Tubeless 29er Tyres - Any Recommendations

[Firmo]

I'm looking to go tubeless on the new bike. The tyres will be covering dusty Spanish mountainous trails in June, and the bike will be half-laden with gear for 8 days. I'm certain there will be a lot of humping the bike up big hills, so should I be looking at something as low-weight as possible?

What do you recommend?
Also, is it worth considering different tyres for front and back / different widths?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I bought some Geax AKA from On-One ... much cheapness. Tread pattern looks ideal for dry, hard and dusty conditions. I bought the steel version but the folders look light enough.

I also love Race Kings but the word tubeless in your question, means I can't recommend them in this instance.

If you can find a pair (try Germany) the WTB Weirwolf LT is a great tyre for that type of terrain.

[whitestone]

I'm looking to go tubeless on the new bike. The tyres will be covering dusty Spanish mountainous trails in June, and the bike will be half-laden with gear for 8 days. I'm certain there will be a lot of humping the bike up big hills, so should I be looking at something as low-weight as possible?

What do you recommend?
Also, is it worth considering different tyres for front and back / different widths?

I'm running Bontrager XR4 2.35 on the front and XR3 2.2 on the rear. I originally had a Maxxis Ardent of the same width on the rear but didn't get on with it. Other than these I've nothing to compare against as it's my first bike with tubeless. The tyres have been fine for both XC riding and blasting round trail centres.

I think the Ardents are fine for trail centres but quite a few people I know don't like them for general "natural" riding.

[Taylor]

I've spent the last year on ardent race front and ikon rear.
Good in all but the gloopiest winter mud.
Both set up as tubeless.

[Ben98]

I've used X-kings, which were good, but not the fastest and I don't know how they do tubeless. AKA's are the fastest MTB tyre I've come across, its scarily fast, but again I didn't set it up tubeless. My current tires are Nobby Nicks, which are good in the mud, and set up tubeless easy, but they are very slowww

[Scattamah]

WTB Nano TCS (2.1") are what I go for front and back. Roll fast, great in dry conditions and with 2 scoops of Stans, hold well. They do seem to wear a bit quicker than I'm used to. I'm in the process of changing the rear tyre after 2000 miles of use but the front still has plenty of tread. Clearing 'em on CRC at the moment.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/wtb- ... -prod58706

Greetz

S.

[vorlich]

Saguaro?

[mountainbaker]

I've been using Conti X-King ProTection tubless for probably 3000 miles, not a single puncture, and they inflate easy every time. recently replaced the rear as I ride in a really flinty area and many of the treads had been sliced off, and there were loads of cuts in the sidewall, but nothing got through!

[jameso]

Spanish mountainous trails in June, and the bike will be half-laden with gear for 8 days. I'm certain there will be a lot of humping the bike up big hills, so should I be looking at something as low-weight as possible?

For that I'd be using my Ardent 2.4 EXOs or any other EXO / UST Maxxis tyre. A bit weighty compared to others (800-900g) but they cope with less pressure so are comfy, roll well and rocky mountains aren't a place to save weight on tyres ime/imo. Ardent EXOs are pretty tough and go up tubeless easily. Specialized tyres are good ime, the Grid casing gets good feedback and the std 2-Bliss casing is averagely durable. Nanos and Saguaros are good fast/light tyres, work well tubeless and are fast as well as quite grippy in the wet, but I've found they are much more easily cut and flatted.

[AlasdairMc]

My current tires are Nobby Nicks, which are good in the mud, and set up tubeless easy, but they are very slowww

I found the Nics that Merlin had half price to be rubbish to seal tubeless. The sidewalls aren't as strong as I'd like either given that one blew up on me earlier this week...

Saguaro TNT is a nice strong tyre, but once worn it becomes awful in the wet - the centre ridge protrudes so you get no grip. Up to that point they're fine though...

[boxelder]

Any of the Specialized tyres seal well and are good value. Sidewall/carcass varies from light/puny through to heavier/sturdy in the order: S-Works - Control - Grid
I've found Racing Ralphs good to, for a hardpack tyre which can hold it's own in some slop.

[rufus748]

Recently swapped from X Kings (nightmare to set up tubeless, sidewalls leaked like a sieve) to Ardents 2.4 Exo TR. Went up tubless very easily. I've only ridden in the dry so far but am happy with them. I've noticed the side wall is way thicker than the Conti's, so much so that when out on a ride to guage pressures I kept releasing air until I got to a pressure I was happy with, checked when I got home and they were 17 front and rear...! Suffice to say I've increased them since then. Even at 17 they retained shape much better than the Conti's did at 30.

[InspiredRamblings]

Hey Lee,

I know we talked about this separately but just to add my two pence worth to this thread - on my Ogre last year through France and Spain I used 29 x 2.4 Ardent EXOs. Mainly for the volume as I wanted cushioning for carrying a decent load on the trail and the bike is set up with rigid forks. They do have an aggressive tread but off-road I find they actually roll really well. On tarmac they really need lots of air to avoid that feeling of being sucked into the road...!

I had them set up tubeless on Stans Flow EX rims and didn't suffer one flat in over 2500 miles on all sorts of terrain - from tarmac, mud, dirt, gravel, rock. There were a few moments where I was worried I might have just gouged them across a sharp pointy rock but the sidewalls must be pretty tough. Whether its the tubeless setup that hid any punctures that I did have, or just that the Ardents are so tough that I didn't actually get any, I don't know. But with that, and the volume, I'm sold on them. Taking a nice amount of pressure out of them for the trail makes the ride really smooth and grippy also.

You could try to find something less aggressive, especially as you'll be carrying less gear than I was. But it may come down to how much volume and comfort / float you want to give yourself (if you end up having to go for a less aggressive tyre that only comes in a smaller, less voluminous size). I have been tempted to find something with a less aggressive tread but there don't seem to be many that allow you to retain the volume, without stepping up to 29+. I'm personally really tempted by a 29+ bike, so really don't want to go down in tyre width/volume, but that may be a slightly different style from yours, I think.