Which tire are you writing about: Kodiak or Dissent? Thanks.
haha I dont know;)
I wanted the Kodiak, but it was impossible to get it over here in Europe, so I found the Dissent in the Netherlands and ordered it.
You can´t imagine my surprise when I got it: Bill and package was “Dissent” but at the tire I reed “Kodiak”!
Now I am not quite sure whether they got a Kodiak for me or may be the Kodiak is called Dissent over here?
Does anyone know whether the Kodiak and the Dissent are the same tires 
Ups! looking now at the store I found they changed the product to “Kodiak”:
They are different tires.
Kodiak - http://twentynineinches.com/2009/11/09/wtb-kodiak-2-5-29er-tires-first-impressions/
Dissent - http://twentynineinches.com/2009/10/15/wtb-dissent-2-5-29er-tire-first-impressions/
then I luckyly got the new Kodiak.
thank you!
Ardent 26 x 2.6 (DH/Freeride)
I picked one up on sale from Jenson for $20, figuring that since I like the Ardent 29 x 2.4, than a fatter version might be nice for my 26 guni. Unlike the 29er Ardent, this version of the Ardent has thick sidewalls, more like a DH tire, and a wire bead. It is not quite as a “thick” as the Intense DH 2.5, more comparable with the Kodiak or Dissent.
In retrospect, I think the casing and sidewall are a lot like the Minion, maybe the same, but with a far nicer XC tread pattern. The Minion was just too much of a bike tread, made riding a rough and rumbley.
This is the tire that KH is supposedly going to spec on the 26er.
I won’t get a chance to mount it up until my guni is done, but for those who are looking for a narrower muni tire, but one that’s not too narrow or wimpy, this might be a nice choice and they’re ON SALE!
http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/TI299A00-Maxxis+Ardent+Steel+Bead+Tire.aspx
I ran the same tyre on my 26" guni for the Monguni tour. It is a great all rounder, should be spec on the KH26 soon (last i heard).
Its time to revive this thread. Tires are the most important part of a Muni.
I have tried 3 Muni tires, the last one today. The tires were all on a 38 mm rim. My weight is 83 kg.
My Qu-ax cross came with the Duro Wildlife 24x3.0, a massive and heavy tire.
The weight is 1750 grams, the casing width is 68 mm. The sidewalls are thick, so I can run this tire at 0.8 bar. It absorps all the bumps very nicely and the muni feels very stable, like a tank. The grip is good on the dry, but disapointing in mud. Cornering is a bit of a handfull, mostly because of the low pressure.
A year ago I wanted to try a much ligther tire, so I bougth the Schwalbe Big Betty 24x2.4. The weight is only 800 gram, the casing width is 63 mm. Combined with a normal tube the weightsaving was a massive 1.2 kg. This much weight saving on the tire is very noticable, the uni reacts much quicker. The steering is a bit to much on the twitchy side for my taste. I could get away with a pressure of 1.2 bar, when using the 24x3.0 tube. The grip is OK on dry ground, this tire rolls really light. This tire makes your 24 a faster XC machine, especially with shorter cranks.
But anyways, I like the Duro more, because of really low pressure and the very stable straight line feeling.
Last week I ordered the Gazza 24x3.0 from Municycle, Germany. First impression, out of the box: Rather thin sidewalls, nice and wide thread pattern. I put it on the scale, this tire is 1530 grams, so 220 grams lighter then the Duro, I didn’t expect that. Most of the weight difference is in the sidewalls. So I put the tire on the rim, really easy. Then measured the width, 71 mm casing width. Then the first spin around the neighbourhood. First impression: The cornering is a lot easier then the Duro, a bit of the feeling of the Big Betty, but more stable. The Gazza sidewalls are thinner than the Duro, and fold under low pressure. I have to keep at least 1.1 bar, this is bit dissapointing.
Today I tested the Gazza on the MTB singletrack. Man this tire rocks !!!
There was hardly any “getting used to” this tire. I rode at 1.1 bar, couldn’t go any lower, so the ride was more bumpy the with the Duro. The steering was very light and precise without getting instable. On the road it was also OK, I would say better than the Duro. It runs smoother and also no road crown issues, like some other folks. The grip is very good, but I still have to try it in mud. The Gazza made me feel more confident, because of the grip. So the MTB single track went better than the last time on the Duro.
If only the Gazza could handle lower pressure, the same as the Duro. Maybe that is why you see a lot of Gazza’s on really wide rims, like the Large Marge.
