With KH stocking his 29ers now with Knards, I’m curious what others out there are now running for 29+ tires besides the Knard.
Knard is great but the sidewalls are thin.
At one point, I was very intrigued in the Dirt Wizard but the tread pattern looks very similar to the old WTB Dissent which had a lot of auto steer for me. For those running the DW, how are the sidewalls and how is the auto steer?
The Innova Transformer is also an interesting looking tire but it almost seems too cheap at 42 bucks a pop, making me question it’s durability and tubeless ability.
Chupacabra exhibits auto steer, and a bike shop friend said that the Chronicle breaks free in corners.
So who’s running what and what is working the best? 29+ only…
The Dirt Wizard rides similar to the Dissent. The sidewalls on the DW seem to leave the tire a little less predictable than the Dissent.
It does have extra traction over the Knard, but I’m still not entirely sold on it over the Dissent. They both have auto steer. I’m not sure if it’s more or less on the DW.
Is the bike shop friend a uni rider?
Auto steer usually doesn’t bother me too much unless it’s extreme. The 24x4 Specialized Ground Control was problematic on skinnies for me. But, this conversation isn’t about 24"…
I have both a Knard and DW and switch them out periodically on my Flansberrium. On a Rabbit Hole rim the DW is not quite as wide as the Knard. Sidewalls seem to be exactly the same: thin. I do get noticeably more autosteer with the DW.
Is there a difference in stiffness between the Surly knard’s 27tpi and 120tpi casing? I was under the impression that both casings are the same(thin), one just has a wire bead while and the other Kevlar. I have a half a dozen rides on the 120tpi and like it, but tougher rock sections may eat this thing alive.
On a single ply tire a 27 tpi (threads per inch) casing will have casing threads approximately 4 times thicker than a 120 tpi tire. It will be thicker and tougher, but by no means 4x thicker and tougher. The type and amount of rubber used make a huge difference in that regard as well.
I am running the 29in Maxxis Chronicle 120tpi version and I have not noticed any real degree of autosteer just if I am riding really slow then I can notice it slightly. In general I actually like the tire better than the Surly Knard it seems to float over stuff a lot nicer. I have had no issues with cornering on it at all. The only problem I have noticed if I am hopping up a slope or something every now and then my sidewall seems to compress too much and throws me off.