Thanks! Any word on when the Surly Knard 26x3 will be available? Might just hold off until that tire is available. I’m currently using the Maxxis Holy Roller 26 x 2.4 which is great all around tire but it lacks the cushioning of a larger volume tire like my favorite old Nokian Gazz! I might end up getting a Duro Wildlife Leopard 26x3 to tie me over though in the short run.
No firm date on the Knard as yet. In the interim and if you can find one, you will find a big difference between your 2.4 and, say, a High Roller 26x2.7. So far I’m leaning towards this volume as my favourite in a 26, as long as weight stays around 1000g.
The Knard is really big volume - bigger than the Duro 26x3.
Thanks Kris! Just ordered a High Roller 26x2.7. Looks pretty good to me. While I miss my old 26x3 Nokian Gazz the High Roller will have to do for now! Happy riding!
Thanks Kris for the early report. I see that there are 2 casings available. Do you have the 27 tpi or the 120? The 1000g hints at the former as it’s closer to the specs on the site.
Feedback on the Dirt Wizard is definitely welcomed. Especially since the High Roller 2.7 appears to be out of production.
I’ve been running a Bontrager XR4ti on the G26. The package lists the weight at 780g. I like it in high gear, but the casing is a bit (almost too) round for the tread pattern. With the sidewalls being a bit thin and the tread being on the lesser side it really has a narrow range of acceptable pressure for riding. Too little, and it squirms. Too much and it bounces. The volume is good, but the lack of the side knobs leave a bit to be desired when things get a bit slick. For dry conditions and not too technical trails it works well. The light weight is great for keeping it in high gear. If it gets a bit rocky or slick, stopping the squirm or finding traction gets tricky- especially with the different feel of the uni between the 2 gears.
I think the Dirt Wizard will be a nice step up to a more solid tire. I’m mainly curious which version will be better for unicycling. The folding version at 850g makes me wonder if the casing is a bit too thin.
There you go.
From what I know in Taiwan, the High Roller 2.7 is still in production and it comes standard on the KH26.
Maxxis does not put every tire they make on their website (for example they also make a 24x2.7 High Roller), and this tire size is hard to find in a retail shop. Perhaps that will change with the surge in popularity of fat bikes. But that said, it’s great news that the Dirt Wizard now exists just in case it indeed goes out of production.
In the 29" size I think that a lighter casing makes more sense for weight reasons, but in 26 I think the 27 tpi is probably about right for most unicycle riders.
Kris
Thanks Kris! Good news indeed.
It’s not only to know that the 26" version is in production, but a 24" as well. I had a friend give me a several year old NOS 24" and he was under the impression that they were no longer available. He’s been sponsored by Maxxis (on the bike side of things) for years.
We still have a bunch of 24" wheels around here that don’t always need a Duro.
I’ll try to do some more digging.
Okay, I know this has probably been covered, but there are sooooooo many 26" tires out there, I hope you’ll bear with me.
With the season ending, I’m beginning to plan a multi-day epic for next year on my 26er Muni. I actually don’t mind the Duro, but the ride I’m planning has a lot of climbing, and I’m looking for something a bit less over kill.
Are there any proven lightweight 26er tires out there? Lightweight ‘and’ durable of course. I was considering a 26" Hans Dampf. I’d be running it tubed. Volume doesn’t matter that much 2.25 - 2.5 would be ideal.
Sorry if I’m beating a dead horse, thanks!
You are on the perfect thread for such kind of tires. You will find in previous pages a lot of feedback for tires.
On my personal tests, I have been nicely surprised by the Specialized Purgatory UST 26x2.4 (780g) and the Continental Diesel 26x2.5 (700g).
The first one has stronger sidewalls because of the tubeless ready. The second one has a nice tread and snake-skin like sidewalls and is more flexible.
I am testing now an Ardent these days and have still another tire or two in my backlog I have to play around with in the future.
