Recommend 29er XC tires

[NHAero]

My Maxxis Ikon 2.2 rear tire is pretty worn, and so is the WTB Vigilante 2.3 on the front. I'd like something with more bite on loose uphills on the rear, but without giving up too much weight and rolling ease. On the front, I'm looking for good bite in turns but would be nice to have less weight than the Vigilante.

Pivot Mach 429 Carbon FS is the bike.

[kingpin75s]

I have been really happy with the balance of weight and traction with a Schwalbe 2.35 Hans Dampf in front and a 2.25/2.35 Nobby Nic in the rear.

[Jaybee]

Rekon 2.4 F/R. plenty of bite in corners, nice straight line braking. What the Ardent wanted to be.

[Matthew]

I'm pretty happy with my Racing Ralphs.

[Ronsonic]

Love Nobby Nic's in loose stuff. A lot of what I ride is sand, shell and leaf litter and the Nic's cut into it. All the Schwalbe line rolls nicely and these are pretty light as well.

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Matthew

I'm pretty happy with my Racing Ralphs.

Me too.

[p nut]

My experience:
NN didn’t roll as well
RR wore out too fast. (Plus all the sealant seepage out the sidewalls)

Ikons are great. If you want more bite, I’d suggest:

- Ardent Race 2.2
- Ikon 2.35 (substantially more bite than 2.2)

[CMiller]

Originally Posted by p nut

My experience:
NN didn’t roll as well
RR wore out too fast. (Plus all the sealant seepage out the sidewalls)

Ikons are great. If you want more bite, I’d suggest:

- Ardent Race 2.2
- Ikon 2.35 (substantially more bite than 2.2)

Yup, I'd just go for the larger Ikon, maybe a fatter Ardent Race up front. Some people tend to dislike Ardents but I like then. One thing is that a lot of the tires with more aggressive tread are also much heavier than the Ikons.

[NHAero]

Thanks much! I read a lot of reviews last night and ordered a Ralph 2.25 rear and Ray 2.35 front. These are the most current Evo versions, with the Snakeskin Addix combo. I haven't had Schwalbe tires before.
That WTB Vigilante was on the bike when I bought it used four years ago. My guess is that I've put over 3,000 miles on it. The Ikon was a replacement for the original rear, and being much lighter also lasted less time (rear too).
Also, chainstays don't look to fit a 2.4, so that limited some choices.

[mod6]

What type of trails are you rolling? Agreed that 2.35 Icons or Ardent combo is great. Also look at the new Bontrager XR 3 which a bunch of guys I ride with on Long Island(sand/clay minimal rock) are rolling. They compare them favorably to the Icon for a bit cheaper price. Or the XR4 if your'e rolling chunkier trails.

[IFRider]

Originally Posted by kingpin75s

I have been really happy with the balance of weight and traction with a Schwalbe 2.35 Hans Dampf in front and a 2.25/2.35 Nobby Nic in the rear.

Running the same combo in Southern NH. Also run with Nobby Nic Front/Rear which works well for faster cross country stuff. Getting a little weeping from sealant, but have not had to refill nor any measureable loss of air. Really happy with the Schwalbe.

[45K10]

Originally Posted by p nut

My experience:
NN didn’t roll as well
RR wore out too fast. (Plus all the sealant seepage out the sidewalls)

Ikons are great. If you want more bite, I’d suggest:

- Ardent Race 2.2
- Ikon 2.35 (substantially more bite than 2.2)

Yep I had the same experience.

I run Ardent Race 2.2 front and rear and I have been more than happy with them.

[josephr]

I run the Kenda Slant Six on my hardtail and never had a problem with grip...roll fast...of course, I'm not shredding the switchbacks but I keep a good pace for me. Its been a long time, but I was problems with my schwalbes holding a seal in the past, so have been a Kenda fan since.

[NHAero]

Mostly woodland, sandy, not much rocks. Will be interested to see if the Racing Ray feels less good in turns than the WTB Vigilante, which is excellent but most of a pound heavier IIRC.

Originally Posted by mod6

What type of trails are you rolling? Agreed that 2.35 Icons or Ardent combo is great. Also look at the new Bontrager XR 3 which a bunch of guys I ride with on Long Island(sand/clay minimal rock) are rolling. They compare them favorably to the Icon for a bit cheaper price. Or the XR4 if your'e rolling chunkier trails.

[Jaybee]

i'm surprised to see the love for Ardents here. They might (especially in the 2.2 flavor) be my least favorite tire ever. Enough knobs to be a bit draggy (especially compared to Ikons), not enough knobs (or wrong configuration?) to hold a line if there's even a bit of loose in a corner. They've put my on my ass more than any other piece of bike equipment. Sketchy as a rear, asking for dental work as a front.

2.35 Ikons are awesome, but just for full disclosure they usually end up around 2.5 (a significant part of the reason they are awesome). They don't fit a lot of frames.

I don't have experience with the Racing Ray, but the tread pattern looks like what you want. I've never had good luck with Schwalbe durability, but I've usually lived in places known for eating tires. you might see a bit of a drop in cornering ability relative to the Vig, but that's a full on trail bike tire.