Bentonville Tires

[quixoft]

I'm heading up to Bentonville for a week and also need new tires. 

Anyone ride up there and can recommend what sort of tires would be reasonable? It's my first trip up there. 

For reference, I mostly ride Brushy Creek and have found I like Maxxis Minion DHF/DHRII on the front/rear for the rocky stuff we have here. 

[ATXZJ]

1 hour ago, quixoft said:

I'm heading up to Bentonville for a week and also need new tires. 

Anyone ride up there and can recommend what sort of tires would be reasonable? It's my first trip up there. 

For reference, I mostly ride Brushy Creek and have found I like Maxxis Minion DHF/DHRII on the front/rear for the rocky stuff we have here. 

I think you'll be fine. Shale can be pretty sharp there, but i don't think its any worse than some of the stuff at deception or Georgetown lake trails etc. FWIW, I've been there several times on schwalbe rock razors and Hans D and never tore a sidewall. Take that with a grain of salt as I really don't tear sidewalls in general.  I do rip lugs off like nobody's business🤣

Just the thought of rolling around central TX on minions front and rear makes me tired. 

[quixoft]

I shredded a sidewall on the Lake Georgetown loop. Can't remember exactly where except that it was on the south side of the lake maybe halfway between Tejas Camp and Cedar Breaks. It was about a 30 yard section of that sharp as hell limestone stuff jutting out. Not a fun walk back to Tejas where I usually start.

And I agree, Minions aren't great for rolling. I have an Aggressor I've been wanting to try on the rear lately. Maybe I'll give it a go.

Edited April 12, 2023 by quixoft

[cmc4130]

It’s pretty similar to the Austin area, at least in terms of tire choice.

 

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by cmc4130

[AustinBike]

I just use the same tires that I use here. Ardents do just fine for me, I would not bother to get different tires, if you need new tires, I recommend going with fresh ones. But get whatever you are using now.

[ATXZJ]

I'm becoming more and more sold on running a lighter, faster rolling rear tire (within reason) and a Vittoria tire insert.

For places like Bentonville or CTX, I'd run a reckon or XC-ish tire in the back and a sticky compound exo assegai up front. I'll never go back to DHF after trying the Assegai. The performance on crappy, loose, flat turns that are so common, cannot be matched. 

The 29 insert weighed just over 150 grams, smoothed out the back end during high speed chatter, stabilized it during hard cornering (is there such a thing in TX?) and is a great runflat option in case something goes wrong. Not to mention the rim protection it offers too. Particularly with my poor line choices😎

IMHO, the insert sure beats carrying a bunch of BS flat repair kit with you or running 1100+ gram rear tires

[Kyle]

Was there recently with a DHF/Ikon.  The Ikon wasn't quite knobby enough for some stuff, an aggressor would probably be better.  But then again a ton of the trails are smooth and extremely pedally.  Pick your rear tire depending on how hard you're going to hit it vs pedal.

Check out Handcut Hollow, was my favorite place I've ridden there.  The "zone 2" part of the trail "zone 5" was very Austinesque.

[ATXZJ]

For people concerned about weight, Vittoria just upped their game.

https://www.pinkbike.com/news/review-vittorias-50g-air-liner-light-promises-run-flat-protection-for-xc-trail.html

[Teamsloan]

Last time I was up there (October) I ran DHF (F) and Aggressor (rear). That combo is overkill for trails like All American, but for the trails up in the hills on either side (think, Angus Chute, Razorback Ridge, Tadamaguch, Free Time, etc.) they can be a little looser with more gravel and I appreciated having the extra knob depth. If you plan to head to places like Hobbs, Passion Play, or even Hand Cut Hollow then I think you'll that combo works well.

I have also run the Vigilante (F) and Trailboss (R) which I think is the WTB equivalent of the Maxxis combo above. I think the Trailboss rolls better and that combo was fantastic for grip, but those tires are not as durable as the Maxxis tires with EXO casing.

If you plan on riding Back 40 or Big Sugar, especially if you plan to ride to the ride everywhere, swapping out the "all conditions" tread in the back for something faster rolling is great. I think that's probably what I will do next time. The Rekon would be a great choice, or the Vittoria Mezcal.

The key is getting at tire with an armored sidewall. I also run Tannus Tubeless armor which I think is a happy medium between the lightweight inserts out there and the bullit proof Cushcore type systems. Great sidewall support, protective enough, and SOOOO much easier to install.

[CBaron]

Lots of good info here.  The conventional wisdom up there is to plan for the sharp shale bits & scree you'll encounter.  In general the trails seem to be a bit smoother and faster than our stuff here.  The machine cut nature of how they are formed makes the terrain less like the "worn in chunky goat trails" we ride in Austin.  But sidewall slashes and embedded shards are a real thing up there.  I've been there about 10x and I'm averaing a flat 1x per 3 trips.  I rarely ever get flats here in ATX....and I don't change my tire choice when I go to B'ville.

Cheers,
CJB