Best 2"ish allrounder tire?

[Deacon Patrick]

So my rides center around dirt (roads and trails), but there can be loooong stretches of paved on my rides (the one I hope to do tomorrow, or soon, is about 20 dirt road, 60 paved).

I love the knobbies on my Smart Sams for all the dirt and trails, mud and snow, and the ridge pattern is pretty good for paved, but I’m wondering what others use for their favorite allrounder tire in 700 x 2”ish size? 

With abandon,

Patrick

www.MindYourHeadCoop.org

www.OurHolyConception.org

[James Warren]

Big Ben for sure. The 55 will fit on the Hunqapillar, and I think I spent the entire summer of 2013 pedaling my Hunq with Big Bens. And most of 2014 summer as well (with the exception of the drives to get to the places.) That's how I remember it anyway.

Big Ben 55. That's my strong recommendation. Very smooth on pavement. And great climbing on dirt as well.

- Jim W.

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James Warren

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- 700x33

[Jim M.]

If you want mud and snow tires, you are going to give up road performance. There are knobbies that are designed for dry, hard pack that roll pretty well on the road. Some examples are the Continental Speed King and Race King, the WTB Nano, Stan's Crow and Raven, Schwalbe Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron. I've used most of these and find them adequate for mud. Two negatives I've noticed: 1) they wear fast; and 2) pretty slippery on roots.

jim m

wc ca

[Scott Henry]

This is a little narrower than you are looking for, but this is my new
favorite go-to tire.
The Forte (performance) Greenway, its 700x40 so about a 1.6"
http://www.performancebike.com/bikes/Product_10052_10551_1168230_-1_400237__400237
They are cheap, belted, somewhat light, and have a great tread. I've
both under and over inflated them and run them from 30 to about 80psi.
Did I mention they are cheap?

Scott
Excited to ride on said tires again in Dayton, OH. The snow has
finally melted, now time for a weekend flood-watch

[Deacon Patrick]

Thanks, Scott! Volume matter immensely here, as I need the tire to do bikepacking on root, rocky trails. and the wider race tires with side knobbies, as Jim M. mentioned, have increased slippage on the roots.

Jim W., excellent point on the Big Ben's I may give them a shot. How do they handle wet roots and loose gravel trails combined with rock bouncing and jouncing (loose-ish gravel in-between? Riv describes the Smart Sam as "doesn't suck on pavement" and I imagine the Big ben equally "doesn't suck on trails" -- and since most of my riding (by time anyway) is trails and dirt roads, the Smart Sam's likely win that battle.

I may be looking for El Dorado here. Sardonic grin. 

With abandon,

Patrick

[Deacon Patrick]

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if it isn't worth it to simply follow my own advice about a go-fast country bike tire and swap out to a pair of Barlow Pass tires when it is time to do longer dirt road and paved road rides, and then back to Smart Sams for the dirt roads and trails time. Hmmmm. Kinda wishing I hadn't sold the Barlows I had last year. Sardonic grin.

This gets at the reason I'd love an A.H.H. The Hunqapillar is well suited for both types of riding, but there isn't a tire that is. Hmmm.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Deacon Patrick]

Or use the Big Bens as the default tire, and switch to the Smart Sams if the trail/or bike packing trip warrants it. Hmmmmm.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Mark Reimer]

Agreed on the WTB Nano's. It has a center-tread that makes it ride almost like a slick, but enough bite on the sides that you can rip around on trails no problem. I've got the 2.1's in the Atlantis and my Dad rides the 40's on his cx bike. Both are great.

[Deacon Patrick]

Anyone ridden both the Nano and the Smart Sam and can compare? I keep coming back to the three possible "solutions" being:

-- Dream: Sam and AHH dedicated geared country bike

-- Too much labor, not realistic: swap tires as needed (I know about wheel sets, but that also seems unlikely from those who have them, they just don't shift.

-- Ride what I have now and it's a pretty good all round solution, with trail heavy emphasis: Hunqapillar and Smart Sams.

Option three is the winner, at least until the dream can happen! Thank you all for helping me play with the possibilities. Now if only my brain would cooperate and I could ride instead of scheme. Sardonic grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Mark Reimer]

I haven't, but also consider that so far as I can tell, the Nano is quite a bit lighter of a tire weight-wise, comes without a wire bead (plus in my books), and has a less aggressive tread than the smart sam (better on pavement). It's a very popular tire in the tour divide. I love 'em. I also have never ridden a smart sam though. 

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[John]

For this kind of riding around the SF Bay Area, Clement MSO's, WTB Nano's & BG's Rock 'n' Roads (in order of increasing amounts of dirt traction) are popular, but I know only the Nano is available in the 2 inch range.

We did this kind of riding a lot as kids further south back where we had a lot more unpaved county roads, mostly covered in decomposed granite or hard, sandy dirt. We liked a slight tread that rode fast on the roads, and then you used your skills rather than tread on the horse & deer trails. But if I remember right, staging spectacular crashes into huckleberry bushes was probably the point of all this a lot of the time, and probably not what you're after.

