Al K

Hi MTBers,

Replaced my Level Betty's 2.1'' tires (because sidewalls splitting) with WTB Weirwolf 2.5 tires (35-65 psi). Noticeable difference on loose gravel, but haven't used much yet.

What's been your experiences with wide tires?

scrublover

slower while climbing, but very nice coming back down. a little heavier, to a lot heavier, depending on what tire you choose. the smallest tire i run is a 2.25" IRC Trailbear. the largest for me is a tie between an intense 909 2.7" and a Specialized Evil Twin 2.6" a few in between. i think the lightest is about 720gms, and the heaviest is nearly exactly twice that. My norm is to run a DH dual ply tire in the rear, and something a bit lighter/wider up front. Personal fav combo right now is a Maxxis Mobster 2.5" 60da DH in the rear, and a 2.4" Panaracer Fire FR up front. The 2.4" tire is actually *slightly* larger than the 2.5"

on slow speed technical rock crawling, big, fat tires with low PSI, uh, well, rock. i can run some of my largest tires at </=20PSI and not have any problems. very nice on long descents/lift runs. or for running the large fatties on the front of my rigid SS. two of my rides are hardtails, and running fat tires on the backs of those is a nice thing.

as a general rule, the larger the tire, the lower the pressure you can run without worrying about pinch flatting. very nice feature, especially if you still like to run tubes instead of tubeless.

unless you are racing, or are a total weight weenie, go for the big meats. for the once in a while race, i through on some 2.1 panaracer Fire XC Pros.
a few examples. the Specy2.6, the Pana 2.4, the IRC 2.25.

chaloots

i'm also running the weirwolf 2.5's. they work well for me. lots of grip. i feel confident rolling over rocks and roots not having to worry as much about pinch flats because they're burly.

Dannihilator

Mine have been really good to me, me I use a 26x2.7 Maxxis Minion DHF on the front and a 26x2.35 Minion DHR. When I'm not riding street or dirt jumping.

a2psyklnut

Most of the trails I ride are a lot of XC trails connecting some "play" areas. So I tend to run a max width of 2.4 in front and a slightly narrower (due to frame clearance) of 2.25 to 2.3 in the rear.

I play around with a wider tire in front, but since I'm restricted to a 2.3 in the back I don't want there to be a HUGE disparity between front and back.

Maelstrom 

I run the same as a2 on my trail and my djer. To be honest you don't need a big tire in the back in my experience. In the front on both I run a 2.5 or 2.7. It hooks up better and just feels better when hitting the rough stuff

On my dh bike its another story. 2.7 front and back

snoopz666

26x2.5 kend nevegal/blugroove combination. they dont roll relly fast but theyre really grippy even in mud and snow. its really nice having the wide tires. More SA=more traction