size-wise; so a 2.2 might in fact be a 2.15-ish when fitted & inflated. So you can possibly stretch to a 2.3 or even a 2.4

Cheers, I was dithering between 2.1" and 2.2" so just pulled the trigger on the 29x2.2". They actually dropped a few euros more on Bike-Discount.de to €29 each since last night so well pleased.

emeraldmtb

I'd say your pressures are a huge contributor to the 'bouncy' feeling going downhill. Most mountain bike tyres would be sub 30psi, and tubeless tyres a few psi lower again. The exact pressures depend on personal preference, wheel width and the terrain that's being ridden (rocky trails require higher pressures).