Tires for rigid 26er?
 

I am restoring my old 04 Gary Fisher and turning it into a full rigid MTB. It has come time to select tires and I need some advice as to which tire and combo. Use will be XC and technical singletrack.

I am currently considering the following tires from WTB: Rear Velociraptor 26x2.1; Front Stout 26x2.3; and Front Prowler 26x2.3

I want to go with a larger tire up front to soak up as much vibration as possible given i am using a rigid front fork.

Any other tire/combos I should be looking at? Thanks.

On my rigid 1x9 I have a wtb mutano raptor 2.4 on the front, and a prowler mx 2.3 on the back. I have a wtb weirwolf LT 2.55 on order for the front, but it hasn't gotten here yet.

2.35 Nevegal front / 2.1 Nevegal rear

The 2.35 Nevegal front that chelboed mentioned is WAAAYYY better than the WTB Veloci front. I've got both and ditched the WTB after about three rides. The Nevegal has similar rolling resistance but tons more grip and a nice smooth feel.

As for the rear, that Velociraptor has a great tread design for loose soil and some good on center grip. The Nevegal doesn't have quite as big a paddle but has great off center grip which not only helps on corners, it comes in to play on rocks and roots as well.

I'm going to mirror chelboed's recommendation here. I'd add Kenda's DTC variants of the Nevegal to the list, since they should wear longer on center.

Haha, I've got a rigid build going right now that I'm putting 2.1 on the front and 1.95 on the back. Maybe I'm just weird. I'll tell you all how it goes when it's all together.

Geax Sturdy 2.25. Extremely tall and cushy tire. If the 2.25 won't fit in the rear, use the 2.1. Best tire ever

Nevegal's FTW.
Since we're talking about tires.
I know that 26 is the rim size and 2.XX is the tire width, but what does the TPI number mean?
Treads per inch?
Maxxis has some nasty looking tires too.

Yes...Threads Per Inch

sarcasm?
I said TREADS per inch anyways.
Like number of treads per inch on the tire.