Varaxis
Well-Known Member
Trying to find the ideal tire for SoCal. It's usually dry, dusty, hardpack with slippery off cambers, ruts, occasional rocks and sand/dust pits, so I'm going to rate tires that work best for that.
My latest impression from a tire I've been breaking in a bit:
Spec Purgatory Control 26x2.2 2Bliss (tubeless, 19mm carbon rim, 67d HA, Pike 25-30% sag) - I just don't understand this tire. At speeds under 15 MPH, I find it doesn't really shine on dry SoCal loose over hardpack, pumped up to about 28 psi. Get it up to speed, at 15+ MPH and the tire suddenly gets into a groove and wants to fly and be abused. I like how at about 15 MPH, it's as if the tire makes fun of you and flings bits of sand directly into your face. Faster and there's not as much, slower and it doesn't fling it that high. The compound isn't very sticky. You can turn it pretty easily on rock (textured like sidewalks). Seems like it has an intermediate compound made for slightly moist and tacky dirt, rather than dry dusty stuff. It's pretty sluggish in the sand. Felt like I was out of shape for the first 15 minutes of my ride, before I got warmed up and was able to start getting my speed up.
After trying this tire out (with a Ground Control in the rear), I'll have to put Specialized tires in general in about 5th place on my rankings. So far, my rankings look like this:
1) Maxxis's rubber compound is still my favorite for SoCal dirt, with the best balance of grip, speed, and compliance. They're just not tough nor affordable. Ikons are my fav 29er tire. Hard to beat the DHF up front.
2) Schwalbe's old Triple Nano and Pacestar are really really fast, but not very grippy. Not tough, but can find some sales on them like on overseas sites. With the speed you get on these, you can drift and fly like a madman.
3) Conti's german made Black Chili compound (checker sidewalls) stuff is surprisingly good stuff.
4) Panaracer Combo Compound is some really sweet stuff and the quality of the casing and bead are top notch. Extremely good air retention when tubeless. CG XC was a surprisingly good 29er tire. Seems like it would last a while at first, but it seems once it wears through the harder outside layer of rubber, the softer inner layer wears out within a dozen rides.
5) Spec Captain, Ground Control, Butcher, Purgatory all solid performing tires. My favorite when there's hero dirt out. Kind of sketchy in the dry dusty, especially at low speeds. Their Renegade tires... omg like ice skates in the dry dusty corners, but pretty grippy on pavement at least. Not very compliant.
6) Bontrager - the XR4 is very sticky and very compliant, reliable in many conditions, but not as good as others in dry dusty SoCal conditions. It gives confidence, but it can betray it by suddenly washing out if you do something it doesn't like (ex. on the brakes, trying to make a turn on a descent).
7) Vee Rubber - surprisingly good traction and control on hard, dry, and dusty soil. A little heavy, but very affordable. Keeps air very well when tubeless. Must check them out even more...
8) Kenda Nevegals have loads of grip at lower speeds and are very compliant. Seems to be the most newbie friendly, for those that want the security of grip and you don't care for speed (newbies go slow anyways). Small Block 8 work okay, but there's better. Compound is a bit too soft and slow for my liking. Doesn't carve very well and the dust makes it lose grip. I tried Slant Six UST on the rear, and I really like it, but it's a bit heavy at 800g (gotta be something better than it, or works just as well, that's lighter).
9) WTB Nano and Mutano work pretty well, but the Bronson and Wolverine are slow on hardpack and don't grip as well as I'd expect.
10) Geax - at first, I tried these on pavement and was like, WTF these have insane grip, but on the trail they just feel a bit meh. I was slow and clumsy, tripping up on stuff I've ridden dozens of times, not finding any flow or groove. Was a major pain in the ass peeling them off the rim--even harder than the WTB Bronson AM TCS and Slant Six UST tire that I considered to be tests of gripping might.
I think casing and rubber compound matter quite a bit, but some tread patterns just don't work and should be avoided. I like the semi-slick many stiff micro nobby approach, with a not so sticky rubber, and a compliant casing covered in a base rubber that provides damping. More knobs, so you get edges to do the gripping rather than the flat tops, which can slip/skate on the loose sand over hardpack. As far as cornering knobs go, depends on preference: ski edge cornering blocks for carving or directional ones for drifting. Drifting is quite fine on fast wide-open trails, but you might want a carving edge if you're in the mountains with exposure.
