So the Knard and Rabbit Hole on the new Oracle 29" frame is a nogo folks, close but no cigar. :(. It will fit and spin fine by itself with only the nipples rubbing but as soon as you get on and ride the flexing causes the knobbies to rub on both sides of the crown.
I would have taken this advice sooner but I had already ordered the RH, wasn’t sure if 35mm was too narrow for the Knard. Well at least I know 50mm is too wide! Can’t believe it fits fine on the 47mm KH rim.
The good news is I’ll have an even lighter muni, shooting for 12lbs flat! Bad news is that I wasted a little cash with the build and precious time. Look for the RH with rim strip and tube in the for sale section next week.
Thanks for the suggestion Claude but the rim is true and tire is seated. LBS suggested cutting the knobbies on the edge off. I’m not interested in doing that and I still don’t think it would clear anyways.
Either way the 120tpi Knard and RH rim are quite impressive and incredibly light!
I just mounted my Knard 27tpi on a Velocity P35 rim, fit was tight on the revised Oracle frame, I have ~5mm to either side and ~10mm to the crown. Tire is 75mm at the widest, frame is 85mm at the widest.
Unlike JT’s, mine is rideable, but clearance is not good as I’d like. I wouldn’t suggest this frame for the Knard until the legs are widened another 1/4" (5mm) on either side. Josh said that this was a bigger change to implement than increasing the crown height, so it didn’t make into the latest modification; maybe the next frame??
Kris has a point on tire pressure, more psi will expand the tire, and the Knard 120tpi, being an ultralight casing, requires pressure, so it may get bigger. That said, I have had both tires and my 27tpi measured out larger
I hope Nimbus and KH widen their 29er frames, it would be nice to have a wide tire option for soft surfaces AND rumor has it that Surly is planning more 29+ tire options!
Anyone for a revisioned frame that has a standard hub width (100mm) and the height and width to clear 4" wide tires and the crown height to clear 29+ tires? In aluminum of course, it could be called the Super Max
Maybe they listened? Surly is showing a new version of the Instigator (26" hardtail MTB) that has 26" versions of the 50mm Rabbit Hole and a new 26x2.75 tire called the Dirt Wizard. Not sure what the weight will be but the casing appears Knard-like so ~1000g should be feasible (my 27tpi Knard is 1270g).
I was just talking to my self this morning (I do this when I commute, it’s more entertaining than listening to music) about how cool it would be too have a 26" Knard, because the 29" Knard is just sooo dang tall.
So this is like my dream tire, a fatty flotation tire that fits a 29" frame and plays well with my 650B, yummmy! Terry (muniaddict) is gonna be thrilled, he was wanting this very thing.
I don’t know that a specific rim is needed, I have had my Knard on a 50mm Rabbit hole and now on a 35mm Blunt 35, works fine on either, I think it rides better on a narrower rim as the autosteer is less pronounced.
And you know I just gotta buy one of these new fatties, it’s my “gear whoring way”
Probably not, it’s still going to be a flotation tire, so not that rugged or sticky. It’ll be a nice tire for places like Utah where you have dry conditions and sandy soils.
I hope they use the beefier Knard casing (120 TPI 26 x 4"), the 29" 120 tpi is like paper and the 29" 27tpi is like an XC tire.
I’m really liking my HD SG, it is a burly tire for being so much narrower than a Duro, but it doesn’t ride hard or have autosteer issues like the Dissent.
If Surly does go ahead with this tire, it’d make a nice winter tire for the 29er crowd to use on a second wheelset (26"). If it’s the same size as a 650B XC tire, then that makes it 1/2" or so taller than a Duro 26 x 3" and an inch taller than an Ardent/HD 26 x 2.4, which makes me wonder if it’ll fit in a 26" muni frame…
This tire is a natural follow up to the 4" snow tires, since many of those users want to continue using their snow bike in Summer, but find hauling around a set of 4" tires is a bit tiring. Maybe the Oregon will adopt a more reasonable tire like this 26+, as they now have the 29+ option.
I think it would be too tall to fit in a 26’’ uni frame (it doesn’t sound like it would fit in a 26’’ bike fork…) “Because the tires work out to be the same size as a 650b wheel and tire, a 650b fork is needed as well.”
Wow, a 24" fatty, just when we thought the 24" wheel was dead
That would be an interesting tire to try on a 24" wheel, but the only production frames that can accomodate a 4" tire are the Conundrum and the Oregon.
But I would think that between the potential larger diameter of the Duro and the extra frame clearance of the Nimbus Muni frames the Dirt Wizard would fit. . Ben, would your 650b fit in a 26er frame?
Most 26" forks aren’t made to fit a 26x2.75" tire but the Nimbus 26" unicycle frames are. Bikes designed to take a 26x2.7 like the Surly 1x1 can be converted to 650b MTB wheels/tires without issues with clearance. Still, it could be an exceptionally tall 2.75" wide tire so I think we’ll have to wait and see.
The Knard 29" x 3" is 75mm wide and 65mm tall on a 35mm rim. It was a tad wider on a 50mm rim, but also a tad shorter.
The Hans Dampf 650b is ~ 1/2" taller than a Duro 26 x 3" on an LM rim.
A 26" rim with a theoretical 26 x 3" “Knard like tire” is going to be 27.5-28" in diameter.
So yeah, it’ll probably fit in a frame designed for a Duro 26", like the Nimbus II, but if you’re looking at the KH 26 or Oracle 26, just be sure to meaure leg width and crown height before buying.
I believe the Oracle 26 and Oracle 29 have the same leg spacing, only the crown is different. I’d err on the side of extra space…which would also give you the 29er option for a latter date.
I played with tubeless last night and it was doable, but I decided to stay with tubes. The Knard hooks well into the Blunt sidewall, but the wire bead 27tpi Knard is “reluctant” to be pushed into the hook without a visit to the tire shop.
This is not a big deal, but it got me thinking about what might happen if I had issues on the trail…
The other tires I have made tubeless, other than my 36er, were easy to set up and get sealed with a floor pump, so I don’t fear having a blow out on the trail with those tires.
So I got the Knard rolling on my Oracle 29er, it was a much lighter ride than the Oregon, and even though I’m running shorter cranks now (150), it was only a little bit more challenging to climb steeps; I’ve resigned myself to walking when riding tall tire :o
I did have some minor rubbing, only on the left side, and only when climbing hard, so I’m going to trim the edge knobbies with a razor knife which should solve the problem.
The Knard is a really nice tire, about the only downside is the height, it’s just so tall for muni; at ~31" it is nearly the same size as my 32"!
I look forward to getting a 26" x2.27" Surly Dirt Wizard, the reduced height and weight will be a real plus for all around use.
So I’m curious if the Oracle 29" frame has the same dimensions as the Drak.
. Ben, would your 650b fit in a 26er frame?