I’m guessing On-One. Did you get the Chunky Monkey or the Smorgasbord? My understanding is that the Chunky Monkey is built on the Ardent casing.
I’m guessing On-One. Did you get the Chunky Monkey or the Smorgasbord? My understanding is that the Chunky Monkey is built on the Ardent casing so it should be a good tire.
Smorgasbord. Thought about the CM as being a bigger tyre, but rather put off by the suggestion of the weight, and possibly how draggy it is - the line appears to be if you need to ask you won’t be interested. I dislike the Duro which came with my 26er for those reasons, so didn’t want to risk it. Anyway, the Smorgasbord got a decent review in a MTB magazine I get and according to their measurements is almost as big as a HD and a very similar weight, so I figured it worth a punt.
Still not ridden much on it, but took it to where I first ever rode off-road on Friday - it seemed like an adventure at the time, but now seems really tame. I rode up a trail I was really pleased when I first managed to ride down! Was actually managing to roll up a lot of bits I didn’t expect to, where the bumps usually cause me problems, though that’s surely down to the wheel size rather than the tyre, though at the worst I’ve not yet found anything to dislike about it.
Can you measure the Smorgasbord?
I was looking at that tire, along with the Floater, no plans to get another 29er tire right now (Knard and HD work fine), but the Smorgasbord looks interesting. Any idea what casing they used?
I’d be surpised if an On One tire uses the Ardent casing as Maxxis and Vee Rubber are not made in the same factory…
The Floater is on my buy list, still holding off until I build a new 26" fat tire wheel (32h Oregon hub + Marge Lite or Clown Shoe).
http://www.on-one.co.uk/i/q/TYOOCM29X24/on_one_chunky_monkey_29x24_tyre
The same does not appear on the Smogasbord page but according to “Shiggy” over on MTBR, who worked with One-One to design the tires, it uses the Ardent 2.25 casing (http://forums.mtbr.com/29er-bikes/chunky-monkey-828734.html#post9978124)
From that thread:
If I’d known that I’d have ordered a CM - though I guess that was probably written after I bought it as I’ve had it a couple of weeks. Maybe I’ll get one as well given the comments I’m seeing there, I’m sure it won’t be too hard to offload the Smorgasbord (or the CM if I decide that’s not actually as good). Not really sure why On-One describe the weight the way they do if it’s that light (or is that heavy for a bike tyre?)
I was thinking others might be interested in a report on them, which kind of swayed me to give one a go. I did measure the width but didn’t take a note - though IIRC it was 56mm, which is 2 or 3mm less than my Fat Albert, though it’s mounted on a narrower rim that that is on - I think a 38mm wide one. I’ll measure again and give some more accurate numbers. I’m kicking myself as I also weighed it, but didn’t record what it was, and it will be lots of hassle to weigh again.
The 2.4 Ardent on the back of my bike is 834g so those weights sound reasonable for a CM with some bigger knobs.
OK I’ve got some numbers for the Smorgasbord. Casing width 57mm on a 39mm external (? I guess it’s a 38mm nominal rim - a single wall one which came on a Nimbus branded road uni). My Fat Albert is 60mm on a 42mm rim. I think the standard rule of thumb is divide rim width difference by 3 to get effect on tyre width, which makes the theoretical width difference between Smorgasbord and FA 2mm. That has to make it very similar to a HD, given that according to Schwalbe that is 2mm narrower than a FA. What measured widths do people have for HDs?
Oh and weight was I think in the high 800s - I remember being disappointed it was over the nominal 850 of a HD, but fairly sure still under 900g.
Tyre’s measured at ~20psi, my preferred muni pressure for both (ran it a bit harder and it was bouncy, a bit softer and it was squirmy, though that may be that 20psi is what I’m used to on the FA, and they need similar pressure to get similar performance).
When it was new my HD measured 61mm on a 47mm rim and weighed 845g.
