notfred

I want a tire I can use to do everything: Cross Country, some freeriding with jumps and drops and stuff (probably not bigger than 4-6 feet for a while), a bit of urban stuff like stairs, riding around town for the hell of it when I don't feel like driving. I'm a 200lb guy riding a 30lb hardtail, so any tire I put on my bike has to hold up to 230lbs landing on it from 4-6 feet up, without any suspension.

Of course, the ideal tire would have low rolling resistance, great traction, weigh 500 grams, and be indestructible, but no one can actually build that. I have Tioga Factory DH 2.1s on my bike right now, and they've been OK. They're durable enough, but they're ridiculpously heavy and the traction on the rear sucks uphill. I was looking at the Panaracer Fire XC pros in 2.1 width, and they're half the weight of the Tiogas and supposedly have good traction for climbing, but I wonder if I'd destroy them really quickly using them for more than XC duty. I also looked at the Panaracer Fire FR, which should be more durable than the Fire XC, but a 2.4 tire seems like it might have a really high rolling resistance when I'm riding it XC or on asphalt. I've also glanced at the WTB Velociraptors, but haven't really formed an opinion about them yet.

Anyone got any suggestions on tires or opinions on the ones I've already talked about?

Thanks.

Maelstrom 

Was going to suggest the maxxis highrollers...but then saw you thing the factory DH is heavy. Oh well, I can't suggest much as my lightest tirer is the highroller

mtnbiker66

I run Maxxis Minon DH and really like them.Their are lots to choose from.

notfred

I wouldn't rule out a tire jsut because it's heavy, if it's good at everything else, but of course I'd prefer a tire to be lighter if everything else was equal A difference of half a pound on a 230lb package isn't really a huge deal. Also, the 2.35 high roller is still 100g lighter than the factory DH.

Juniper

Good point. And rolling resistance is a lot more than just weight or width. I find tread pattern (matched, or mismatched, to a particular surface) to be one of the biggest factors in rolling resistance.

Maelstrom 

Well the highroller is FAST. I foudn the 60d highroller to be a big improvement over the tioga (I ran those before)

arboc!

nokian has some good all around tires.

enduro

WTB Weirwolfs get really good reviews for an all-around tire. You don't have to get huge tires necessarily to hold up under the abuse, just run really high pressure. For urban stuff for example, you can run like 50 psi, then lower to like 30 for trail riding to get more grip. I have Tioga Factory DH 2.3 tires and use them for everything, I just make sure to vary the tire pressure depending on my riding; low pressure really helps them hook up on the trails.

Also try better tubes...maybe downhill or latex tubes will give you better results without adding too much weight.