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Tire sizes and Austin Trails


mack_turtle

Tyrez  

58 members have voted

  1. 1. What size are you "rocking," as the kids say, the most right now

    • 29er < 2.5
      29
    • 29+
      5
    • 27.5
      11
    • 27.5+
      9
    • Fat!
      0
    • Old school 26 fo life
      4


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I'm running 29+ and love it.  But I also don't like to push my way on everyone.  You must find your own way. 😉

The trends I'm seeing are towards skinny plus (2.5-2.6").  The tire companies are starting to fill this in recently.  I do find some appeal to it, but in hopes of finding a lighter weight 'racing tire' for me to use as a step down from 3" when needed.  My problem is though that my current 3" have come in around 820 grams and also held up to 80 miles of LGT.  So I'm not sure that finding a 2.6" tire that weighs 775 is really makes economic sense.  But I'm also a weird edge case.

Later, -CJB

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I converted a 29 to 27.5+ and 3.0 tires. Essentially the same diameter as 29 overall, so no difference in gearing.

I'll probably go to 2.8 width on the next set just to see what those are like, and, to fit the MuckyNutz fender on the front that won't fit with the 3.0 tires.

I bought a set of Spank Oozy 395 wheels for the conversion. Good price for trying out 27.5+ thing without breaking the bank. The wider rim seems crucial to getting the most benefit from this.

I'm liking the ride on these, particularly the improved traction in turns.

Edited by Ridenfool
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42 minutes ago, mack_turtle said:

Curious just because it's interesting, but also because my bike could take 29+ tire. It would be a very expressive experiment though. Maybe I need to borrow some wheels like that and take em for a spin sometime. (142/100 axles, in case anyone has such a thing around.)

 

Most of the 29+ I'm aware of are on Boost hubs.

I bought my bike as an experiment and ended up really falling in love with it (more than just the tires).  My early impressions reminded me of when I first went to the 29 platform.  The 29+ wheel is 6-7% larger in diameter and thus I noticed even more monster truckness (angle of approach stuff) from it.  I'm running 13lbs of pressure and this gives a noticeable increase in climbing, braking, cornering, off-camber traction (especially in all our rocks).  Then combined with the fact that I'm on a hardtail, it gives me some cushion in the ride quality too.  My biggest concern early on was tire durability.  But I've made almost 300 miles of LGT and not had a problem with my 3.0 Bonty XR2 (Chupacabras).

-CJB

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3 hours ago, Ridenfool said:

I converted a 29 to 27.5+ and 3.0 tires. Essentially the same diameter as 29 overall, so no difference in gearing.

I'll probably go to 2.8 width on the next set just to see what those are like, and, to fit the MuckyNutz fender on the front that won't fit with the 3.0 tires.

I bought a set of Spank Oozy 395 wheels for the conversion. Good price for trying out 27.5+ thing without breaking the bank. The wider rim seems crucial to getting the most benefit from this.

I'm liking the ride on these, particularly the improved traction in turns.

I’m about to pull a couple of Rekon 2.8’s off of the genius with plenty of life left on them. Willing to part with them for a bottle of bulleit. 

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Santa last year consulted with Joe at Monkey Wrench, who thought that Stan's Flows with 29 x 2.35 Maxxis Ikons would look great under the XMas tree.  I like them a lot and it really does make a positive difference.  Ya need to have wheels with a wider rim when you go to wider tires; that's a key element of what makes 'em work. 

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20 hours ago, CBaron said:

I'm running 29+ and love it.  But I also don't like to push my way on everyone.  You must find your own way. 😉

The trends I'm seeing are towards skinny plus (2.5-2.6").  The tire companies are starting to fill this in recently.  I do find some appeal to it, but in hopes of finding a lighter weight 'racing tire' for me to use as a step down from 3" when needed.  My problem is though that my current 3" have come in around 820 grams and also held up to 80 miles of LGT.  So I'm not sure that finding a 2.6" tire that weighs 775 is really makes economic sense.  But I'm also a weird edge case.

