Let's offroad / mountain bike / mtb / ride dirt

The black one in the last picture....quick Google shows this

https://goo.gl/images/WeF9UN

oooo........

Had a look online, just seen what you mean. Might be possible, but might be way too small that frame. I'm 6ft and judging by the headtube it may be rise-tastic by the time I get it to fit.

the black Kona in this image looks enormous, maybe with 700c knobblies:

I'm 6foot too, with stupid long legs, but you can make old stuff fit!

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Anyone want to ride this Sunday? Epping or something else close to town?

Yes please

schwing

tagging the london crew: @spotter @yakut @7Üp and anyone else free

I've got 2.2" 29" Conti X-Kings on my MTB. I want something tubeless, much more aggressive and fairly cheap to see me through Strathpuffer. I have no idea where to start on MTB tyres.

A guy on Facebook is selling 3 decent sets:
2.4" Ardents (lovely gumwall)
2.3" Ardent/Tomahawk
2.25" Onza Canis/Ibex (lovely gumwall)

All in the £50 ballpark. However I don't think any of them are going to be a massive upgrade over my X-Kings in terms of traction in mud/snow/etc. (as in, they're all going to be shit) and I don't know whether my frame will clear a 2.4" at the back. Or the front for that matter. Anyone have any advice? What else should I be looking at?

Anyone have any advice?

Get a new bike

Don't give me that when you haven't built your own bike yet ;)

From what I gather, you'll either need pure mud tyres or ice spikes for Strathpuffer.

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/schwalbe-dirty-dan-evo-mtb-tyre/rp-prod118253

This would be a good choice - look at that saving! You won't be going fast enough to really warrant the volume of a 2.4" and it'll just get clogged with shit.

Yeah. But I can't really afford to buy a whole set of tyres just for that one event, and I only have one wheelset so I don't want to muck about with removing and reinstalling tubeless tyres. I'd ideally like to get something really aggressive like DH tyres, that just about hangs on at Strathpuffer and is way overkill for Glentress/bikepacking but not completely stupid.

Does such a thing exist? Something like a Maxxis Minion maybe?

I've always thought that for mud tyres, you want skinny, to cut to the bottom of the mud to find traction rather than float around on the top.

Also, I imagine the compound is less important for mud, so no need to spend mega bucks.

Something like this do the job?

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/schwalbe-dirty-dan-evolution-folding-29er-mtb-tyre/?

Great minds

now thats some AIR!!! :) well done!!

It'll depend on the weather, no? I'd make a call closer to the event. Unless you are short on cash and/or need to train on them now?

Ha!

I raced it last year on a ss 29er hardtail with a 2.4" high roller on the front and a 2.25" ardent on the rear.

It was fine, i got around and wasn't the slowest, but this year I'm bringing ice tyres.

Maybe yeah. Just that I saw those ones on Facebook, thought they might do the job and was prompted to investigate further. And I am strongly considering buying that £10 tubeless sealant on PlanetX so thought it'd be a good time to tubeless my MTB wheels

Maybe I'll just grab some of those mud tyres (thanks @Scrabble and @umop3pisdn ), I guess I can afford £40... Just don't want to face removing them afterwards with all sealant everywhere and seems like I won't ever use them again given they're 2"

2.35" magic mary + 2.2" nobby nic (on backwards)

Flip the nic the right way round for the summer. job done

You could use a hans dampf on the front if you want something a little lighter but still aggressive.

That combo will work in all conditions except really claggy / clayish mud, but you don't want to ride in that shit anyway because it fucks your bike. The 29er versions come up pretty narrow on my arch rims, narrow enough to cut through loamy and gritty mud.

Anybody want some massive slicks for their 29er? I've got some 29 x 2.5" Maxxis Grifters that I no longer require.