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

I'm probably more likely to be sticking the wheels in places they shouldn't go at lower speeds with more weight on them so tougher sidewalls are fine by me.

Yes everyone tells me maxxis sidewalls are stronger. But I've had few issues with Vittoria when pressures are kept correct.

possibly the reason, I run low pressures on rigid bikes, so that may well do it.

thanks both, pretty bummed out by this but watched the vid and think I will attempt a service, also contacted the seller. hopefully those foam rings are recoverable as mine look rough. thank you again!

I’ve got a big bag of foam rings for 36mm stanchion forks somewhere. If yours are 36mm pm me your address and I’ll put some in the post. Although if you’re gonna do a service you might as well order a new seal kit which should come with the rings anyway

recoverable

No, get new seals and foam rings, you're likely going to need some different weights of oil and some grease too so find a kit for your forks or make one, there are a few places that sell everything and it's not too expensive.

OK I was looking at some kits on ebay but got a bit confused. Dry, thanks so much but I believe my Revs are a skinny 32.

I found, and I’m by no means an expert, that I lost more time on corners, downhills etc than I saved on the uphills etc when running slicker smoother maxxis recon tyres v conti race kings which aren’t mega aggressive but have some nobs. There must be a fine tipping point, especially for marathon, where a tyre is too sketchy or too fragile, and equally where it’s too heavy duty and kills you after 6 hours of climbs! I reckon it’s a heavy duty xc tyre in 2.3-2.4 on a hardtail?

@hippy interested to know what pressures you decide to run with or without inserts. As a fellow larger gent I always feel I run too high, but the risk of burping a tyre feels worse than the risk of being jiggled about

Obviously I'm not a marathon rider, so not qualified on that front. I do use tyres, though.

I think I'd have "to win the race you have to finish the race" running through my mind, and I'd discount XC tyres and go for trail tyres, with inserts front and rear with a decent amount of sealant.

I used to run Schwalbe but found that they puncture a lot more than the Maxxis (and Michelin) I run now, although I will say that on only one occasion was the puncture unable to be immediately sealed by the Stans swilling around inside the tyre.

I think people pick the wrong primary reason for inserts - yes they can and do save your carbon rims when you are going through a rock-garden, but they also give you much more grip because you can run a lower pressure than you could otherwise due to the risk of e.g. rolling the tyre in a fast corner. They also bring damping to what is otherwise an air-spring damped only by the sidewalls, which for a downhill casing is significant - not so much on a lightweight trail tyre.

If you're tired, it's dark and the ground is choppy you're going to appreciate the bike tracking neatly and not ricocheting around between the rocks.

Finally, and I've done this once, you can ride on the insert until the sealant gets the better of the puncture, then pump the tyre up again to the correct pressure.

The only downside I’ve found to inserts for more xc/ marathon use is in the back on a hardtail it makes the back wheel Bob (or bounce) over small bumps making it hard to get power down- I assume I was smashing through the small volume of air in my tyres and bouncing off the insert repeatedly. Not a reason not to use them but I’d maybe take it out if I did that race again

That's a really good point about air volume, and I wonder if there are some similarities to air suspension and tokens/spacers. It seems everyone that chucks loads of tokens into an air fork say the small bump is good, then suddenly there's a wall of progression. With a tyre and insert, there's no damping, so no wonder it bounces back hard and starts oscillating

I want to do everything possible to not have to fuck with tyres in the middle of an event. Road tyres are one thing - flat you patch it and roll on or swap the tube, whatever, 15mins and you're rolling. Off-road, you're getting hosed in sealant, you try dynaplug it might work or maybe you've rolled the bead off already because it's 45% death downhill and you couldn't stop in time and now you're Bukkake Guy in the mountains screaming at the moon trying to get a tyre to seat. You might finally fix it but then have to run a tube and then spend the rest of the event patching pinch flats because there's rocky bullshit for the next 700k...

I am not going to win any of these races so I'm not looking for the fastest option (that I can blame when I quit). I want the most durable (and maybe safest) option that is most likely to result in my finishing the route.

That's a really good point about air volume, and I wonder if there are some similarities to air suspension and tokens/spacers.

The comparison made on the Cushcore video or some video I watched about them.

I don't know what tokens are so I'll continue to be ignorant. I also run way to much pressure and then immediately run too little so any impact they have on bounce/handling is rendered useless in my case.

#i have no idea what i am doing dog

I'll admit, I lost interest in the tyre discussion a long time ago, but I did see something about a Rekon. Ive got a barely used 27.5 Exo one I'm never going to use again, if that's any use to you?

2.6 Max Terra, whatever the fuck that means

Thanks but this is 29er.

You need to watch the SID, ime they need the lower servicing on the 50h dot or they go to shit.

I don't even know if it's doing anything. The only time I can it move is when I stand up and it bobs. Stupid suspension forks.

Introducing more progression via (effectively) adding volume spacers is something that Rimpact talks about on their site IIRC.

I’ve not ridden my hard tail without an insert so can’t really comment, my only frame of reference is riding the same trails on full FS and (no surprise) I can stay seated and spin through chop on that which gets you out of the saddle on the HT.

I need some new shoes.

I’ve had a pair of Freeriders for the last couple of years. They’re pretty crap - too warm in summer and turn to blocks of ice in winter - but they are grippy. Metal pedal pins have finally eaten through the soles.

I think I want something light and fast-draining (not waterproof) with a high cut to keep the crud out i.e. everything the Freeriders aren’t.

Fizik Terra Clima and FiveTen Trailcross are both on my radar. Anything else worth considering?

Trailcross grip just as well as 5.10, drain well, and dry quickly (LT version). Paired with waterproof socks worked OK through winter, though I did get cold feet after a while (4+ hrs).
Did seem to collect dust and debris though, something that hasn't been solved for me by moving to the mid-cut version. Haven't tried the high-tops.

Second vote for trailcross. Have the high top version for a couple of years and find they work well whatever the weather. Grip well and just don't notice them when riding.

Clip in?

Flats.