I know this has been asked here a million times but…
What is everyone running for tires? Places like Fight are hard on tires for sure. I am running Bontrager XR5 Team Issue TLR Tires. I like the feel of the tire and the traction is great. I understand all about the durometer vs longevity thing but I need to get more that 4 months out of a set of Tires. For years I ran Geax then Vittorio Gomas. I could get a year out of those and they also had great traction. Sadly, They are no longer available.
I need 29 x 2.4 tubeless. I ride all the same places you do, so what works for you?
I have been running Schwalbe Magic Mary’s front and rear all season in 29x2.35. I’ve been running this tire upfront since 2013/2014 and I have used it mainly in the back with other tires like the nobby nic, hans dampf, and rock razor in the mix but none of them hold up as well and I always go back to the magic mary. Now in saying this and as much as I love the magic mary I just ordered a 29x2.5 Maxxis Assegai for the front and 29x 2.4 highroller for the rear. I’ve wanted to try the Assegai for a while now and was torn on rear tires so I went with the classic highroller.
If you loved the Geax and Vittoria perhaps check out the new Vittoria Agarro. It was just released and is intended to fill the hole btwn xc weight tires and enduro weight tires. I just mounted up a set of the 2.35" tnt a couple of weeks ago. Multi compound w graphene too. Just released so your dealer would need to order for you, prob not on their wall quite yet.
I run Maxxis Minions on my trail bike (RSD Middlechild, 27.5 x 2.8) and on my fat bike (RSD Mayor, 26x4.8). I have a 29" wheelset for the fat bike and used to run 29x3.0 Minions, but had the same problem with tire wear at places like McIntosh Run that have a lot of granite. Now I run Maxxis Chronicle 29x3.0" on that wheelset and use it pretty much exclusively for Fight Trail, and run them at higher pressure than I’d run on other trails. They’re pretty durable, and the tread isn’t as aggressive which actually gives more tire contact on the granite.
Minion in the front and Aggressor in the back. Front lasted the season with barely any wear. Back needed to be changed but I ride a lot and I am happy with the wear I got out of it.
Maxxis Minion DHF 27.5x2.8 front and back. 3c maxterra etc etc… Suuuuper sweet cornering. Great for what I use em for! There’s probably a faster rolling tire easy to be found without much looking though, but I like the monster truck feel of them
My bike came with the schwalbe nobby nics, which weren’t great. Didn’t have the money to upgrade at the time, so I stuck with them. I ride mostly at fight, so I wore out the rear pretty quickly. Ordered a Michelin wild enduro 2.75x2.4 gum-x for the front, and moved the front Nobby nic to the rear. Will be ordering the other wild enduro for the back for next season. They grip well, and so far are super durable. A little bit heavier, but I guess that’s the price of riding on granite
I ran a Michelin AM on the back and an Enduro up front this season. I found the Enduro’s side knobs a little big if you are riding Fight regularly but otherwise, a great tire. I’ve already wore out the AM and swapped it for a WTB Vigilante I had been running on the front last year, a tire I really like but have become quite expensive. I get a bit of a discount on the Michelins so will probably try the Enduro rear for next season.
I replaced whatever bontrager tires that came on my bike with schalbe tires and the difference was quite an improvement. In the past (and on all of our current 26" wheeled bikes) we’ve run geax/vittoria with great results. I’ll probably go back to the vittoria when I am looking for new tires again.
So my preferred tires are Vittorio Gomas. I have got 12 months out of those in the past. They have been discontinued but I found found some
29 x 2.4 online at Planet X. I bought 4. I paid $162 which included shipping and duty. They arrived in less than a week from somewhere in the UK. I am happy with paying $40.50 per tire.
Michelin wild enduros or wild AM. The Wild AM series is a great all rounder, a bit lower profile than enduros. They are not as expensive, so when you need to replace them you don’t need to empty your wallet.