When it was new my HD measured 61mm on a 47mm rim and weighed 845g.
Thanks for the quote from Shiggy, I must have missed it.
Hmmm, so a maxxis casing eh, well, I suppose that’s one way to get a tire done with less fuss and mess. I wish they gone with a burlier casing.
Honestly, the HD is so good, it’d be hard to improve on it other than to reduce weight or come out with an SG version in a 29".
The Floater is a Vee Rubber tire as far as I know. I almost pulled the trigger on one, but with shipping from the UK (On One USA is not carrying it) it was going to be $75, and since it’s no longer mud season, well I think I can wait 
If folks like the Ardent, but find it to have some autosteer/camber issues, check out the Advantage, it is built on the same casing but with a different tread pattern. However, avoid the silk weight casing, it is too lightweight for muni.
Though at least in the UK, a Smorgasbord is £20 ($30) cheaper (that’s with the cheapest bargain price of £33 I can find for a HD). Still not used it all that much, but some harder riding today and I’m still very happy with it - I doubt that I’d find any other tyre improved my ride. Obviously this is the only 29er tyre I’ve used, and I’ve only tried a handful of tyres on my 26er, but I knew what I liked in a 26er tyre and this feels remarkably similar. Given the widths quoted above it’s only 1 or 2mm narrower than a HD (the 8mm wider rim should account for 2-3mm of the difference), which corresponds to the quoted widths of 57mm and 58mm in my bike mag test.
Until you get a Knard 
Alright, so I finally got to ride on my HD a bit. Haven’t been on a muni ride with it yet, but rode it around the yard after I converted it to tubeless.
First impressions: this thing is light. I dunno if it’s because the Dissent is way heavy, or running a tube was way heavy, or both, but this thing makes my uni feel a wheel size smaller. Definitely a bit more ‘twitchy’ and responsive, but I still need to lower the pressure in it (have 38 psi in it, cause I was making sure my beads seated). I’ll lower it to 25 and go from there.
Can’t wait to take this thing out to a trail.
…because it is lighter, like 600gms lighter!
38psi?? Dude, no wonder it’s twitchy, that’s a max pressure!!
I run 18-20 in my HD, you can probably run less depending on what you like.
More pressure won’t help your bead now, it was set when it sealed, the sealant does not “dry” and hold the bead, instead it serves to fill voids and maintain a seal. In other words you can burp air, but the tire will reseal.
I meant as in: I put the sealant in, beads weren’t seated. Inflated until beads were fully seated, and soaped it up. Never bothered to let any air out. Checked the PSI so I could see if it was losing air.
I did hop up some stairs on it, and noticed the ‘burping’ in one small section of the tire. I hope at lower PSI’s it won’t become so frequent that you lose a fair amount of air throughout a ride…
I know it’s waaaaay to high. I’m riding antelope island again tomorrow, and I’m gonna play around with PSI a bit.
Just had a quick blast about on the Hans. So far so good.
Can’t wait to try it properly tomorrow.
Note: this picture was taken before my ride, hence the lack of pedals and mud.
Hans review; Part 2
Took the Hans out for a proper muni ride and all I can say is I’m very impressed. The hans corners smoothly and effortlessy on gravel and dirt (dusty dried mud and moist ‘clay’) and crawls over rocks beautifully. My only gripe is that it has a tendancy to grab rocks which is a little annoying If you run an Oracle frame (noise of rocks ‘pinging’ off metal), but not really a big deal.
I also rode the Hans around my local town Darlington on a busy saturday afternoon. Just like on the dirt, the Hans took off sharply and really ‘dug in’ on the corners - even when weaving amongst people in the town centre. It truly is a great tyre - I can’t put how good it is in words!
I’ve noticed the rock grabbing. Every time I think I’ve broken something, I look down and it’s a friggin’ rock in the tread! 
Unfortunatley one of the last sounds my 29er made was the sound of my Brngal helix 5 (disc) finally dieing 