5K Participants Rate Tires

May 25, 2010 on 1:15 pm | In Mountain Biking | 3 Comments

The conditions for the 2010 GG5K changed throughout the ride, from wet-but-tacky to sloppy-and-slippery. 5K participants tried a variety of tires, with mixed results.

Eric Loney: Maxxis 2.10 DHF at 28 psi on the front with a Maxxis 2.10 High Roller at 30 psi on the rear. “This is my standard set-up for the winter months; I’ll put a Maxxis Larsen TT on the rear for summer. I think the tires worked great in the turns, but I struggled on the steep climbs. I think my gearing is the biggest issue with the climbing.” 

Melanie Norris: 26″ Raven in the front and a Maxxis in the back. “They hooked up pretty well considering the conditions. Both are great dry-weather tires and prior to laps two and three I was very pleased with how they handled. On a side note, the spikes in the bottom of my shoes helped since I spent quite a bit of time off the bike slogging through the mud.”

Marcus Faber: 26″ Weirwolfs front and back with 30 psi. “The rear tire never slipped except on the sloppy sections on Bitter Bitch, and the tread remained clean despite the mud. However, I had issues with the front tire washing out.”

Brent Wallace: Continental Mountain Kings. 29s with 2.4 front and 2.2 rear. 35 pounds of pressure on both ends. “I like how these tires perform in the mud. They are pigs when it come to rolling resistance though. Not a very good summer tire, but one of the best I have tried for winter conditions.”

Jack Berry: Ardent 29 x 2.25 front and the Captain 29 x 2.0 rear with 24-26 psi. “The tires out-performed the rider.”

Aaron Althaeuser: 29″ Kenda Klaws front (2.1) and rear (1.9) with 30 psi. “They excelled in the greasy conditions at the 5K and were very predictable. I went into a two-wheel slide on some corners, but I always felt like I had control.”

Darrell Jamieson: 26″ Maxxis Minion DH on the front and a Maxxis Advantage on the rear with 26 psi front and 28 rear. “There was no difficulty with the tires; the only problem was that my legs wouldn’t pedal up the hills.”

Bob Stanton: Specialized Eskar 2.3 with 30 psi on the front and a Continental Mountain King 2.4 with 30 psi on the rear. “The Eskar is kind of like a Nevegal and has aggressive tread for cornering in slick conditions. It tracked well and handled the heavy front braking on Rush. The Mountain King has a slimmer profile than the Eskar and is very fast in muddy conditions. You might slip a bit in a corner but it always grabs as you angle over.”

Lance Brigman: 29″ Backfire XC Pro IRD with 25 psi rear and a Kenda Nevegal with 30 psi front. “They did very well. I’ve run the same tires since fall.” 

Denise Livingston: 26″ Exi Wolf 2.1 with 19 psi on the front and a 2.24 Mutano Raptor with 23 psi on the rear. “I felt like I had pretty good traction and was able to keep the rubber down, for the most part.”

Bob Horness: Bontrager XOXs 26 x 2.2 with 20 psi front and 15 rear. “I thought they did well in the slippery conditions. I did not spin out except on the first trip up Bitter Bitch where everyone walked. The second and third trips up BB, I walked because I had no legs left.”

Randy Toney:  2.4 Continental Moutain King 26″ on the front with 30 pounds; 2.2 WTB Wolverine on the rear with 32 pounds. “Both did really well until the last time up Bitter Bitch after it rained; the WTB didn’t hook up very well in the goo. The Mountain King did great throughout and hung on especially well shooting down the Lower KMAs and Secret Garden.”

J. LeMonds: Exi-Wolf 2.3 up front with a Jones AC-X on the rear. 29s with 26 pounds front and 28 rear. “With the conditions we had at the 5K, no tire was going to solve every problem, but I was impressed with the way they hooked up on corners and descents.”

Rob Larsen: Nevegals front and back with 24 psi front and 22 psi rear. “They performed fine.”

Mike Van Hoose: 29 x 2.4 Continental Mountain King with 25 psi on the front and a 29 x 2.25 Schwalbee Little Albert with 35 psi on the rear. “The Albert is a very good all-around tire but I have to run relatively high air pressure to keep the rim from bottoming out on hard edges. When the tread is good most any tire works well at Growlers, but when it turns sloppy the Mountain King is easily the best tire I have run to date.”

Dennis Veatch: WTB Moto-Raptor Race with aramid bead. “34 made the front track like hell down the first run. 28 made it come alive. Good traction and predictable when the pressure was right.”

Cage Aaron: 29″ Continental Mountain Kings front and rear with 37 psi. “I have tried a handful of tires in the mud and nothing is as good as the Mountain Kings for winter riding in the PNW. They are, however, very poor on hardpack due to the extremely soft knobs and not my tire of choice for the summer.”