Different size front and rear ?

[silverclaws]

Did anyone bitd or does anyone still run different section and tread tyres front and rear ? I remembered this looking at the Skinwall thread, I used to run Panaracer light Smoke front and standard Smoke rear, so if I remember a wider tyre at the back than the front and yes, I did find it was much better directionally off road in mud than was two tyres of the same size which I started with 2.1 Megabite folders.

 

[feetabix]

I used to run a smoke lite rear with a full fat 2.1 up front to allow a little give on my rigid frame.....happy days!....

 

[SouthCoastRetro]

I remember running a Smoke Magnum on the front, it seemed huge at 2.2" BITD. Great tyre though. And that was on a fully rigid gate-of-a-bike.

 

[velomaniac]

Many front and rear specific matched sets of tyres these days and in the past go this route. My old Specialized Team tyres had a 2.2" front and 1.9" rear and my current WTB Velocoraptors have 2.1" front specific and 1.9" rear specific widths and treads.

 

[FluffyChicken]

BiTD I ran a skinny front and let the new newfangled Suspension (MAG's) soak up the trail. 1.95 rear and usually a 1.9 or less front (e.g. Psycho rear and geoclaw lite front) big tires weighed a lot BiTD.

Now that fat tyres (2.1+, not these modern 2.3 boats) weigh less than the old skinny tyres I just run whatever I have lying around that suits the trail or happens to be on the wheel.

I see people have moved to big fronts and thinner rears on modern bikes. Probably for increased front traction gained from long travel forks.

BiTD being early 90's

 

[silverclaws]

Odd, I went the other way around, rigid bike skinny front fat rear, something to do with directional stability with a thin front and bigger footprint where the traction is and supporting my weight.

 

[webba]

I always thought that the smoke was a rear specific tyre and there was the Dart as the matching front

 

[webba]

I always thought that the smoke was a rear specific tyre and there was the Dart as the matching front

 

[FluffyChicken]

I think with the modern front suspension you load the front up a lot more than you would the old early 90's forks. Or so I've been told. so you need more grip at the front to use that.

Of course everything depends what you frame can take. What you ride and how you're riding it.
For any of the retrorides, any setup will do.
For twisty turny trail centre riding where you're at you're bleeding edge of skill trying to beat somebody over the soft damn leafy loose ground then you might get picky (not me I just try to breath and as mentioned above usually have whatever tyre was handy, but then I ride retro unless like me you class my Kona as 'modern').
Which will be a different setup to somebody flying down from the top of a lakeland hill

 

[FluffyChicken]

I always thought that the smoke was a rear specific tyre and there was the Dart as the matching front

It was only a rear specific when the Dart eventually came out. Before that is was either
currently it is rear specific
http://www.panaracer.com/eng/products/mtb/xc.html#i