Tire chat (nerds only)

Thanks @Evil96 for the suggestion. 2.4 Romy Radial clears a Santa Cruz Hightower v4 frame. Second pic is the damage one ride did to the linkage when I was too lazy to change out 2.5 Albert. 

I think I need a grippier tread for the front of my SST. Currently I’m running dual WTB Peacekeepers (high grip front/fast rolling rear), but I need more grip at the front wheel especially. I’d love to have something similarly fast rolling, but especially as conditions get a bit dustier, I don’t feel like I have the hold I need in corners. Suggestions appreciated!!

that's not really any serious wear IMHO. however santa cruz does sell a lower link if you were concerned or didn't like looking at the damage.

that romy 2.4 seems like it has a reasonable amount of clearance, for dry at least.

What are people running for summer trail tires? I just switched to a Dissector V2/Forekaster Exo+ combo. Thoughts:

I forgot how good Maxxgrip is when its new. 

I was definitely getting squirrely off of the lips of jumps for the first few runs - I'd gotten so used to the radial front that my brain had to recalibrate. 

I was pretty confident on the dissector right away. No vague handling characteristics, no washouts, solid cornering in dry/loose conditions. Curious to see how the forekaster holds up in the rear. 

What kind of wear life are those of you running the new Romy getting on the rear? I've been using a 2.4 non-radial mid for around a month (maybe 150 miles) and the side knobs were already showing some wear on perhaps the third ride and then I completely ripped a side Knob Off on a ride this past weekend. I'm in western Washington state which is typically fairly easy on tires 

I've been using radials in the front for a while and just recently started trying schwalbe rears. I'm not super impressed with the wear either. Nobby Nic speedgrip/mid(?) seems to be wearing about as poorly as an old MaxTerra and the 2 soft Tacky Chans are tearing at the sideknobs after the first ride

The new gravity radial (TC) is still way too wobbly for bike park use IMO and borderline for slower loose stuff. Definitely prefer the 2.4 Tacky in the rear and the $70 non-pro version is nice. Will probably go back to Krypto soft / MM ultrasoft even though conti jacked up prices

Yeah, I will probably go back to specialized tires myself because I get a nice discount that brings them to about $50 a pop and had good wear characteristics on them

I've been on Kenda Nevegal 2 Pro on the front and I've been very impressed. 

2.4s measure a bit narrow. 

2.6 are perfect (at least on my hardtail where a bit more cushioning is nice!) 

Running them in both 29er and 27.5 both front and rear (on different bikes) and I am genuinely impressed. As grippy as DHF / DHR II (that I can compare to) but much lighter and much faster rolling.

Anyone have ride time on the new radial specialized tires to compare to non radial? Always been a fan of butchers 

I haven't personally but here's a review, hopefully that helps 

Specialized Butcher and Eliminator Radial Tires

Is it just me or do DH casing Conti Kryptotals last 5x longer than Maxxis in the bike park? 

I'm currently on 20+ park days and these tires still have life in them. I don't think I'll ever buy another Maxxis tire. 

soft is that tough yes. super soft is tougher than 3cg but I wouldn't say 5x. 

My experience with super softs is about somewhere 2x-3x longer lifespan than Schwalbe and Maxxis' stickiest tires. I really like how they ride, but the durability is what keeps them on my bikes.

Swapped my TC 2.5 Trail Pro Radial Soft after ~250mi for a Romy 2.5 Trail Pro Radial Soft yesterday.

The TC was definitely worn, but could have lasted another 50mi if I didn’t have another tire I wanted to try. Another 100mi and it would have been pretty roached. That’s about what I’d expect to get out of a DHR2 MaxTerra. (I haven’t tried the new MaxTerra compound.) Really good tire in back, with my only real complaint being that the center knobs feel squirmy on high-traction rocks and a little vague on hardpack. Great in loose and loose-over-hard, though.

My legs are still cooked from the gym, so my ride yesterday wasn’t particularly adventurous, but my first impressions of the Romy are really positive. It rolls really fast, climbing traction seems great, no complaints about braking traction, and the cornering lugs hook up really nice. I didn’t get out to the slabs yet, but my initial impressions are that the Romy has less squirm on rocks than the TC. Not unexpected, given the tighter spacing, greater width, and lower height of the center knobs on the Romy.

I think Romy/Romy would be a really great choice for a trail bike in dry, rocky conditions, and I’m pretty curious now how it would go as a front tire on some of the gnarlier trails around here. You’d lose some braking traction, I think, but the corner lugs seem as burly as either the TC or MM.