Hey Tom
Just curious but what rim are you using? I started out on a DX32 (38mm wide) and my Gazz (26x3) felt sort of like a wet floppy noodle that would launch you into space if you landed crooked. switched to a Echo (46mm) rim and it made all the difference in the world. I was able to drop the pressure a bit more and the tire became a bump eating grip monster that just couldn’t get enough.
Love my Gazz but wouldn’t put in on anything skinnier than my current 46mm rim.
Are the Gazz 3" still being produced? Are they the same design cuz I don’t remember mine having a floppy sidewall, if anything it was more like a Duro than a Duro 
If you want a low pressure tire, you need to bump up to a 26" wheel, get yourself a Large Marge and a Larry, or maybe one of those new fat tires with the beefy tread (4North).
The demise of the Gazz is old news, you must have missed the announcement, I think the funeral was in 2008 
Thanks Eric and Ben,
Eric, my rim is a Qu-ax BX 38 mm, (a rebranded …rim) measured on the outside, so the same size as your DX32 rim. I recognize your statement from older posts, I have read as much about tires as possible. I’m glad to hear that the feeling of the Gaz can be improved.
The pressure I need to run is about the same as a Big Betty 2.4 tire. Maybe Big Betty fits better on a 38 mm rim.
It is a bit of a shame that my current rim is 48 holes. There isn’t much choice in rims, or I need to buy a new wheel.
Ben, I don’t know if the Gaz is still produced, maybe I can find a production date on the tire. I did notice some greasy slimy stuff on the tire, maybe that is for keeping tires in stock for many years.
I do like the Nimbus Oregon, but for now the Gazza wil entertain me for a while. It is already an improvement.
Time for an update of my Gazza and Duro review.
It has rained a lot last week, so yesterday I could test the mud traction of the Gazza.
I found out that the grip in mud is really good. I tried to ride most mud puddles of the MTB trail, and most of them went OK. The Duro I used to ride would slide all over the place. So here is the total verdict:
Gazza
Plus:
- Grip in wet and dry conditions.
- Smooth on tarmac.
- Steering, cornering.
Minus: - Thin sideways, needs 1.1 bar.
Duro:
Plus:
- Grip in dry conditions
- Thick sidewalls
- Low pressure, 0.7 bar possible with 185 lbs rider.
- Straight line stability.
- Bump suspension.
Minus: - grip in mud.
- Nobs ratle on tarmac.
- Cornering needs some force, but you can get used to it.
I am very glad I have the Gazza, now that the muddy season begins in Holland!
Apologies if this is already noted above, but does anyone have the measured width of a Racing Ralph 29x2.4 installed on a 47 mm wide, 29" KH rim? Someone just emailed me with that question, and I don’t have a Racing Ralph tire at the moment.
Thanks,
Kris
I don’t have a 47mm rim but my 29x2.4 RaRa measures out to 63mm (2.48") on my 50mm rim and 61mm (2.40) on a 38mm rim.
hope that helps.
Cool - thanks.
Kris
My measurement agrees with Eric’s - exactly 2.4" at the widest point on a KH29 xc (non-drilled) rim (38mm I believe), at around 25psi. There’s a reasonable clearance in my KH29 frame, so I reckon it would be fine with a slightly wider rim.
I think Nurse Ben has run a 2.4 RR on a freeride rim - there was a thread somewhere about tyre widths on different rims…
Rob
EDIT: Knew I’d seen it somewhere 
2 9/16" apparently.
Thanks Rob
IMHO, the RR is a fine tire, but the Ardent is better in every way and is just just slightly more weight. My RR has been packed away for a while now
Wow! http://www.jensonusa.com/store/product/TI299A00-Maxxis+Ardent+Steel+Bead+Tire.aspx?SSAID=389818 $13 Maxxis Ardent Steel Bead Tire!!! 
Yup, good deal, esp if you need something else and can share the shipping.
I have one of these tires, it is the heavier version, wire bead, maybe a little heavier construction than the 2.4, but maybe not, still a great tire esp if you’re on a budget.
I never thought I’d say it, but a 3" tire is an overkill unless you’re riding sand, snow, or really wet and muddy conditions; and for those condition you need a real tire like the Larry 3.8 
Tested out two new 26" tires + used two old tires on a new rim on my current trip down to California and now Moab.
