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I thought I had a reasonable tire for our riding conditions, but it appears that the Schwalbe Nobby Nic (Trail Star Compound) tire is not up to the task. The side knobs are falling off and overall they seem to be wearing much quicker than I would expect. Traction is not anything special and for the $ I'm pretty disappointed in them.

Out of curiosity, what are most of you 29'er riders running for tires for the rocky, rooty, and generally unforgiving terrain we have in New England? Please include tire dimension if you happen to know.

Maxxis Ardent 29x2.4 EXO is the cat's meow. Must be sure to get the EXO though...reinforced sidewalls. They also have a 2.25 width if the 2.4 won't fit.

Bontrager XR4 2.3 front and XR3 rear is a killer combo for around here. Get the Team Issue versions.

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Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement

Ardent, xr4, and also panaracer rampage 2.35.

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Taking the "s" out of fast

Great info. I appreciate it.

Yup. I also tried the Xr3 front Xr2 rear and didn't like it at all. Schwalbes are great when new, but they wear fast and are pretty pricey....

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All I wanted was a Pepsi, just one Pepsi...

One question on the XR4 and XR3 -- how do you feel the sidewall holds up to rocks and general slicing out on the trail? They weigh 790g, so on paper it looks like they are pretty substantial, but I don't see any real sidewall protection technology called out in their specs. What has been your experience there?

They are a rugged tire. I ran schawlbes w snakeskin prior and the xrs hold up better. Very predictable tire.

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Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgement

Old school: Specialized Captains, 2.3 front, 2.0 rear. Last pair held up for a 2,000 mile year.

Vredestien Black Panther Extreme in the spring and the Black Panther Xtrack (both 2.2) when it dries out. Both are very predictable tires that hold up well (for me at least).

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The important thing is, we're all having fun.

Funny, I've been using Nobby Nic for a couple of years now and been pleased with them. Definitely snake skin.

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When my new tires arrive I will have at least 2 free (slighty used) Nobby Nics available if you are interested. They'll be free to good home.

What did you decide on? (before we confused you anymore)

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John was convincing on the Bontrager combo of XR4 and XR3 Team Issue TLR tires (http://www.bontrager.com/model/11643). I did give strong consideration to the Maxxis Ardent EXO, but was not 100% the 2.4 (no 2.3 available) would fit on the rear. Panaracers looked good as well.

I have some Specialized (Butcher/Slaughter) Control tires hanging on the wall, but their sidewalls are like paper. May give these a shot at some point too.

I have been running the Bontragger XR4 team issue and love them. Easily the best tire I have ridden around here.

I've got the 2.4 Ardent on the back of the Enduro, plenty of room. If you go for the Bontrager make sure you get the team issue model, I picked up the cheaper expert model, sidewalls are bad after less than 2 months, won't run tubeless anymore. Treadwear not great either.

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Taking the "s" out of fast

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've got the XR4 2.3 Team Issue Front and XR3 2.3 Team on the back. Rode Diamond Hill today after the rain and they did surprisingly well on the wet rocks and terrain given the lower profile / less agressive (XC style) knobs. The rubber compound seems much more supple than the Schwalbe NN. I can't comment on tread wear yet, but after the first ride I am pretty happy with them.

Good info on the Maxxis Ardent EXO 2.4. They will be on my radar screen should anything fall through on the Bontragers.

Anyone tried the Bontrager SE5 or SE4 models? They seem a bit more Enduro than XC, so I am wondering what the downside of them is given the same size and Team Issue model, etc.

Hole / Tear in bead hook part of tire. Checking with Trek on recommendations.

Update: Tire issue is/was very likely not a puncture.

Trek seems to think (and I agree) that this location would be near impossible for any sort of puncture short of a stab with a nail or similar. They said it is more likely:

1. Damage during installation
2. A problem with the rim having a sharp edge or an object stuck in the rim edge
3. The bead loop catching / not evenly seating and leading to a hot spot / weak spot that tears under load
4. A defect in the bead itself that torn once the tire got set / used


For 1 and 2 I didn't use any tools to mount the tire. It went on pretty easy, so I don't think it was damaged during install. The rim was cleaned before install, so that seems unlikely too. But, I'm not ultra careful mounting up tires, so its not impossible that i missed something or stretched the tire indelicately.

I see 3 or 4 as more probable. You can't really call the tire durability or sidewall strength into question for something that happens essentially inside the bead loop. Trek Stop admitted they do see this sort of issue fairly often across all the tires they sell.

Trek Stop is going to take back the original XR3 tire and give me a new one. They had a hard sell on some sort of 'new' Schwalbe bead lube/ tubeless prep stuff for $8.99. Seemed gimicky, so I'm holding off on that for now. They had no XR3's in stock, so for now they gave me an XR4.

I've put many a hole in many a tubeless tire in that spot over the years. It's the tubeless version of a pinch flat. For some reason sealant never seems to plug it.

If it ever happens and you can't just get a new tire, you can just put a regular tube or tire patch on it (on the inside of the tire). I've been using tire patch kit like this

https://www.doitbest.com/products/maste ... -patch-kit

They sell them at Koopman's for a few bucks. The rubber is a little heavier than a tube patch and you can easily cut the patch to the size you need.

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The important thing is, we're all having fun.