Midweight (welterweight) standard tubes in all my wheels, ~300gms a piece, tubeless in my HD.
I like tubeless, it’s easy, low maintenance, lighter and cheaper than tubes.
I have not had a single problem with tubeless, I add a little fluid once in a while, otherwise maintenance free.
Meanwhile I have a slow leaker in my tubed 29er, how annoying!
Not sure about going tubeless with a drilled freerde rim. Do you use a 29 inch tube or smaller? The Maxxis Freeride tubes seem to be around 300 grams but they only go to 27.5. The 29 inch Welter weights are 200 grams. Thank you for the info.
semi-slicks
Does anyone have anything to say about semi-slick 29er tyres? I’m looking at replacing the Karma that came stock on my uni, and I’m hoping to find a tyre that’s a bit better on the road, while still being decent for easy off-roading. The BA seems a bit TOO slick, as I do do some easy single-track as well as sometimes muddy tracks, so need something with a bit of tread on it still… Does anyone on here use anything like that? Some older threads mentioned a WTB Vulpine, and those look decent, so I may go in that direction if I can still find them.
I’m still riding a WTB Stout and like it, not sure it’s still in production but should be feasible to get some
You can find now plenty of tires with a tread light enough and a rubber soft enough to be a smooth rolling on the road while still providing some grip on dirt (you won’t go overboard with weight but no aggressive riding).
I am currently running a WTB ExiWolf 29x2.3 on my 29er and I mostly commute with it and ride some XC with beginner MTB friends.
I also am running some Specialized Fast Trak Sport on my commuter bike and they provide a smooth ride on the road (they exist in 29").
You can go to your LBS and just look at the tread (usually small and moderately compact) based on the examples above 
The Kenda I’m running now has relatively small treads on it and it still makes a right racket on the pavement, so was looking for something a bit slicker 
I’ll add those to the watch list though, thanks! I’m going to visit the LBS over the weekend and see what I can pick up, though I’ve already been to the wholesaler’s and their selection was mostly big chunky mud tyres.
On my KH29 I went from the stock Kenda Klaw 29x2.1 that was worn out to the WTB Exiwolf 29x2.3. The tread of my Kenda was barely higher than the WTB, but the shape of the tread and tenderness of the rubber, it was night and day !
I am now used to riding in silence where the Kenda was buzzing on pavement 
You can give a try to second hand ads. That’s how I got my pair of WTB 
I have an Exiwolf which is a decent dual use tire but before I got the Exiwolf I used a 29x2.1 WTB Prowler SL which really surprised me how well it did on the pavement, while also being excellent off the hard-top. I was using it on a 50mm wide Speedway rim, but it should also work well on something skinnier.
Unfortunately they have been discontinued a while ago but you might be able to find some old stock somewhere. If I didn’t have too many tires already I would buy another one without hesitation.
That is right that anybody looking at the muni tires thread may run into the o longer produced" problem.
However, this kind of tread is very common in the MTB world and even if the brand or name of the tire will differ, the behavior will stay the same. For example, the Specialized Fast Trak I mentioned has the proper tread and rubber softness and is still in production.
That is why my advice is: somebody should take a good look at the pictures of some tires we mentioned here and then go to a LBS and see what tires with similar tread are sold
That has been my plan, though I’ve also browsed around online too
Has anyone tried this tyre on a 29er? I know UDC sells them in smaller sizes (20-24" I think)…
http://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/p/1265/halo-twin-rail-29er-tyre
I’ve looked around online and found plenty of favourable reviews (From MTB’rs though), and there’s a Leisurelake’s right up the road from me, so I might dip my toes into that.
Anyone out in 29erville have any opinions on either the Schwalbe Smart Sam or Schwalbe Racing Ralph?
The Ralph makes me a bit hesitant as past reviews made it sound flimsy and the Sam seems more or less untested.
