Whats your favorite rubber?

[mikee]

i guess there's some merit in design of the tread. tyres with a central
ridge usually roll quicker on hard surfaces,but off road there's a lot of
factors to consider. usually a rear tyre (driving wheel) will have a
paddle style pattern be that straight/square or a vee style to dig into
the earth and propell you forward.
on the front you need the opposite to grip during breaking.
then you need to think about side grip,if the rear slides it's usually predictable and thus saveable but the front may not be hence the wider
front tyre
this is a bit of the theory,the reality (when you put a human on a bike)
is a bit more complex,you have things like feel & confidence to deal with
factor in different bikes,terrain,styles of riding not to mention sizes and compounds and you see the problems recomending tyres.
sometimes tyres are just that shape to be different.
kieth bontrager wrote an article on bike handling being impossible to define due to a lot of the factors mentioned if i can find it i'll scan & post it
gives an interesting insight into this subject.
mike

 

[REKIBorter]

No one sticking up for Continental ...

What about the old favourite Conti Cross Country best allrounder and made a lovely buzzing noise on tarmac. And don't forget the Conti Traction Pro, excellent when things started to get a bit soft and sticky, plus they came in that lovely dual compound with the yellow stripe down the middle (see the photo of Cannondale f900 in my gallery). Or perhaps the Conti Leader Pro, the original semi slick, had an amazing amount of grip when riding in dry conditions.

I did most of my riding on Contis and have a large collection in my garage as the wife reminds me every time it falls down.

 

[Hermit]

IRC Mythos XC - found these great for summer.

Z Max up front and skinny Smoke for the winter mud, still got the Smoke but the Z Max went - is that right you can still get them?

Specialized Nimbus for the road.

I've got 2 NOS Farmer John Nephews in the shed, are these a mud/off road tyre, I remember seeing them on a lot of touring MTB bikes - remember the stories and photos you used to get in the bike mags? - and got them to use on a trip that never happened and never fitted them?

Is it also right you can't get skinwall anymore, I've been out the loop since the turn of the century so don't know what what anymore? :?

 

[erolorhun]

Right now running Gazza 3.0" front and Continental Diesel 2.5" in the rear. Heard a lot of positive things about the BigBetty so would like to try those out. For a while Tiogas where the rubber to have but no more...

 

[stevemar]

i always had luck with maxis helter/skelters and ritchey alphabite/omegabite as far as durability and wear---ive used psychos, spec. control masters, wtb v-raptors (thin 44/50's) which were ok but tended to shear the knobs off before they were worn out, exposing the cord---right now use a green mich wildgripper lite which has been real durable--any one ever use vredestien k-nobs? made in holland--i have one of those in the back--so far so good

 

[stevemar]

i always had luck with maxis helter/skelters and ritchey alphabite/omegabite as far as durability and wear---ive used psychos, spec. control masters, wtb v-raptors (thin 44/50's) which were ok but tended to shear the knobs off before they were worn out, exposing the cord---right now use a green mich wildgripper lite which has been real durable--any one ever use vredestien k-nobs? made in holland--i have one of those in the back--so far so good

 

[stevemar]

sorry for the double post---and i think i meant spec ground controls, not control masters

 

[mikee]

No one sticking up for Continental ...



I did most of my riding on Contis and have a large collection in my garage as the wife reminds me every time it falls down.

what is it with women and tyres?
"just put the kettle on you want coffee ? ...do you really need all those
tyres ?
mike.