Mountain Biking - any FAST freeride style fat tire with lots of cornering traction?

Got my new bike, but the big knobby tires are way slow. They're cool in shallow mud, and especially while flying down a muddy hill, but they don't coast worth a flip. The tires are really loud on pavement. Any suggestions that I could switch to? I saw some in PricePoint's catalog that looked interesting, seems like they were the Weirwolf, but they look different on their website. I'm mostly on hardpacked soil and small rocks, with the occasional stretch of surface mud, nothing real deep at all, just slick on the surface.

Michelins have some of the best compounds for slippery surfaces. Take a look at those.

http://www.bikecanada.com/catalog/tires/michelin/tire11.shtml

You didn't say whether this was for xc or anything more technical so I assume xc. Michelins work really well on that type of surface :)

Ahhh freeride..

http://www.bikecanada.com/catalog/tires/michelin/tire05.shtml

You didn't say a size. Also some people mix Maxxis tires. Front is one style for turning traction and rear is another for pedalling traction and speed.

HEre is a typical combination of tires that works for best steering and speed

1 2.7 Mobster Super tack up front
1 2.5 High Roller Super tack out back

Obviously if you can't run tires that big go smaller but that works really well. HEre is a good discussion on tires and compounds

http://www.ridemonkey.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=40709&perpage=15&highlight=maxxis%20tire&pagenumber=1

Yeah currently I do mostly singletrack XC, but I like to let 'er rip on rough downhill sections, and I'm going to start riding at another state park that has really rooty downhill sections and rock gardens, so I'm not looking for a superlite or anything. I've got the new Haro Extreme X3 with 5" suspension front and rear and really beefed up everything. The tires are Maxxis 2.35. I forget the type, but they say "Dyn-O-Mite!" real big on the sidewalls. I like them, especially how they're bigger than my old ones, they're just really slow. Basically looking for a freeride/downhill style setup that is fast enough for XC.

Try that maxxis combination. I have heard good things about it. Otherwise switch in and out. Good freeride tires shouldn't be much fun for xc pedaling. Thats like asking for a sporty hatchback. IT may look good but the performance will still be that of a hatchback :)

actually it's more like asking for a monster truck and then expecting it to perform well on the street! ha ha ha.... I say since you are going to a new park with big rocks and roots, stick with the bigger tires, otherwise if you get something that's a better for xc..you'll be pissed casue you'll get tons of flats! :D

Yeah I guess I'm just going to have to keep two sets of tires - the ones I got and some fast rolling XC tires. I didn't really want to change them all the time though. I definitely took a big speed hit on hard flat surfaces, so I'd like to swap out if I want to keep up with my XC racing buds. One thing I noticed was that the knobby slapping sound goes away when I'm turning. It's only around when I'm straight up and down. I also noticed that my center knobs are spaced out pretty far apart. I'm wondering if the speed hit is the result of this row of knobs each individually slapping the ground. I saw that one of the Maxxis tires, I think the high roller, has cut edges to eliminate this. I'm probably crazy, but I wonder if I could do a home grown cutting job on this center line of knobs and get a little more speed.

You might try the Continental Vertical Pro-tection 2.3's. (Pro-tection is the line with extra sidewall reinforcement)I have a pair with about 500 miles on now, and I think they are a great all around tire. Great climbing and cornering traction, fairly low weight (610 grams I think), big volume, and not too bad to push fast . They are pricey, but I will still buy anbother pair when these wear out.

If you have the dough, go for a par of Maxxis Lopes Bling Bling Duals, they're 2.35 and it has a bunch of cornering traction and it is fast enough to use as a xc tire, if not go for what Maelstrom suggested, I use that combo also and love it for urban/dh, but all around tire are the bling bling duals for me.

Hey guys, how about the High Roller semi-slick? These appear to be just what I want. Nice and fat, lots of cornering traction, yet really fast. Anybody have any experience? It's got the same tread as the downhill high roller tire, but they have the semi-slick tread in the middle, right where I'm losing lots of speed. These would work great on my normal singletrack, and if I go to this new place, or if it's crazy muddy, I could switch out.


http://www.maxxis.com/getImage.asp?FileID=3330

that's a great tire for XC...but man if you're going to be doing any kind of DH...that' thing will be scary when you get on the brakes and if you are on any kind of roots/ruts...!! But if you aren't really goin hardcore dh...then as long as it has a stiffer side wall I say give it a shot! You already have a set of big dh tires...so if they don't work for what you want, then swap back. This is a hard thing to try and help someone out with....some guys like the tires one way and other like em the other...so all you can do is give em a shot. but see what alot of the other guys say.