@Sask: I’ve been pretty happy with my Ralph 29 x 2.4. Like you said, the grip on tight corners is sometimes not that great (on certain surfaces), but overall I find it excellent for fast xc. It does have very weedy sidewalls though (no thicker than a road tyre), and I have already had to repair a cut/tear in the sidewall of mine caused by slipping off the side of a sharp rock. You have to be more careful with it than you would with a beefier tyre, but for light weight, big rolling diameter, mostly race-orientated riding it’s really good. Running it tubeless makes quite a difference to the feel - seems to feel softer over rough surfaces without having to drop the pressure too much (which you can’t do with such thin sidewalls). Probably not a tyre for people who like side-hopping though!
Sometimes for general 29ering I think I’d prefer something a bit less damage-prone, even if it is a little bit heavier - perhaps I’ll have a look at one of those Prowlers next.
I am working on assembling a 26er muni as my 29er is now going to be my xc/road uni since I switched the schlumpf hub into it.
This thread is awesome. I saw a few people post that they were going to try out the Maxxis Minion 2.7 but not a lot of follow up on it, what is the overall consensus on this tire? Is it a good DH tire? I want a tire that will be good for the tech trails here in Colorado, as well as some of the awesome trails in Moab. The 29er in Moab wasn’t too great, I had the XC 38mm rim and a Navegal tire, so I am assuming a wider rim and a nice wide tire on a 26er will be much better.
Also, Gazz 3.0 and Gazz jr (2.6?). Everyone seems to love these tires for their 26er munis but I can’t seem to find them for sale. Are there any downsides to this tire, and what would a good equivalent be?
I am guessing from reading some of the reviews that the Stout is pretty nice for most muni, but it doesn’t seem like it would handle technical stuff as well as a thicker tire, is this correct, or does the stout 26er handle DH/tech stuff well?
You should be able to find a 26x2.6 Gazz somewhere but the infamous Gazz 26x3.0 is really scarce. I believe that Nurse Ben has a 3.0 that he has been casually trying to get rid of if you want one.
I have not used the 2.6" version but love my 26x3 Gazz. What makes this a great tire is also what can be considered the tires downfalls.
Fist off the 26x3" Gazz is WIDE, so wide that I can no fit it in my KH frame mounted on a 46mm rim (KH specs a 47mm rim.) Awesome if you want a big cooshy tire, a deal killer if you have a tight frame like a KH.
Second the Gazz is HEAVY. this gives it great momentum and you can plow through stuff that would otherwise throw you. With the weight also comes great pinch resistance and a nice slow rebound.
And finally the Gazz for all its weight has fairly pliable sidewalls:
I have used my gazz on an Alex DX32 (old school favorite, now considered skinny for MUni at 38mm wide) and it was an unpredictable floppy noodle boat anchor of a tire. I hated it. when I upgraded my rim with a 46mm wide trials rim the tire soon became my favorite. It needs that extra rim width for proper sidewall support. People say that they are even better on 65mm surly rims. The pliable sidewalls allow the tire to deform more uniformly than other 3.0s and allows for lower rolling resistance at low pressures, and just a different feel that some like but not others.
Do you use a special downhill tube for your 26er, if so what brand/size?
I am pretty set on getting a KH 26 frame, so I guess the Gazz 3.0 is out if it is a really tight fit, but a gazz 2.6 may be wide and cooshy enough for me anyway - and I won’t JUST be doing tech downhill so maybe it will be good to have a slightly lighter boat anchor of a tire haha. I’ll have to do some searching and read more reviews on the Gazz jr.
I am still curious about the Maxxis Minion 2.7 and how that rides, I read a few pages back that several people were going to try them out.
Still loving the Rubber Queen 2.4, a great tyre if you want to ride up as well as down. Huge volume yet light weight!
I would not oversize your inner tube, you do not want to add weight you don’t need. I run my tyre tubeless which is worth looking at as it has several benefits.
Right now I ride a 2.6" gazz on my 24" Muni and there’s a really big difference of size between that 2.6 and the 3" Kujo. And with a 2.6" gazz you can’t ride it as squishy as a 3" wide tire because the volume is much smaller. If you can’t find a 26x2.6" Gazz I can get one brand new for you at the LBS. There’s like 10 tires there!
