Skinny Tire Reviews: Post your Favs!

Okay, so in contast to all the fat tires that “hog” the attention, this here thread is for the little guys, skinny is the new fat!

I recently swapped my Knard (29 x 3") for a Racing Ralph EVO 29 x 2.1", this is the redesigned Racing Ralph with a directionless tread. At first glance/feel, the new RR appears to be a little more “robust” in the casing, volume is on par with most 2.1" tires; it ain’t that big :roll_eyes:

I mounted my skinny RR on a Velocity Blunt P35 rim (35mm), which fit quite nicely and would be great for tubeless, but for now I’m running a tube.

The first ride ended up being an epic, ~seven miles of up and down single track with a two mile DH section, a few miles of gravel, and a few miles of road. Of course the road and gravel sections were easy to roll, but what suprised me was how well this tire handled real muni.

A narrower tire is lighter and more agile than a fatty, so it was really easy to ride, a nice climber, and I had no problems negotiating root bundles and rock gardens. I ran the RR 2.1 at ~ 25psi, which was firm enough to prevent casing fold while still providing a nice cushion.

On the downhill I was convinced I’d be walking drops and/or popping the tube, but the RR contd to amaze, handling drops, water bars, rock gardens, and too many chicken head sections to count. I didn’t suffer any sidewall fold and I never flatted.

So who says you need fat, I say go skinny!

Did you happen to ride one of those Advantages

on a 26" wheel before Frankentiring them? If so, I’d be interested in your impression.

Hey Alice, I never did ride the Advantage before cutting them up for the 32", but it is a popular tire, kinda like an Ardent but with a linear edge knobby. It’s got a more pronounced tread than a Racing Ralph, on par with an Ardent. The EXC casing would be good for uni, I have the silkweight casing and I wish it was stiffer.

how would the new racing ralph fit on a wider rim? (42mm) probably no issue? where did you get it from?

I wouldn’t be surprised if tires are just starting to show up at your doorstep by now…

Like lil bo peep, those tires just seem to find their way home :wink:

I was looking for a “anti Knard” to fit my 29" wheel, the Racing Ralph wasn’t even on the radar as I had ridden it in years past and found it to be very flimsy, but I saw the new RR at an LBS and it seemed like a much improved design, so I bought it.

I don’t know how it would run on a 42mm rim, probably not much different than on a 35mm rim, for sure the sidewalls would be more vertical. I think a 47mm rim would overstretch the casing and make it prone to folding or coming off the rim.

When using mtb width tires (1.9-2.2"), I think it’s important to use rims that fit the narrower tires, even a 35mm rim is really still quite wide for a typical mtb tire; typical widths are 20-25mm or so.

I have been following and thought you really were thinking SKINNY! But I see you are not really going THAT skinny.

Off subject - I’ve been riding a skinny since the Todd had the side wall blow off. It’s a 43 x 1 Greentyre slick.

Have fun on your kind-of-skinny.
JM

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Yeah when I saw the thread title I thought you meant ‘skinny’ tyres like what you see on track racing bikes and stuff :smiley:

Still, I’m all for your idea of ‘skinny’, these ridiculous 4" tyres I’ve seen on here look awesome but I can imagine it being like a bouncy castle when you take it anywhere :open_mouth:

To contribute - I’m still running the Kenda Karma that came with my 29er, and I ride it basically everywhere, and it’s worked so far and doesn’t seem to have worn at all yet (roughly 10 miles a day for the past 2 months). I’m not a man of many words, or of much experience with tyres so can’t write a real review until my tyre dies and needs replacing, so I have a comparison :smiley:

Yeah, I suppose skinny is relative, but for muni a 2" tire is pretty durn thin.

So what’s a Greentyre slick??

Surely not those none-pneumatic tyres that go on wheelchairs and trolleys… Always been curious as to whether they’d work on a *cycle, never puncture again! :smiley:

I had the same tyre on my 29er and replaced it when the middle tread was dead-slick. You will see that modern multi-use tyres can be grippy while silent and smooth… The humming the Karma does when riding on the road will be no more (except if you take a big knobs tyre to replace it).

A couple of pictures. crashcason on the teamUnicycle 43 inch Semcycle has a Greentyre slick. Yeah, its on pavement here, will have to get a pic of it on the trails for you.

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teamUnicycle

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crashcason1.jpg

crashcason0.jpg

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You’ve had that off road? :astonished:

Awesome…