Thread: Recommend me a 2.2 or 2.25 tire

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

I have the 2.4 purg on the front and I like it.
Some people would consider a 2.2 purg or a 2.25 ardent overkill for the rear around here, but as I said, I suck. Wish I could try them back to back as their performance in the normally dry conditions around here seems comparable.
Gheto tubeless is always a possibility.
I should add that these would be mounted on 317 rims, so narrow.

Sent from my cell phone. no, a cell phone.

Do you know the weight of the 2.4 Purg?

A lot. That's why it's on the front. 2.4 wouldn't even fit on my rear.
So, should I just go 2.3 ground control and ghetto tubeless?

edit: I think I'm just gonna get an Ardent.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

A lot. That's why it's on the front. 2.4 wouldn't even fit on my rear.
So, should I just go 2.3 ground control and ghetto tubeless?

Too bad, I' was told that might be a nice lower weight/big diameter tire to try.

It's in the upper 700's to 800's. It's a big and chunky tire, but still seems to favor dry conditions.
Yeah, I'll prolly get an Ardent unless NN's come up cheap in a more modern, durable casing. Ardents are already about $50.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

It's in the upper 700's to 800's. It's a big and chunky tire, but still seems to favor dry conditions.
Yeah, I'll prolly get an Ardent unless NN's come up cheap in a more modern, durable casing. Ardents are already about $50.

Yea, in that gram range, I'll stick with my Big Bettys. As big, beefy and badazz as any tire I've tried.

I've now gotten about 15 hours worth of riding on the 2.25 Ardents and about 5 hours on the 2.2 Purgatories as my rear tires (on two different bikes). My preliminary impressions are that the Ardents have more bite in cornering but that the Purgatories roll better. I'd probably prefer the Ardents, although I'll spend a bit more time on the Purgs before I arrive at a final judgment.

Interesting.
Care to elaborate on which versions of the tires and what conditions?
Your weight? Tire pressures? Tubeless? Ghetto tubeless? Tubes?
Hahha. This is TGR!
but seriously, thanks.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Interesting.
Care to elaborate on which versions of the tires and what conditions?
Your weight? Tire pressures? Tubeless? Ghetto tubeless? Tubes?
Hahha. This is TGR!
but seriously, thanks.

You forgot the important one; Are you an aggressive rider?

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Interesting.
Care to elaborate on which versions of the tires and what conditions?
Your weight? Tire pressures? Tubeless? Ghetto tubeless? Tubes?
Hahha. This is TGR!
but seriously, thanks.

FWIW, the Ardents are used with tubes (maybe at around 30 lbs? I usually go by feel) on my old 6 Point 6. The Purgs are tubeless at ~25 psi on a Stumpy Evo, which has a lower bb and wants to corner very hard. I'm about 193 lbs. without gear. Conditions are generally dry, rocky, and sandy. Consider this half a data point though. I'm still getting used to the new tires and new bike. Also, I don't know shit about tires.

Originally Posted by AKbruin

I've now gotten about 15 hours worth of riding on the 2.25 Ardents and about 5 hours on the 2.2 Purgatories as my rear tires (on two different bikes). My preliminary impressions are that the Ardents have more bite in cornering but that the Purgatories roll better.

Looking at those two tread patterns, I'm surprised that the Purgatory rolls better -- never ridden one, but I have an Ardent on the rear of my 29er, because it rolls so well.

Originally Posted by AKbruin

FWIW, the Ardents are used with tubes (maybe at around 30 lbs? I usually go by feel) on my old 6 Point 6. The Purgs are tubeless at ~25 psi on a Stumpy Evo, which has a lower bb and wants to corner very hard. I'm about 193 lbs. without gear. Conditions are generally dry, rocky, and sandy. Consider this half a data point though. I'm still getting used to the new tires and new bike. Also, I don't know shit about tires.

So you got the new bike! Nice. Those Stumpjumper Evo's look like fun.

hm. The s-works purg is only $5 dollars more and sub-600g. So, do s-works tires wear pretty well on the rear? I've heard different things. Not a lot of sharp rocks around here, and will probably be running with tubes at around 38lbs (that's what the NN's need to not pinch flat after a long right or a missed bunny hop. Guess I'd go less if the sidewall is stiffer. 35lbs with all the rain.)

I'm rolling the schwalbe racing ralphs on my 29er. The 2.25 rolls extremely fast and does well in the conditions listed in the initial post. Down side is they're crazy expensive and paper thin. Would go with the snakeskin casing on the rear.

