Recommendations of a good capable off-road tyre that's available in 26"

[Aech]

Hi

What new 26" off-road tyres do you recommend for riding in the mucky stuff ?

I don't mind having modern tyres on my retro bike, mixing period and more modern stuff, it's not a pavement queen, it's a bike I used to cane around the trails and I'm getting back into but it needs some new rubber...

Tyres like Schwalbe Magic Mary and Continental Mountain King III look great but are they any good ?

I always loved a IRC Missile on the rear BITD and wore out loads of Tioga Psycho II's but I'm not hunting down classic tyres, I'll leave them for the BotM builders.

 

[Frankenorange]

Conti raceking folding are a very capable tyre. Only mega mud/chalky clay goo would be too much for them. Very good on tarmac, too.

 

[greencat]

Magic Marys are good, I think they've fallen out of favour as the cutting edge of tyre design nowadays - but I'd still happily run them.

Conti Trail/Mountain Kings - I rated these on my 26ers, but with one caveat, they have problems with their sidewalls. I've had several simply split on the side walls along the direction of the weave of the casing, some after just a few rides meaning they had to be scrapped with almost no tread wear.

 

[moonlite]

Here's another vote for the Conti Race Kings, which are reasonably light; I have heard good things about Vittoria Barzos as well but have yet to try them. The last new tyres I bought were Scwhalbe Rocket Rons, which I really struggled to fit on Mavic Crossmax rims but which seem to be working quite nicely now. I'm not sure how they'd fare in really gloopy conditions though -- most riding here is quite dry and hard-packed most of the time.

 

[al-onestare]

Come on. Smoke and Dart. End of discussion

 

[enigma]

I use a few different tyres...
Panaracer trail raker I think they are called old school looking aggressive off road tyre, winter use.

Continental couple of different ones, for the money great tyres, not the longest lasting tread, but good tyres.

Wtb do narrow 1.85 / 1.95 nanoraptor I think they are called that I put on the back of my old konas with there tight chainstays.. a more modern wider tyre like a conti up front with good radiused tread for grip steering if I start throwing it about. Works well until the advanced gloop stage of wiltshire clag mid winter.

and if not a weight weinie, I put some finici off ebay on a mates bike, a retro looking budget tyre, actually so far he reckons great choice, look and smell like tyres used actually stink of rubber! not the lightest but also not expensive, so thats my budget shout.

Duro did a tioga psycho rip off but I havent looked for them in a while.. also used to be good for budget work on mates bikes etc.

 

[Carge]

Rocket Ron’s in summer and Nobby Nics in winter - work for me.

 

[Aech]

Conti Trail/Mountain Kings - I rated these on my 26ers, but with one caveat, they have problems with their sidewalls. I've had several simply split on the side walls along the direction of the weave of the casing, some after just a few rides meaning they had to be scrapped with almost no tread wear.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll avoid those then. I usually carry a patch kit, spare tubes & a spare tyre but I'd rather not need to stop in the first place.

On one memorable ride BITD my mate and me used up all the puncture patches we had plus 4 spare tubes, then I got another flat. Ended up stuffing the rear with handfuls of grass just so I could ride it back to the car. FYI when you brake the wheel stops but the tyre slides around the rim and it's brown trousers time.

Come on. Smoke and Dart. End of discussion

I do like the look of those....

Continental couple of different ones, for the money great tyres, not the longest lasting tread, but good tyres.

Function always out weighs lifespan in my opinion (within reason), I remember finding some great super soft compound brake blocks back in the V-brake era that stopped me great even in the wettest/muddiest conditions but they only used to last a couple of rides so no good.

and if not a weight weinie, I put some finici off ebay on a mates bike, a retro looking budget tyre, actually so far he reckons great choice, look and smell like tyres used actually stink of rubber! not the lightest but also not expensive, so thats my budget shout.

I'm not a weight weenie by any means but if I can make my bike lighter without sacrificing performance/durability I will. Having said that I've run Rigida CSB deep profile rims that weigh a ton for 20+ years without warping/buckling them once, I originally rode Mavic rims but trashed far too many of them and got fed up of having to true them up every couple of rides.

Given I ride a fully rigid bike over gnarly trails my equipment does lead a very hard life. I'm not a downhiller so overall weight does matter as most of my riding would be considered cross country but I'll still throw my bike down stuff the majority wouldn't ever consider riding without full suspension.

The riding around here is a mix of hard packed trails and lovely Welsh mud.

 

[Aech]

Thanks for all the suggestions, so I reckon Contiential RaceKing folding or Schwalbe Rocket Rons for the dryer/hard packed trails and Panaracer Smoke and Dart for the gloopy stuff.

Any favourite places to buy these tyres from the bike shops around here don't stock 26" tyres :-(

 

[brocklanders023]

They'll be fine for good weather but terrible in the slop of winter.

On my modern bikes I always run a Magic Mary up front. Not the lightest but another world grip wise compared to any older style. I switched back to some Conti Mountain/X Kings for a while and they scared me to death! Same as the XC tyres on my XC MTB, fine for gentle stuff or dry riding but I hit the deck as soon as it got wet and muddy.

Out back I run a Schwalbe Hans Dampf on my HT, Nobby Nick on my FS. The Dampf used to be my go to but is actually quite draggy so I probably won't get another. Yet to try the Nobby for winter riding.

Plenty of 26" available.

https://www.merlincycles.com/mountain-bike-tyres-75332/?diameter=26-&brand=schwalbe