Trail bike tires
 

Hey,

I bought new Trail bike with Schwalbe Nobby Nic 29x2,25 Evo, Addix, Liteskin. In the overall tires are quite nice but problem is I have "ClassicSkin" version. I hate how they look.

I am big fan of Continental so I tried Race King, because I had them in my previous 26' XC bike. Unfortunately it was not the best choice for Trail bike. Biggest issue is lack of grip on almost all surfaces, because tire can not dig into ground.

I found Mountain King and Trail King. I thought about Trail King 2.4 because I like big volume tires. I heard that Mountain King 2.3 is smaller than expected. I also heard that Trail King is very stiff tire, so it is little less comfortable than Mountaing King. Is this true? I am riding on low pressure, around 20 Psi.

I checked also Cross King, but it is too similar to Race King.

I live on very flat area with lot of forests. So many hard surfaces, some loose sand, small roots and soft forest ground. Not too much descends.

Any opinions which one I should choose from Continental? Any suggestions and opinions?

If you like the performance of the Nobby Nic, why not try the standard black version?

I'm a big fan of the skinwall type tires, but a good point was made, I think they manufacture the Nobby Nics in the black version as well?

if you are set on Contis go with the MK up front and TK in rear
I have the Der Baron up front and they are pretty grippy, not Minions grippy but close

If you're open to other brands, I really like Kenda's BoosterPro. They come in 26, 27.5, and 29 with widths from 2.2 to 2.6. There are two versions: a super light race day (TR) model and an everyday model with sidewall protection (SCT), also tubeless ready and still very light. They roll faster and grip better than Maxxis Ardent Race and Ikon, both of which I used for years. If you want a more aggressive tread, check out their Regolith model--friends really like it.