Tire recommendations?

[JRogers]

I am in search of a set of tires for a new trailbike. Probably, I will be running UST so using that technology would be a big plus. Since I really do not want to run a sealant, puncture resistance is almost as important as traction. My conditions are typical east coast- rocky, sometimes wet, varied terrain. I have looked into a lot of manuf. and I have not found one that seems to be better than the rest. I need somewhere in the 2.0-2.2 size range with decent weight. Any suggestions?

[fasterTHANyou]

conti vertical pros...

LOVE em... a little heavy, nice and knobby though, great grip... the wear pretty well too

[blue]

Vert pros are advertised as 2.3s, but in reality they're closer to a 2.15. I'd still be sure they'd fit your frame/fork. For UST XC use I'd run a UST Panaracer FireXC Pro. If you feel rich and want to get new tires every two months, get Hutchinson Scorpion UST. They're sweet tires, stick to the trail like glue and have low rolling resistance, but they wear extremely quickly. And depending on where you get them, they're quite expensive.

[fasterTHANyou]

Originally posted by xbluethunderx
Vert pros are advertised as 2.3s, but in reality they're closer to a 2.15. I'd still be sure they'd fit your frame/fork. For UST XC use I'd run a UST Panaracer FireXC Pro. If you feel rich and want to get new tires every two months, get Hutchinson Scorpion UST. They're sweet tires, stick to the trail like glue and have low rolling resistance, but they wear extremely quickly. And depending on where you get them, they're quite expensive.

i ride the vert pros on my cdale... no problem with clearance at all. and yes, hutchinsons wear like absolute $hit in all of my experiences with them... i love their tires, but i hate shelling out $$ every couple of weeks

[JRogers]

I was looking into contis as I've heard good things. The price was a bit of a concern, though. Can't find them for less than $45-50. Panaracers and Hutchinson are like $30 each but I am wary of the wear issues with the scorpions and flatting/durability issues with the panaracers. Shame because the fire xc pros are my favorite conventional XC tire.

Anyone ever use Geax or Tioga USTs?

[fasterTHANyou]

conti's ARE pricey... but they are a quality tire... the tread one mine has held up remarkably well, considering i do too muc riding on the road here in dc with them... the huchtinsons are cheaper but you will definitely be replacing them more often...

i haven't rideen the tiogas, but a buddy of mine comlained about the quality as compared to hutch and conti...

[oldfart]

I tried a set of Red Phoenix Tiogas last summer. Really light, the 1.9 was quite narrow. The foamed rubber compound is soft sticky and wears really fast. In one ride I had chunkage on the rear. For a RACE ONLY tire, I'd get another set but not for every day training.

As a general rule, light tires have either lighter less durable materials or less material. Either way they will probably be small and some what more fragile than a beafier heavier tire.

I ran some Maxxis Larsen TT UST last year too. Nice tires. I may get a set of the Maxxis High Roller UST. People around here like the regular High Roller and Maxxis tires in general seem pretty high quality.

[jdcamb]

I fourth, fifth, sixth, whatever the Conti Vertical Pros. A great tire for East Coast rocky, rooty, slimy stuff. I only run them in the back but they work well for me.....jdcamb

[1000-Oaks]

Get the Vertical "ProTection" kevlar sidewall version, worth the extra few bucks.

[MikeD]

The UST Vert Pro only comes in one casing; I think it does have the kevlar in there.

[Jesus]

I like the Panaracer Trail Blasters in 2.1. But the tubless version in any tire is usually about 100 to 200 grams heavier, so I always get a regular XC tire and throw a scoop of stans in there, and I have never had a problem.

This past summer I ran the Maxxis Flyweight 330 gram tires tubeless. The acceleration was phenomenal. The lightest combo I have ever ran, by far.

BTW I am running 317's with the Stans kit with ZERO problems. And sometimes I cahange tires weekly, so it's not too much of a hassle.

[JRogers]

Thanks for the help guys. I ordered a set of Vertical Pro 2.3s and some Stan's sealant just for kicks. Cost quite a bit but hopefully worth it.