The question is, do you want something which looks fast on road, or something which is fast? I used to use Conti Double Fighters for MTB riding in dry conditions - those were proper semi-slick tyres with pretty much no tread at all in the middle. However I’ve not used them for many years, not since I started using Schwalbe Racing Ralphs - those don’t look as slick or as fast as the Double Fighters, but all the tests I’ve seen suggest they’re faster rolling. Not necessarily the best for muni as they’ve got weak sidewalls, but anything with thick sidewalls is going to roll slower.
That’s probably true, I’m seeing all these tyres and just auto-assuming ‘things sticking out the middle bit’ equals ‘wont run on the road’. Right now I’m approaching this as ‘looking for a road tyre that’ll work off-road’ as opposed to ‘off-road tyre that’ll work on-road’ though, so maybe that’s why I’m looking at these treaded tyres unfavourably.
Or if anyone has any suggestions for a 29 x ~2-2.1" XC/AM tire, I’m all ears. I’m also looking at the Kenda Karma.
So you like your Ralphs? Do you need to run them waaay high PSI (or Bar, whatever you guys go by :))? Any sidewall issues like tearing or folding?
I have a Karma on my 29er (It came with it), it’s not failed me yet, though it’s VERY prone to punctures as it’s thinner than bible paper. I’ve put one of those Panaracer kevlar strips in and it seems to have stopped it so far. As I said a few posts back, it makes an absolute racket on pavements, but does fine on just about everything else I’ve used it on (Even fairly deep mud). It’s also wearing down fairly quick, but I do ride about 10 miles a day (At least half of which is on pavement or other hard surfaces) So that’s probably why
If it’s that thin, then no thanks. It’s gotta have some sturdy sidewalls and decent puncture protection.
What is the deal with sidewall thickness, really? I get that the sidewall provides some support, but I don’t get how. Maybe it is just a muni thing with the really low air pressures. Even then, it’s not really clicking in my mind. I don’t doubt it’s real, I just don’t get it. I ride on tarmac with road tires with whatever pressure feels right - probably 30-45 psi but I don’t actually measure it. When it gets too difficult to ride, I put more air in until it gets too hard to put more in with my little frame pump.
I read an article awhile back about the forces that make a wheel work (spokes in tension, etc.) and the tire structure was all about the carcass threads (in tension) and the air pushing against that tension. In fact, it stated that the rubber is just there to hold the threads in position, protect them from wear, and provide a tread surface. The article may have been on Sheldon Brown’s site, but I don’t recall for sure.
I saw an interesting-looking tire in an LBS the other day, but it was instantly out of the running because the sidewall felt really thin and I recalled that being undesirable. It was primarily a road tire, but had big holes in the tread which looked like they might engage the mud that I occasionally encounter better than a pure road tire. I’m not after mudding with this, just getting past some sections without wiping out due to loss of traction. There is one section in particular where the rain washes mud over the pavement and it is impassable on my current tire until it dries out. I’m going to ride this tire until I can’t, but I’m thinking about the next one.
Thin walled tires are fine for road riding where you’re using higher pressures.
For my muni riding, I find that thin walled tires have to be run at higher pressures to prevent pinch flatting. This makes for a rougher ride, and it’s harder to control the uni. I also don’t want to tear a sidewall.
Ride a Duro at 10 psi, and a Kenda SB8 at 10 psi, and tell me which one has more sidewall support. The Duro has the thickest sidewalls of all the tires I’ve tried, and I can run it at the lowest pressures.
I always thought it was that you don’t want to risk ripping it on sharp rocks, I never even considered how it’d affect lower pressures, good point 
I like them a lot on my bike where I run 35-40psi in a 2.1 (would run 45psi if doing an event with lots of tarmac or smooth trails). They are also a bit more fragile than some, but I’ve not actually had a problem with a torn sidewall on the bike for a long time (I run them tubeless, so not bothered about puncture protection as the sealant deals with that).
Not so impressed for muni as mentioned above - I found it pretty squirmy at lower pressures. I should mention that this was the first tyre I tried to replace the Duro my muni came with, so fairly inexperienced and was comparing with a tyre with very thick sidewalls. It’s possible I might be happy if I went back now, but I’m now on a 29er and haven’t got one in that size (maybe I should pop it back on the 26er and revive that to try).