I don’t think that’s true. It’s heavy (but so is/was the Gazz) and has a rounder profile than the Gazz, which you either like or dislike depending on riding style (it’s more maneuvrable but apparently slips off skinnies). The side walls are thicker than the Gazz, so it’s less prone to folding without having to use ultra-wide rims. I quite like it personally.
Having said that, I saw Jap’s Rubber Queen recently and it’s a good compromise between volume and weight. Not really THAT much smaller than the Duro, but considerably lighter. I may try one myself when my current Duro wears out.
Tube size makes a BIG difference to tyre ‘feel’.
I had a huge tube in my 24" muni and I put a smaller one in (To save weight). When I put it all back together and rode it, it was horrible! I couldn’t get anywhere near as much bounce with the skinny tube in. I let a bit of air out in an attempt to get some springyness and the rim hit the floor all the time.
I changed back to the fat tube (Same tyre) and it was a completely different beast to ride.
Yah experimenting with different tubes is cheeper than experimenting with different tires and the difference can be almost as big.
For years I used a Nokian downhill tube and it was great. It had a sort of a rebound dampening quality to it that I could not find with other tubes. I posted a memorial post on here somewhere when the stem finally gave out on the tube and I had to retire it.
I have tried lighter tubes and they just don’t have the same feel. Another problem with standard tubes is if using low pressures they don’t push very hard on your bead allowing the tire to spin and poof your stem is ripped out and you have an unfixable flat.
I am using a regular downhill tube right now which is OK but I would love to find another Nokian tube.
And yah the Duro is a decent tire and lots of people like it, I just don’t happen to be one of them. (anyone want to buy my modified duro? throw me a PM)
I find tubeless to be great, giving a plusher ride, absorbing bumps better and rolling quicker. I’ve not thought of it before but it makes sense that you would loose some bounce.
Tubeless is something that I have been increasingly interested in but I don’t think I’d trust it enough. I do fairly big drops and quite a bit of northshore and I can’t help but think the tyre would come unseated and let air out all the time.
Maybe its because I run a fairly narrow rim (Halo Combat) but my tire does tend to fold. Obviously with a tube thats not an issue.
I would like to give it a go because my muni is really heavy and I’d like to try and eliminate some spinning weight to make it more maneuverable.
(slightly off-topic, but still related to muni tyres…)
I went tubeless on my 29er with a Racing Ralph, using the split-tube method. Positive effects are no thorn punctures because of the sealant (which is the main reason I did it) and a noticeably more supple ride (the Ralph is very thin and doesn’t like low pressure). Negatives are not being able to swap tyres easily to suit conditions and the general pain in the arse of getting it to work in the first place. I got it to seal the first time by putting foam tape under the split tube - not a problem. Then I had to remove the tyre to repair a cut in the sidewall (sharp rock vs silly light race tyre - grrr) and just couldn’t get it to seal again. Eventually resorted to using a new tube but still wouldn’t work with the foam tape trick - had to use dollops of washing up liquid, which eventually worked but is messy as hell. Real pain in the arse, and very nearly had me going back to a tube (with some Stan’s sealant inside for thorn protection). At the moment I’m still a fan (at least on the race machine that runs relatively high pressure), but I don’t think I’ll be converting my muni. Jamie (Jap) doesn’t seem to get problems with burping though, and Phil seemed happy with it on his 24x3 (on a Combat rim actually) even at low pressure.
Well, I was playing on a nearly 3 foot drop with a pretty flat landing on Monday and I managed to ‘Burp’ my tyre. It re-sealed itself immediately, just loosing a little pressure and has been fine since.
However, I was doing some maintenance over the weekend and had had the tyre off so the tubeless seal was only one day old. When you split an established tubeless seal you have to pull quite hard to separate the tyre from the tube (assuming an ghetto system is used). I don’t think my tyre would have burped if the seal and been established a little longer. I’ve certainly not lost any confidence in the system.
What is a regular downhill tube (size/brand)? My LBS doesn’t have a lot of DH gear. Is that Duro tube I linked to a few posts ago a good choice, or is that too bulky for non 3.0 tires?
Thanks, the Rubber Queen sounds very promising, so far it may be my top choice. I’m still going to look into that Maxxis 2.7 tire and Gazz 26x2.6, trying to find more reviews on those two.
Glad to hear that the Duro isn’t that bad, most of the previous reviews I read were negative.
I really want to get a 26’’ or a 29’', but im not shure what would be better and there so expensive 
