Tire range growing on both ends
July 23rd, 2006 by CloxxkiThe two most recent 29″ tires actually going for sale have been pleasing the XC race-oriented riders and weightweenies : Kenda Karma 2.0″ (labelled 2.2) and Stan’s NoTubes The Crow 2.0″.
More agressive trail riders have been frustrated with the WTB Exiwol 2.3″ for quite some time, as it’s probably the narrowest 2.3″ on the market, and just not up to the task people would like to use 29″ers for. They want more.
Now Panaracer has sent out pre-production samples to VIP 29″ riders of their new Rampage 2.35″ tire. First official (www.mtbtires.com) specs say that it’s got a 2mm wider casing than the previously biggest 29″ knobby, the Bontrager XR 2.25 front. No official Rampage pic I could find yet, sorry.
But the Rampage makes an even greater difference with it’s tread. There IS a tread, and a big one.
A quickly growing part of the 29″ world is keeping it’s fingers crossed for this to be a next big step in finally using bikes such as the Lenz Behemoth and Ventana El Capitan to their full potenial. Some may even try this relatively light (800g, folding bead) Rampage for Pro DH racing.
Unique about Panaracer : they fully endorse their tires to be used tubeless with NoTubes setups, where most other companies have that void warranty..
Expected in shops by September, the Rampage will hopefully enable agressive riders to also really taste the big-wheel advantages as already established in XC.
In the mean time, UK based Halo is announcing a 2.35″ tire offering in 29″, but that will likely not materialize before the end of the year.
Halo 29″ tire in the making.
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Hey it would be great if somebody would make a listing of 29er tires with the ACTUAL width of them, I don’t want to make the same mistake I did with my 26″ bike when I bought some 2.3″ continentals that were more like most manufactures 2.0’s. the real weight of the tire would be cool too, as nobody wants a tire that weighs a ton except for maybe the down hill only crowd.
Go to mtbtires.com please
Thanks for the info
I work at a distributor and, being the sole guy who rides 29er in here, just got a set of sample 29er Rampages to try out (front desk to purchasing five mintues ago: “ya got somethin’ from Japan up here!”). Since it’s unfortunately my last week working here, I’ll probably post some meatier comments (and photo) in a week - I can’t imagine my employer might get in trouble if I do so beforehand, but they’ve been good to me and I’m paranoid.
My schedule won’t let me ride ‘em until Wednesday afternoon anyway. I’ll be running them tubeless after running kevlar-bead ExiWolfs with Stan’s for the last month or so. Pre-production weight looks like 794g on one and 789g on the other. Knobs are good and chunky.
So whats the big deal with going tubless, is it just a weight issue? anuther dumb question do you need special wheels to run tubeless? also normally i can change a tire with just my hands, dont tubless tires have to be stiffer to work? and how do you fix leaks in them? plug them like a car tire? or just slap a self stick patch on the inside of it?
Wow! I missed where anyone had said that you could run the Panaracer tubeless. That’s even more appealing.
swedge: The advantage of tubeless is additional traction, less rolling resistance, and in some instances, lighter weight. You can run a “real” tubeless, ( or UST tire) with a tube when needed, or they can be patched, ( with some difficulty) from the inside of the casing. Traditionally, you would add a latex sealant to your tubeless tires to aid in sealing small punctures without removal of the tire from the rim for repair. You can convert a traditional wheelset to tubless by adding a special rim strip to seal off the spoke holes and add a valve to thev rim. Some wheels, like the Bontrager rim, come tubeless ready, with a special rim strip. Stans also sells a kit to do this. Stans also has it’s own tubeless system available. Hope that helps.
Somewhat, Bottom line is that I am more interested in greater reliability then I am low weight, but if you can get both great. So if you have a tubeless wheel and you have to add goop to it to seal it doesn’t that stuff now make it weigh more then a tubed tire? And what does that goop do when you have to change the tire? I know this as I change my own Dirt bike tires; the crap gets every where and makes tire changes a PITA. With motorcycle tires they are thick enough to withstand, say rolling over a simple sand spur, or a Sweet-gum ball. Based on some experience of some of the folks on the trails I ride it seems tubeless tires are more prone to puncture flats. Anyway I was just wondering if the Maintenance issues associated with tubeless tires (On MTBs) has been addressed yet? Mainly the one about puncture flats. Also how do you get greater traction AND lower rolling resistance, it would seem to defy simple physics? I know you can run lower PSI in tubeless but that’s a moot point for me being a Clydesdale that rides an FS bike, I let the suspension do the work rather then air down, besides being a Clydesdale weighting the wheels for traction is NOT an issue.
No tube to deform > lower RR, more compliant tire > more grip.
Goop to seal the tire is often lighter than a lightweight tube.
Goop-tubeless is ALL about auto-sealing punctures. Many riders report to have gone from weekly punctures to years without a single one. When changing to a tube you’ll first have to deal with removing dozens of nails and cactus needles…
Goop will be goop. Change before it dries out and it will be a mess.