Tires for on and off road

[nickf]

Have a race coming up. 9 miles off road, 35 mile on road, another 9 miles off road. I signed up for all mountain bike category. You can switch to a road bike but that's boring. Our trails here in Florida can become a bit sandy. What is a fast rolling tire that could handle both on and off road? I have some bontrager XR0 tires i use on gravel rides, super fast but they are terrible in loose sandy conditions. Im on a 29er.

[bikerector]

How rough are the off-road conditions? If it's mostly hardpack, get something that is a semi-slick like furious fred. I use a maxxis treadlite as it's tubeless compatible but there are some tubed tires that are light and have less tread but the sidewalls are pretty thin for tubeless use; a maxxis maxxlite being an example.

Again depending on the roughness of the off-road section, could use a CX tire as long as your 29er rims aren't too wide. Some of the 35-40mm gravel race oriented tires might be a good option.

[nickf]

They haven't released the course just yet but there will be a few miles of relatively smooth singletrack with plenty of leaves and sand to makes things slick in places. That maxxis Thunder Burt seems like a candidate. Has a little more bite then the furious fred.

[bikerector]

Here's some pictures of the maxxis treadlite. It grips decent if you keep the pressure controlled. It does as well as most in sand as it has some width still but wet leaves could be tricky.

http://i.imgur.com/VaaFNvj.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hrAdfkP.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/gai3TvB.jpg

Maxxis aspen is a fast tire with some good speed. Racing ralphs are a decent rolling tire as well. Might consider conti race kings. I mostly have experience with maxxis tires as they've been a team sponsor the last few years.

[TheRookie]

I'd be looking to use a CX tyre something like a Schwalbe CX comp in a 38mm, but only if it's not soft sand.

[stoney]

The Specialized Renegade 1.8 is another option. It rolls fast!

[DanW]

Renegade is indeed a pretty awesome tyre. Not that it matters for this race, but it'll handle *proper* MTB terrain better than any of the other fast tyres too.

[MareenKing]

the answer is depends on rod roughness.

[HaakonJohansen]

They haven't released the course just yet but there will be a few miles of relatively smooth singletrack with plenty of leaves and sand to makes things slick in places. That maxxis Thunder Burt seems like a candidate. Has a little more bite then the furious fred.

I guess you mean Schwalbe Thunder Burt? I've got them, and they're great all-round tires I think;) Haven't got much experience with other tires though. They were the clear favourite in a test of lightweight race tires, conducted by Norway's largest MTB magazine, should that be of any interest.

[TheKaiser]

And if you are really serious about maximizing your performance in the race, you could do some tests on similar terrain with 2 tire setups. You would want to check, do the more aggressive knobby tires gain you more time on the trails than they lose you on the road, or the opposite.

[nickf]

For me the on road portion is going to be harder. I know the trails really well. I always use bontrager xr1 tires front and rear. Plenty of grip but slugs on the road. Did 40 miles on them with 40psi just to try it out and it was a workout.

I meant to say Schwalbe Thunder Burt. I keep going back to these tires. 29x2.25 would have enough volume for the sandy bits and low center tread to roll decent on the road. Hopefully

[HillRPete]

No need for guesswork:
http://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews

All the best for your race!

[nickf]

Ended up going with the thunder Burt 2.25. They rolled fantastic on the road portion and were still plenty grippy for today's dry conditions. Came in 2nd place. I shaved off serious time on the road portion. Set up tubeless 37psi rear and around 33psi on the front.

[bruce137]

Have a race coming up. 9 miles off road, 35 mile on road, another 9 miles off road. I signed up for all mountain bike category. You can switch to a road bike but that's boring. Our trails here in Florida can become a bit sandy. What is a fast rolling tire that could handle both on and off road? las vegas desert tours I have some bontrager XR0 tires i use on gravel rides, super fast but they are terrible in loose sandy conditions. Im on a 29er.

How rough are the off-road conditions? If it's mostly hardpack, get something that is a semi-slick like furious fred.

[HaakonJohansen]

I would really be interested in contacting a business that would make an xx1 cassette completely out of for 6TAl4, and the have cassette DLC coated. Is there anyone out there that can make this stuff? Or do you know someone that can? Without costs being astronomeocally. Alu or carbon granny gear ofc.