I now have about 100 miles on the Purgs and my conclusion is that I don't like them. They don't seem to have much bite in corners and feel very uncomfortable in any kind of drift, especially in loose dirt/sand. YMMV. They seem fine in all other regards.

I think I generally prefer the Minion-style tire with a flattish profile, big knobs on the outside, and a groove in the between the outer and inner knobs. Then again, I was pretty happy with my old 2.4 Fat Albert rear.

Originally Posted by El Chupacabra

Looking at those two tread patterns, I'm surprised that the Purgatory rolls better -- never ridden one, but I have an Ardent on the rear of my 29er, because it rolls so well.

The Ardents do roll well. It might be that the seven-pound weight loss between the new bike and the old bike made it seem like the Purg rolls better.

fwiw. the bonty XR4's are easily the best tubeless rubber i've tried.
i have a bunch of rides on them now and seriously they rule.
they rail corners and roll fast.

Thanks for the input.
For whatever reason, the only 26x2.25 Ardents I found locally were the reinforced casing. Too much weight.

Sent from my cell phone. no, a cell phone.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

hm. The s-works purg is only $5 dollars more and sub-600g. So, do s-works tires wear pretty well on the rear? I've heard different things. Not a lot of sharp rocks around here, and will probably be running with tubes at around 38lbs (that's what the NN's need to not pinch flat after a long right or a missed bunny hop. Guess I'd go less if the sidewall is stiffer. 35lbs with all the rain.)

38 psi? Jesus thats high. Ive got them at 25 and thinking of going lower. And im riding a lot of sharp rocks. Maybe ive gotten lucky so far. The are crazy expensive though.

Yeah, I run high pressures, but I seem to be able to find a good spot for rolling resistance and grip.
Haven't had a flat in a year or so.

Specialized site says 715g for a Control Purgatory 2.4". That's not horrible for a 2.4 IMO. They unfortunately don't make an s-works 2.4 purgatory, and frankly i've had bad luck running specialized s-works casing tires tubeless. Sidewall cuts and such.

edit: that's 26 inch. 29er is 800g

I've been running Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35 tubeless at 25 lbs., and find they fackin grip every where in east coast single track. I'm 190 lbs. On a large Butcher. Was running Ardents 2.4's. Find the Hans have a more consistent feel from upright to leaned way over. Ardents had an imbetween zone that felt odd. Ardents were EXO's and heavy as shit. YMMV

And . . . I tore the sidewall of my Purgs at the top of a 4-mile decent that was densely infected with mosquitoes for the first 3 miles.* (Fun!) Admittedly, the trail was rocky as hell. But those sidewalls are thin as toilet paper, which made the tires pretty damn light as well, I suppose.


*Somehow, pack gremlins stole the pump from my pack, leaving me with no choice but to walk down. Only one biker passed me as I was walking my bike downhill about 3.5 miles from the trailhead, and the motherfucker didn't even slow down, much less ask me if I needed any help. He just said "howdy" as he sped past. I should have asked him if he had a pump as he passed, but I guess I kind of expected him to ask if I needed help. Anytime I've had a mechanical (which I'm able to fix by myself 3 our of 4 times), every passer-by has asked if I needed help, as I always do when I'm passing folks by. Dude has some bad karma coming his way. /endblog

Yeah, I really have no need to run tubeless.

Originally Posted by stuckathuntermtn

Yeah, I really have no need to run tubeless.

...says the man that rides his tires at 38psi

I have ardent 2.25EXO on the rear, liked it so much that I bought a 2.4 to replace the 2.35 highroller up front.

Originally Posted by F#*k You Cat

get real everyone in the know is rocking Panaracer Smoke - Dart combo on their MTB rig

Talking retro tires, I've always thought WTB should make a modern version (tcs, inner peace, dna, whatever) of the Velocirapator Rear. Not the front though. Tread wise that is one of the best looking rear tires I've seen...

http://www.wtb.com/products/tires/xc/velociraptor/

Originally Posted by laxman2001

...says the man that rides his tires at 38psi

I have ardent 2.25EXO on the rear, liked it so much that I bought a 2.4 to replace the 2.35 highroller up front.

They seem to actually roll and grip best between about 35 and 40. This is of course assuming the pressure gauge is even remotely accurate.
Bellow 32, the Purg on the front starts feeling really flimsy. 317 rims, so kinda narrow and whatever.

Sent from my cell phone. no, a cell phone.

Can someone tell me why the Crossmark would be better than the Ardent for around here? It's really dry. Now my current tire is starting to lose it's braking traction.
Basically just looking for a comparison from someone who has ridden both on the rear. I'm sure someone here has. In 2.25.
I think I have some Amazon credit coming my way. Will they let me switch if don't like something?