On the way down to California from Saskatchewan I took apart my MUni wheel with 46mm echo rim and re-build it with a 50mm Speedway rim.
The first tire I used on the new rim is my new go-to tire the Vredestein Bull Lock. When I first measured the tire on the 46mm rim it was 62mm (2.44") wide. Now with hundreds of km behind it and on the wider 50mm rim it measures out to a respectable 68mm (2.68")
All my first impressions of the Vred on the 50mm rim were great. I could air it down a bit more, it was very light, had good volume, amazing grip, yet remained quite nimble. Then I got a pinch flat on a drop into a crazy banked switchback, then I got a pinch flat on a sharp rock hidden in the grass, then I got a pinch flat when I took a little drop and landed half the tire on a rock I didn’t see, then I got a pinch flat as I tried keeping my speed through a rock garden and messed up my line…
I absolutely loved this combo for everything except for its one obvious fatal flaw. The sidewalls are really thin and with the rim being so wide there isn’t a whole lot of tire between it and a rock if you hit something at an angle. You could alleviate this by running higher pressures (I like lower pressures than most), running tubeless (I am going to try this next) or using a smaller rim (I never had any issues on the 46mm echo).
Next I tried the Surly (Inova) Larry 3.8
I really didn’t like this tire on the 46mm Echo, but though maybe I would like it better on a 50mm rim. It was better but still not great. At low pressures it had a bit of a mind of its own but just absorbed the bumps like they weren’t there, at harder pressures you might as well be using a 29 with a wide tire and save some weight.
I did some riding near Santa Cruz with this tire including “braile” in the Soquel demo forest. On the trails I found it too bouncy when pumped up to the point where it had decent road manners so rode it a bit on the mushy side. It took more energy to hold a line or get it where you wanted it to go but man did eat up the small to medium sized lumps.
Later I got to try Tom Holub’s unicycle with Larry on a 65mm Large Marge and it was amazing how much better his setup felt than mine. Very smooth and it would just float over loose surfaces but not try to pull you in random directions like mine was doing on the skinnier rim.
In conclusion I think that the Larry is possibly a great tire but needs a wide rim like the Large Marge to support its huge volume. I went and ordered a 80mm GFS 
The next tire I tried was a Maxxis Ardent 26x2.6 (cheep from Jenson) hopping to have a bit more width than the Bull Lock and more substantial sidewalls.
To my surprise the tire was smaller than the bull lock at 61mm at the casing and 64mm at the outside tread. The rubber was very soft 3C compound which gave it great grip but made it feel really slow on hardpack. I hit the rim a few times on purpose and no pinch flats so that was a nice change but the killing blow on this tire for me was the raised centre section with almost complete lack of transition knobs.
Riding this tire felt like you had a high centre ridge and the unicycle wanted to fall to the side in a turn. It would probably be great for people railing turns on a bike but not so hot on a unicycle. Perhaps the tire would feel better once the centre is worn down a bit. I will never know since I gave the tire away, I hope they like it better than I did.
And finally I have been using a Vredestein Black Panther for the last few days in Moab. So far it has been very nice. It is a very light high(ish) volume tire with a linked centre ridge and moderately low profile knobs. I have been told that they are larger than the Bull Lock but mine measured 1mm less than the well used BL. Perhaps it will stretch out over time.
So far I have not had any issues with this tire. It rolls smoother and faster than any other tire I have used for MUni, stuck well to the slickrock (what doesn’t?) and has enough volume to absorb may of the small drops bumps and ledges found on the trails. I haven’t been all that careful and have hit rim a few times but didn’t pinch flat. I think it has more to do with the rounded “soft” sandstone than the tire.
I bought this tire as a possible on/off road tire when I build up the geared 26 and I think it is a good choice for that. I haven’t tried it in mud or leaves yet but it floated quite well in loose sand. It might not have enough bite for loamy soils but it appears to be a great hardpack tire.
Except for this last bit in Moab with the Black Panther I have been kicking myself a bit for not brining my trusty old Gazzalodi 3.0. The old beast has great volume, wicked traction and substantial but subtle sidewalls. I just wish it wasn’t so darn heavy.
Continental are apparently going to make a 29er version of the Rubber Queen. Could be interesting for the 29er tech muni people - the 26" Rubber Queen is an excellent tyre. The 26x2.4 is way lighter than something like a Duro 26x3 and isn’t really THAT much smaller - bigger than a RR 2.4 I’d say. May be too big for a KH29 frame though.