Schwalbe Thunder Burts & Furious Freds might me more options for you in the 2in - 29er range.

John

[Jim M.]

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 9:44:54 AM UTC-7, Deacon Patrick wrote:

Anyone ridden both the Nano and the Smart Sam and can compare? I keep coming back to the three possible "solutions" being:

-- Too much labor, not realistic: swap tires as needed (I know about wheel sets, but that also seems unlikely from those who have them, they just don't shift.

I think the Nano is much better than "doesn't suck" on the road.

I don't get that comment about wheel sets. I have multiple wheels for most of my bikes, and I just change from smooth to knobby depending on the ride. No problem, shifts the same.

jim m

wc ca 

[Deacon Patrick]

I should clarify "they just don't shift" didn't mean gears, but that at least some owners found it was a burden to shift (swap) the wheel sets.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Jim M.]

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 11:00:57 AM UTC-7, Deacon Patrick wrote:

at least some owners found it was a burden to shift (swap) the wheel sets.

Well, those owners probably lack your fortitude. 

jim m

wc ca 

[Deacon Patrick]

Worst case scenario is I end up with a wheel set for a Sam/AHH down the road, aye? I will ponder the possibility. Grin.

With abandon,

Patrick

[Clayton.sf]

If you can fit them take a look at Schwalbe Supermotos.

[DS]

N+1 is always the answer! My personal experience of going down this path went from having a Hunqapillar with 2 wheel sets (2.1 smart sams and 1.75 compass) to a Hunqapillar with 1 wheelset with big bens (looking for a 'do everything' tire') to finally settling on keeping the Hunqapillar with smart sams for trail heavy rides, and then getting a SH with 650 x 42 road tires (fatty rumpkins at the moment) for road heavy rides.

Honestly though, i've never had an issue with the smart sams on the road, and after experimenting I have to say I would rather have a grippy smart sam tire that did ok on the roads and great on the trails, then big bens which were more general purpose for every application.

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 12:15:52 PM UTC-7, Deacon Patrick wrote:

[Deacon Patrick]

Brilliant to hear your experience with Smart Sams v. Big Bens! Thank you. If I eventually go with a second wheel set (knowing it could be a prelude to a new bike), I want to get tires that are lush to ride. Compass would be ideal, but they don't go fatter, and I'd like fatter.

Anyone know the actual width of Continental's Speed King 29" x 2.2"? It's just above the max for the Hunqapillar. 

With abandon,

Patrick

[Jim M.]

On Thursday, March 12, 2015 at 2:16:57 PM UTC-7, Deacon Patrick wrote:

Anyone know the actual width of Continental's Speed King 29" x 2.2"? It's just above the max for the Hunqapillar. 

My experience with Conti's is that they run small. Here's a review of the Race King that measured them at 2.02":

http://twentynineinches.com/2009/04/12/continental-race-king-22-29er-tires-first-impressions/ 

[Jim M.]

Spoke too soon. With further miles, they were found to stretch a bit:

http://twentynineinches.com/2009/06/24/continental-race-king-2-2-tires-midterm-report/

[Deacon Patrick]

Good to know, Jim. Thank you!

With abandon,

Patrick

[cyclotourist]

I am a huge proponent of multiple wheelsets. I have two wheelsets on two different bikes that I swap, and have zero problem shifting between them. One set is disc brakes which is really easy (swapping between 700X40C and 650X50B). On the rim brake wheelsets, I just make sure the outside rim width is the same on both (23mm) so I don't have to adjust brakes. Swapping tires on the other hand just doesn't happen.

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Cheers,
David

Member, Supreme Council of Cyberspace

"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal

[Mike Schiller]

with Paul Canti's you can add Hunter Nugz  http://huntercycles.bigcartel.com/product/hunter-nugz .  They make it easy to adjust for different rim widths.  

I have them on my Bantam that will have ( eventually) two wheelsets.  Fat roadies and fatter knobbies.  https://www.flickr.com/photos/37347002@N05/14522976996/in/set-72157642985369584

~mike

Carlsbad Ca

[Scott Henry]

Mike,
Thanks for passing on the Hunter Nugz link!
http://huntercycles.bigcartel.com/product/hunter-nugz
Amazing, its one of those I cant believe that I didn't garage-make
something like that. I think I might make one this weekend. No
Paul brakes in the house, but that wont stop me.

Scott

[Jim Bronson]

Do you use the same hubs when you are using multiple wheelsets on the same bike?  Seems like if you didn't, you might have to make minor rear derailer adjustments when you switched.

Keep the metal side up and the rubber side down!

[John]

Mike,  How does the ride of the Nine Line's compare to the Rock 'n' Roads?

Thanks,

John

[Mike Schiller]

John, the Nine Lines are maybe 4 mm wider and much taller ( ~1 cm.  The are slower on pavement for sure, but they rock in the singletrack, with  much more secure handling in turns.  I put them on for routes that are mostly dirt.  They float thru the soft dirt.

~mike

[John]

Thanks Mike!