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

140 / 130.
I decided that 140 f should be enough. And if I want more I'll get a big bike and go to 170 or something silly. This will keep it light which suits how i ride and nice when hiking with it.

2.35 or 2.6, wont matter when he's walking!

Are you absolutely sure you want/need an insert for the front?
A 2.6” tyre will have a pretty heavy duty sidewall already. A pinch flat on the front wheel is probably unlikely. I appreciate you might just want to cover all bases though or maybe you’ll be hard charging through chunky gnar on this ultra?

Fwiw I run inserts on the rear wheel on all my mountain bikes and none on the front. To this day I’ve never had a pinch flat on the front even when running silly sub 20psi on my dh bike

I also only run an insert in the back on my Chisel. It's a Vittoria XC insert inside a 2.4 tyre which is too small for sure, but so far I have never had a puncture on it since I got the bike.

Had one front wheel puncture but that was a nail or something sharp punching a clean hole into the tyre, nothing that an insert could have prevented, and easily fixed with a plug.

For proper MTB (not just glorified gravel) I run one front and rear. The reason is, that when you're tired as fuck and it's the middle on the night you're a lot more likely to smash into a water bar, rock, boar and damage your front wheel and or tyre. You might not have the energy or skill lift and move the front wheels like you do when out for a nice day ride. Sure, there is a chance you won't, but by having that insert you can relax and not worry much. Also you have more weight over the front wheel with bikepacking, pressures might be low. I think for the small weight it's not much other drawback. I also run sexy carbon rims and I'd like to not brake these ones.

Do you really want a 2.6 for an Ultra?

Not really, it's what was in stock when the bike was built. Mind you, I'm kind of "the more the merrier" when it comes to tyre width off-road.

I've a 2.35 Ardent Race (for the back?) and I need something else for the front/back.

The 2.6 Mezcal rubs on my framebag strap if it's even slightly loose, so I definitely want to go to a smaller tyre on the back. Front swap will depend on what I can find in stock.

The rear is definitely pushing it for clearance with 2.6 so I'm deffo changing that. Front I could leave but then I need different spare tubes.

Are you absolutely sure you want/need an insert for the front?

No, but in the same fashion that I already have 2.6 on, I also already ordered a 2x set of Cushcore XC so figure I may as well fit both. I was contemplating leaving the 2.6 with no insert but then I'd need a 2.6 tube and 2.4 tube (unless 2.4 tube works in 2.6?)

All good points. Proper MTB and tired as fuck, middle of the night etc doesn't have to go hand in hand though. For balance it's important to point out that you and hippy are the outliers here in terms of distance, duration and conditions. Most people I know ride blue trails for 2-3 hours and go home.

A 2.4 tube defo works in a 2.6

But fair doos really, after what skinny said about riding at night while tired, it could save you.

I don’t really know about fitting the xc insert into a 2.6” tyre. I’d imagine that it will still offer what it’s supposed to, but maybe to a slightly lesser extent in term of overall rim protection since the insert has less material on it.
It should still do the same job in terms of keeping the tyre bead locked into the rim.

You probably already know this but inserts (especially cushcore) can be an absolute cunt to fit. I run Rimpact inserts on one bike and cushcore on another.
First attempt on fitting both brands took well over an hour and both my thumbnails were bleeding.

I think it’s pretty unlikely you’ll have a tyre bead pop off the rim during an ultra, but if it happens, there’s not much chance of getting an insert back on the rim with the tyre seated.

I’ve popped a tyre off a couple of times mid ride and the only way to continue was to take the insert out and ride back with it over my shoulder. Food for thought.

Do you know what sort of terrain/conditions?

Bike came with Fast Track Pro's. They weren't very durable and had limited bite on typical Adelaide trails. I got to find out the hard way 😭

Now I run a 2.4Reckon with +3C protection up front, because it has better grip sideways on loose over rock and more sidewall protection.
Adds a lot of weight though.

On the same note, is there even a chance to re-seat a tubeless tyre without tube inside out on the trail once it jumped off the tim? Maybe with a CO2?

The guy in their video makes it look really easy...

I can't find the one I watched but here's a couple more..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8oz7YIk0gg&t=26s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppyio3Hh6uA

Do you know what sort of terrain/conditions?

I don't but @skinny should :)

No, I've ridden some of what LEdG contains but only the Gavarres area and mostly on gravel bike, never been off-road in the Pyrenees. But there's dusty loose stuff, bit sharp rocks, bigger sharper rocks and really fucking big sharp rocks. It's the kind of terrain where I fall off going up hill and then walk down the hills.

Yeah exactly! I just put a tube in and rode like that.

Seating a tubeless tyre in my garage with a 50 litre air compressor sometimes takes a few attempts.
Sorting it trail side is virtually impossible. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar 😂

If you have the right amount of rim tape, most tyres should go up with a track pump so unless you are unlucky enough to somehow unseat both beads a decent handpump is normally enough. I do carry a CO2 for emergencies though!

I have a Rimpact in the rear of both my MTBs, installation is easy if you use plenty of washing up liquid. I'm going to put another in the front of my full sus as I like the sidewall support in high-G turns with lowish pressures.

Yes I said proper MTB, to be clear I wasn't talking about glorified gravel.

Do you know what sort of terrain/conditions?

He's doing my event. There's lots of rocks.

The guy in their video makes it look really easy...

Hahaha oh yeah… it certainly looks easy 😳

But tbf I’ve never used the xc cushcore, since they are smaller they might be a bit easier to fit.
There’s definitely a bit of a technique to learn, but first time left me close to crying with frustration.

🤣

I run a 2.4Reckon with +3C protection up front, because it has better grip sideways on loose over rock and more sidewall protection.

Adds a lot of weight though.

Rekon or Rekon Race? I'm trying to work out the difference and the difference between Rekon and Ardent. Why can't they just call MTB tyres boring stuff like:

XC (Dry/Wet Fast/Slow etc)
Trail
Enduro
DH

So mainly rocks and dust over it? Or do you have to account for stuff like wet clay, loam, mud etc?

mud

Out.

I went with the most durable rekon and a non-race ardent in the back. This is for durability and grip on rocky trails and no hoot given towards weight or how many ks I cover in a ride.

At first I had the ardent in the front but I found it vague when leaning into a turn and got scared of it while my stitches were still healing. People say it starts properly gripping when you properly lean it over but I guess that's just not my style or skill level.

If you're trying to cover distance and have skills and/or don't push it on downhills you might wanna choose something with less knobbly bits in the middle and lower rolling resistance overall though, like Mezcal or Fast Track Pro.
An insert could make up for the lack of protection those tyres usually give.