jrickards

My son is taking back his Continental Mountain King tires (boo hoo!) but while they were nice for a recent ride, in fact, their 2.4" width was too wide for my 29er: when I changed to the small chainring, the side of the tire rubbed against the chain so I had to stick with the middle chainring.

They came with Kenda Small Block 2.1" which I hated and, for the sake of commuting on the bike, I put some smoother tires on it. However, I now commute on a different bike and want to use this bike for more mountain biking type stuff.

I want to do more riding like I had done recently which is on some trails and gravel roads. However, the trails are ATV trails and rather rough in terms of the loose rocks found on it. The gravel road that my brother-in-law and I rode on, also is rather rough (but can be driven on in a pickup): the worst of it has rocks that are a bit larger than golf ball size and larger ones are avoided, not rolled over.

In both cases, my goal is to ride distances, not difficult technical stuff and although the Mountain King was quite knobby, it seemed to work quite fine for both grip as well as not hindering the distance (we rode 53km in about 3:45hrs of moving time) and while you might just say, if it worked, just go with it (but the 2.2" size instead) so I'm looking for suggestions for alternates to consider.

gsa103

I've been very happy with Schwalbe. The Hans Dampf makes a very good knobby front, paired with something a little less aggressive and better rolling for the rear. Schwalbe has a whole range of profiles, so I wouldn't hesistate to pick and choose based on terrain.

sjfoote081

MY favorite 29" tires have been WTB Bronson - great everywhere I've ridden in the southeast. My next favorite is the WTB TrailBoss - not quite as nice as the Bronson (does not come in 27.5 or I would still be using) but pretty good everywhere and especially grippy on roots. There are many great tires available but I really have enjoyed these.

Lucryster

I prefer the maxxis dhrs

justin70

Maxxis DHR II, agreed. Unless you're trying to win races. Excellent grip.

WannaGetGood

For myself, Maxxis Minions are awesome. I have never had troubles with them. Both my wheel sets have them.

rasheed

I'm partial to Maxxis myself. I fell in love with them after I replaced the IRC Trailbears with Highrollers on my old bike. My new bike came with Highroller IIs, which was one of the things I was looking for when shopping for it. All the popular 29er trail/all-mountain/enduro tires in Maxxis's line up with similar tread patters to the Conti only come in 2.3 or wider. They do have the Aspen and the Crossmark II, which both come in 2.1 & 2.25, but I haven't ridden either of them, so it wouldn't really be a suggestion based on anything other than the fact that the listed tire width fits your needs.

fietsbob

I liked the Continental travel contact that my Koga Trekking bike had on it.. 559-47.

Just so many 'experts' kept offering that I had worn my Knobbies bald down the center,,


because the tread design was a smooth center band, for long pavement mileage, and a row of knobs on the edges for dirt roads/gravel.


....

FrozenK

For what the OP describes I think Highrollers and Minnions are overkill. I don't think they need to be hauling a downhill tire on a fire road.

I would recommend an Ikon 2.2 in the back and either an Ardent or an Ikon 2.35 up front (the 2.35 Ikon has a more aggressive thread than the 2.2) Or just stick to the Continental that you already know you like.

rasheed

The main deciding factor in buying my new bike was to find a bike within my budget with as close to my desired build as possible so that I wouldn't have to upgrade anything until something broke or wore out--and that included Maxxis rubber.

quicktrigger

FWIW, just bought a new mtb. Bike came with Maxxis Ikon on the back and Maxxis Ardent on the front. Yesterday, ON THE VERY FIRST RIDE, about 3-4 miles in, the sidewall of the Ikon blew out with a loud bang. Was not cut, scrap, or anything else. Had 40 PSI, and was on smooth clean single track. WTH????

rasheed

Good to know. I don't directly deal with LBSs too often. Most, if not all, my bike related purchases are online--either with online retailers or with LBSs with an online presence. I like my transactions to be as hassle free and as straight forward as I can make them, so I look for things as close to what I want and how I want before buying. Asking to swap out tires is just one extra thing that if I can avoid, I will.

That being said, I couldn't be happier with the bike I ended up buying. It practically had everything I was looking for in terms of components--major and minor.

FrozenK

Warranty issue?

quicktrigger

It appears to be. I have submitted a claim, we will see. Brand new bike, and I don't even get to complete one ride. Think I'm going to order another brand as a replacement so that I can get back on the trail. How Maxxis handles this, will determine if I go near their tires again.