If you want to play around with tires without breaking the bank (or even try your multi-day trip with a light tire), just shoot me a PM and I can send you a tire and you will send it back to me when you return from your trip (or sooner if it doesn’t feel right)
My buddy runs the purgatory’s on his b*ke and likes them, so maybe I’ll have a looky-look at those.
Thanks for the offer on trying them out, if I decide to do that I’ll let you know.
One more question,
At the moment my only other 26er tube is a 3" Duro tube (yeah, heavy). If I get a new tire, I’d likely just buy a smaller tube, but in the event that my brain collapses and I don’t, is there any harm in running a 3" tube in a 2.35" tire?
Maxxis Holy Roller
Greetings all,
I’e been running a Duro Leopard for quite a while on my 26" Nimbus (that and a Hookworm came with the uni when I bought it from a forum member).
They’re both great tires, but a little heavy. I use this uni mainly for off-road, but I also end up doing a fair amount of road riding on it around my office. So I recently started to look around for a possible lighter weight tire to try. The Maxxis Holy Roller seemed to get good reviews for being a good dual-use tire. I got one from “Bike Tires Direct.com” for $37, plus shipping. I also got a lighter-weight Continental tube at the same time. Total weight for both is almost half of what I had before, noticeably lighter.
I’ve had it on for about a week now, and I like it so far. It’s a lot smoother on a paved road surface than the Duro, and it seems to have good traction off road. I don’t notice any difference from the Duro. It’s not supposed to be very good in mud, but here in L.A. that’s hardly a problem. It’s dry dirt and rocks pretty much everywhere. I’ve also noticed it being a little easier to pedal up hills.
Overall, I give it a “thumbs up” recommendation.
Jenson USA has the 26x2.7 Maxxis High Roller on closeout sale. Been a hard tire to find at retail, for me at least.
Duro Razorback
Has anyone tested a Razorback yet? It should be the same as the Wildlife Leopard. But is it really identical, or did they not only change the name of the product?
What keeps me wondering is the fact, that the 24x3" Wildlife Leopard is told to weight 1,55 kg/ 1,495kg while the Razorback is told to weight 1,255kg/ 1,255kg. Is the Razorback really 200 to 300 gramms lighter than the Wildlife?
If this is the case, i could save up to 480g by changing the Wildlife Leopard to a Razorback and the Duro tube to a Schwalbe 24x 2.10- 3.0 AV10D tube.
Is the Schwalbe tube as good as the Duro?
Duro Wildlife Leopard vs. Duro Razorback
Hey, I got answer from DURO (Hwa Fong Rubber)!
Both tires have (as we all thought) the same geometry and pattern. The only difference is the used compund. The Razorback therefore has more wear resistance and less weight.
When the numbers I find are correct, you can save about 240g rotating mass by replacing the Wildlife with a Razorback (24x3")!
Seems to be a great tire! 
Has anybody tried Schwalbe Magic Mary? http://www.schwalbe.com/en/offroad-reader/magic-mary.html
It seems like little sister of Muddy Mary, which I’ve seen some riders using and happy about.
Also I have a question regarding Hans Dampf. Has anybody tried Performance version of HD? It seems to have dual compound and is half the price of Evolution line ones, so I’m tempted to try it as my XC tire.
Dual Chamber Tire System
Schwalbe and Syntace made a really cool developement: a dual chamber tire system. Sounds interesting: “There is an additional air chamber inside the tire. This inner chamber is filled with high air pressure and effectively prevents the tire hitting the edge of the rim. At the same time, the inner system also secures the tire on the rim and prevents the dreaded “burping”, a loss of air of the tubeless system in the case of low pressure. Depending on the situation, the air pressure in the outer chamber can now be reduced to 1 bar (14psi) without running any risk.” This could really be an interesting option for Munis.
See this article for more Information.
Weight Penalty
Sounds cool but I’m guessing it will have a significant weight penalty.
They say +200g … but they don’t say in comparison to what…
What do you do if you tear the tyre too badly to run tubeless but not badly enough to bin it.
Also that inner tube is gonna cost a lot and the spacing between the dual valves is going to force a specific spoke count and possibly a proprietary rim.