Hi,
I am looking for a pair of tires for a friend. I am a roadie and know nothing about MTB tires.

Here is what he asked:
A good quality pair of 26"x2.1", front and rear, for cross country and single-track, should go as low as 35PSI..
He said that the front and rear tires are different.. ??

Can someone please give me some ideas..

Thanks in advance!


.

Some tyres come in matched pairs with the front and rear tyres having different treads, such as the irc mythos XC

http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photos/medium/IR-MTO.gif vs http://www.nashbar.com/nashbar_photo...TO.image.1.gif

Panaracer Fire XC Pro's.

I think Shane45 is right....Probably one of the best all around xc tyres is Panaracer Fire xc Pro. For me anyway. I replaced my IRC Mythos (also a great tyre) with Fire xc. They really hook up in mud, sand gravel etc. Mud does seem to stick to them somewhat but as soon as you get some speed into them, they shed the mud away quickly enough.
Here in New England, the terrain is such that there is no one kind of surface in any area. A trail may be sandy for a short distance then turn rocky then loaded with roots and moss all in a matter of a couple of hundred feet, so it's important to have a tyre that works well in all conditions.
The xc Pro's are not front and rear specific either, which makes rotation every so often possible. Just alternate front to rear and go.
They even look cool. Blue,red or yellow sidewalls, although that shouldn't matter.(but we all know better, don't we?)
By the way, I run mine 35-38psi

is kenda any good?

Kenda is good.

I got a set of Panaracer Fire XC Pro's last month...brilliant. Just make sure you get the ones that are made in Japan or USA (higher TPi).


That would be your best shot at an all round tyre.

what would be a good tire for trails and would give you ******** amounts of grip on roads? (i'm looking to actually get into freeriding... urban-style, trail-style, XC, and my daily road exercise)

IRC Methos or probalby the Panaracers.

hm. the mythos looks way too blocky... i dont know if that'd grip on tarmac... looking at the slick version loosk a lot better.

another thing. how are the bontrager big earl's that come with the bruiser?

Panaracer Fire XC Pro's or IRC Serac XC's.

I find WTB Velociraptors to be great all around tires. I would also look at IRC Mythos XC (these are really 1.95) that have a similar thread pattern and can be usually found in sale. For less rolling resistance and slightly less traction I would recommend that you check WTB Epicwolf (also 1.95).

I personally like Panaracer tires, but there's several good brands also out there. I mainly check the weight of each tire also. It's very important, and should be considered along with the tread pattern.
I try not to spend my $$$ on any tire that weighs more than 600gm. Otherwise it's very heavy & slow on the flats & uphills....

I frickin' love my holy rollers, but I hear only good things about hookworms as long as you don't get them into too much dirt (they are two ply so they resist snake bites much better). The holy rollers have a better all around tread than the hookworms though, but they are single-ply. I think in a 26, the hookworms come only in a 2.5 and the holy rollers in a 2.4.

Panaracer Fire XC Pros have been the best I've tried so far.

If you go this route, make sure you buy the kevlar beaded version made in Japan. There's a wire bead/60tpi/made in Taiwan version on the market, which is usually a bit cheaper, but heavier and supposedly not as good (different rubber compound, from what I heard).

I am not impressed W/ my Michilen all mountians. they are they are weak in mud and I could not hook up on wet pavement today. I was actualy doing a burnout up a wet paved hill today a fairly steep hill but none the less I nearly had to walk on a paved road.

I would say the best all round tires would be either out of the Panaracer Fire XC Pro 2.1 (120TPI Version, Japan), IRC Serac XC 2.1, Nokian NBX 2.1 or the WTB Velociraptor 2.1 (different tread on front and rear).

Kenda stickies - Kharisma is a great all-around MTB tire for dry or muddy conditions, and hold up well. The kind of tire you want depends upon the general riding conditions you have.... what works well on the east coast may not be so great for the west...

I like the hutchinson scorpion gold elites.

Ritchey tires have a very attractive price and have never led me wrong. Elevaders in rearfront, excavader in front