Later, -CJB

My nobby nic 2.6x29 were around 840-850 and were closer to 775-800 after some trimming. Have a set lying around that id let go of for a deal

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This year I cycled through 3 different tire sizes and 2 rim sizes. I started with Rocket Ron's 27.5 x 3.0 on Raceface Affect 40+ rims in February and went through 2 pair in 1500 miles. Swapped over to 27.5 x 2.8 Rekons right before the single loop at LGT. Very different tread pattern.

I just switched a 29 x 2.35 mavic Quest Pro on Mavic XA Elite rims. This 29 set-up may be my favorite, it most reminds me of a 26x 2.35. I still think the 27.5+ set up was necessary to work on handling since transitioning from a 26". I'll probably just go back to the 27.5 for Big Bend or El Paso.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk

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I've never found any reason to move away from 29" wheels with 2.35 or 2.4 tires. They do everything I need them to do and I've never felt like I'm missing out on any fun. My DT Swiss XMC 1200 carbon rims are 24mm internal and my Stan's Arch MK3 rims are 26mm internal. Both seem to be just fine for all of the riding I do. 

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I ran 27.5+ on a Santa Cruz Hightower for a little over a year. Several tires, all Schwalbe or Maxxis, mostly 2.8 but a few 3.0. It was a fun experiment, but I switched back to 29x2.4-2.5 about a year ago and don't see myself going back.

The main problem I had with 27.5+ was durability. The rocks around here are too prevalent to be charging them with low-pressure tires. Your mileage may vary. Somehow CBaron is having way more luck than I ever did.

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As early adopter of 29 wide-ish (29 id ) rims, found that 2.4-2.4 tires were too squared off and sidewalls wore thin on our rocks, prematurely killing 3 back tires before the wt and skinny fat tires were really out.

 

Loving the 29 2.5 WT and 2.6 size tires. I’m a clyde and that does need to factor in. Currently with Rekon 2.6 out front and Bonty 2.6 XR2 in back to go lighter and with less rolling resistance . Previously was running DHF 2.5 WT 3c in front and Nobby Nic 2.6 in back. Prefer the Nobby Nic as back tire for better braking and overall grip.

 

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12 minutes ago, cody said:

I ran 27.5+ on a Santa Cruz Hightower for a little over a year. Several tires, all Schwalbe or Maxxis, mostly 2.8 but a few 3.0. It was a fun experiment, but I switched back to 29x2.4-2.5 about a year ago and don't see myself going back.

The main problem I had with 27.5+ was durability. The rocks around here are too prevalent to be charging them with low-pressure tires. Your mileage may vary. Somehow CBaron is having way more luck than I ever did.

I had to look twice to confirm my wife didn't write this. Same bike, same starting tires and same ultimate conclusion. 

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On 11/30/2018 at 9:57 AM, mack_turtle said:

Pick your fave.

Or pontificate on why you have six bicycles below. What is the specific purpose of each bike? Support your claims with peer-reviewed data. 

Pivot 429 - 29x2.35 or around there

Kona Unit Geary - 29 x 2.2 or around there

Trek Sawyer SS - 29 x 2.35 or around there

Bianchi SASS SS - 26 x 2.2 or 27.5 x 2.35 or 700cc x 35  - have run all three

Voodoo Dambala SS - Still toying with size - but might end up with 29x2.1 for graveling

Cruiser - 27 x whatever whitewalls

Trek Y-bike - 26er - not running currently

 

So, I guess basic 29er is the preference.  But, then again, I don't have bikes that can even fit boost/plus/whatever tires post year 2000!

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Both of my bikes are built for 29 <2.5" but I am experimenting with larger up front. Both are frame limited.

SS (Stans MK3 30mm rims) - Front 3" Rear 2.4"

Full Squish (Stans Flow) - Front 2.75" Rear 2.4"

Love the extra meat on the front. For the SS, with a rigid fork running a 3" with 10psi is awesome.

The next SS frame will for sure be a 29+ frame.

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