My latest impression from a tire I've been breaking in a bit:
Spec Purgatory Control 26x2.2 2Bliss (tubeless, 19mm carbon rim, 67d HA, Pike 25-30% sag) - I just don't understand this tire. At speeds under 15 MPH, I find it doesn't really shine on dry SoCal loose over hardpack, pumped up to about 28 psi. Get it up to speed, at 15+ MPH and the tire suddenly gets into a groove and wants to fly and be abused. I like how at about 15 MPH, it's as if the tire makes fun of you and flings bits of sand directly into your face. Faster and there's not as much, slower and it doesn't fling it that high. The compound isn't very sticky. You can turn it pretty easily on rock (textured like sidewalks). Seems like it has an intermediate compound made for slightly moist and tacky dirt, rather than dry dusty stuff. It's pretty sluggish in the sand. Felt like I was out of shape for the first 15 minutes of my ride, before I got warmed up and was able to start getting my speed up.
After trying this tire out (with a Ground Control in the rear), I'll have to put Specialized tires in general in about 5th place on my rankings. So far, my rankings look like this:
1) Maxxis's rubber compound is still my favorite for SoCal dirt, with the best balance of grip, speed, and compliance. They're just not tough nor affordable. Ikons are my fav 29er tire. Hard to beat the DHF up front.
2) Schwalbe's old Triple Nano and Pacestar are really really fast, but not very grippy. Not tough, but can find some sales on them like on overseas sites. With the speed you get on these, you can drift and fly like a madman.
3) Conti's german made Black Chili compound (checker sidewalls) stuff is surprisingly good stuff.
4) Panaracer Combo Compound is some really sweet stuff and the quality of the casing and bead are top notch. Extremely good air retention when tubeless. CG XC was a surprisingly good 29er tire. Seems like it would last a while at first, but it seems once it wears through the harder outside layer of rubber, the softer inner layer wears out within a dozen rides.
5) Spec Captain, Ground Control, Butcher, Purgatory all solid performing tires. My favorite when there's hero dirt out. Kind of sketchy in the dry dusty, especially at low speeds. Their Renegade tires... omg like ice skates in the dry dusty corners, but pretty grippy on pavement at least. Not very compliant.
6) Bontrager - the XR4 is very sticky and very compliant, reliable in many conditions, but not as good as others in dry dusty SoCal conditions. It gives confidence, but it can betray it by suddenly washing out if you do something it doesn't like (ex. on the brakes, trying to make a turn on a descent).
7) Vee Rubber - surprisingly good traction and control on hard, dry, and dusty soil. A little heavy, but very affordable. Keeps air very well when tubeless. Must check them out even more...
8) Kenda Nevegals have loads of grip at lower speeds and are very compliant. Seems to be the most newbie friendly, for those that want the security of grip and you don't care for speed (newbies go slow anyways). Small Block 8 work okay, but there's better. Compound is a bit too soft and slow for my liking. Doesn't carve very well and the dust makes it lose grip. I tried Slant Six UST on the rear, and I really like it, but it's a bit heavy at 800g (gotta be something better than it, or works just as well, that's lighter).
9) WTB Nano and Mutano work pretty well, but the Bronson and Wolverine are slow on hardpack and don't grip as well as I'd expect.
10) Geax - at first, I tried these on pavement and was like, WTF these have insane grip, but on the trail they just feel a bit meh. I was slow and clumsy, tripping up on stuff I've ridden dozens of times, not finding any flow or groove. Was a major pain in the ass peeling them off the rim--even harder than the WTB Bronson AM TCS and Slant Six UST tire that I considered to be tests of gripping might.
I think casing and rubber compound matter quite a bit, but some tread patterns just don't work and should be avoided. I like the semi-slick many stiff micro nobby approach, with a not so sticky rubber, and a compliant casing covered in a base rubber that provides damping. More knobs, so you get edges to do the gripping rather than the flat tops, which can slip/skate on the loose sand over hardpack. As far as cornering knobs go, depends on preference: ski edge cornering blocks for carving or directional ones for drifting. Drifting is quite fine on fast wide-open trails, but you might want a carving edge if you're in the mountains with exposure.
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