Bontrager 29-3 Front/Rear Tires: Final Review
July 29th, 2009 by Guitar TedI have had the pleasure of rolling these Bontrager treads now for several months. Here are my final thoughts on the combination. If you want to get into more detail on some of the aspects of the tires, you can check out my previous posts here, here, and a comparison post here.
Taking my initial impressions into account, let’s see if the observations I had at first held true. The trails were mostly dry during this period and moisture wasn’t an issue. Some dry over hard pack and sand was present along with rocks and roots.
Rolling Resistance: The rolling factor was good. I never felt that the 29-3 was a hindrance in this area. In fact, I am betting the production tires are even better in this regard, since my casings were pre-production, and were stiffer and heavier. Even the front, with its deeper, bigger knobs rolled quite nicely.
Climbing: This is still an amazing feature of the rear tire. It hooks up really well and the drier the better. It doesn’t like loose, or rocky stuff real well though. Technical climbs may break the rear loose, but over all, the 29-3 rear scores highly on climbing.
Cornering: The 29-3 front tire really is a great cornering tire. Lateral support is excellent, and you really have to overcook the corner to make it break loose. The front fairs better in loose over hard than the rear, and doesn’t need to be leaned way over to work. The squarish profile has a lot to do with this. Cornering for the rear tire isn’t as solid, with the rear wanting to break free and slide far before the front will. The smaller volume casing also trends the tire in that direction as well.
Braking: The front is great in braking traction, but you will break the rear free very easily. This could be a problem on very technical courses for some folks.
The 29-3 front is a great all round tire and would probably mimic the WTB Prowler on the rear, which is a solid all round tire. Running a bit taller and squarer casing, the 29-3 front specific tire should lend plenty of mud clearance and be great on a rigid bike. As a front tire it is a very good choice, especially if you want a fast, grippy tire that rails corners.
The 29-3 rear tire is surprisingly good as a climbing tire and overachieves in most situations as a rear. Racers are using this as a front to match it on the rear with great success. That said, this is a finesse tire that will reward a skilled, patient rider. Those that are more aggressive and care free in style will over tax this tire quickly. It rolls very well, and the size may make this a great choice for a “monster cross” application.
Overall Wear: These tires are pre-production, but I have noticed some significant wear, especially on the rear tire, during the course of the test. This is a racing tire, so expectations for pavement wear should be less.
Conclusions: Hands down, this is one of- if not the most- odd combinations of tires for front and rear ever made for a mountain bike. Still, as a team the tires work well. Tubeless they had the same bomber reliability that the TLR system is known for. I would like to see Bontrager up the width on the rear to “true” 2 inch width to better balance with the excellent front tire. As it is, the combination is not quite what it could be. I would highly recommend the front tire, and the rear is an excellent racing tread for skilled riders that can finesse the performance out of this tire without overwhelming it. Make that rear tire a bit wider,add volume, and we would really have a great set up for all around race conditions here.
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I’ve been running the 29-3 front tire on the rear for the last few weeks, and it seems pretty solid thus far. Airs up with a floor pump on a Stan’s Flow rim.
I did try the rear 29-3 tire with the front, and wasn’t all that impressed on my SS Superfly. I now have both Superflys on the 29-3 front, and XDX rear, and find the set-up about perfect. Where the rear would skip around on standing climbs, the XDX digs in, and it is always there to support the superb 29-3 front handling. Much better volume, too, on my RXL rims.
That front is the best I have ever used on a hardtail rig, bar none, on any surface, including sand, loose over hard, hard, mud.
I’m sure it would be fine on the HiFi 29er too, if I weren’t so impressed with the Stouts on it.
LeeT,
I’m sold on the front for my rigid SS. As in your case, the XDX is a strong candidate for my rear. However, another prominent runner for the job is Conti Race King 2.2. Could you compare the two in that context? If not you, perhaps someone else?
@ AGuy: I have ridden both quite a bit. As a rear tire, they are fairly evenly matched. That said, the XDX is a fatter, rounder casing and will set up wider on a wide rim than the Conti which has a “tall” casing that doesn’t spread out as much on wider rims.
The XDX I have also seems to have a thicker casing, which may make a difference to some.
On hardpack/pavement, the Conti rolls better too.
Otherwise they would both make excellent rear tires.
Thank GT,
I’ll just add the “cool” (and vain) factor – with the XDX both tires will sport the Bontrager logo…
I am gravitating toward the XDX.
So Youngballs…
Is the 29-3 front tire a good rear tire as well? Fast roller? Faster than an ACX with similar traction front and back?
Thanks
G
G-Live,
I feel that so far the 29-3 front works decent as a rear tire. Been riding it on a fully rigid SS and it hooks up pretty well on most surfaces. I’ve cleared some pretty steep sections of trail that were littered with small debris with minimum slippage. This is with tire pressures of around thirty couple psi. I’ll be lowering tire pressures to find the sweet spot between ultimate traction and bashing rims. Blows the doors off the XDX on wet surfaces. It seems to have a rubber compound similar to what you find on Kenda tires. I feel that it rolls pretty well. Not quite as fast as the XDS(one of the fastest rolling tires I’ve ever ridden) but never feels like it’s bogging me down. As I’ve only been running the 29-3 for a few weeks, I’m curious to see how it fares with regards to long term durability.
As for front tires. I know that everyone on here seems to love the Conti MK 2.4s. It’s my experience(as well as almost everybody else here in the Shenandoah Valley of VA) that the Conti MKs let go of traction fairly easily on loose over hardpack. Don’t get me wrong, I like the MKs, but the side knobs seem pretty squirmy to me. Although it’s not the raciest tire, the Kenda Nevegal DTC blows the doors off the MK in most traction requiring situations. The dual tread of the Kenda rolls way faster than the old 26″ sticky rubber Nevegals I’ve run in the past on an old bike. So far I really like the Nevegal DTC as a front tire. I hear that the sidewalls may not be the thickest, but I guess only time will reveal that to me.
If you’re looking for super fast rolling tires with traction that’s not outstanding but ok, then Bontrager XDXs are pretty good. If I was riding on pretty groomed singletrack and lots of pavement, the XDXs are hard to beat. I do feel, however, that the more technical trails are more fun with a much more capable tire.
I would echo the opinion on the XDX. Straight up one of the fastest tires I’ve ever ridden on a mountain bike. It is almost like cheating. They don’t deal well with anything wet, and aren’t super cornering tires even in the dry stuff. I think one reason that they seem to corner so poorly is that you can roll into corners going so much faster because the tires are so fast. I rode them at Wilderness 101 this weekend. They weren’t ideal on some of the wetter singltrack/rock garden sections, but for the majority of the course they were perfect, rolling super fast and providing “enough” traction. Oh, and while not super svelt, they are durable as heck, which is nice on rockier courses. I finished in the front 1/4 of the race and saw a TON of these tires out there. I’ll be riding them at ore2shore in Marquette this weekend.
I just got a set of 29-3s, but haven’t had a chance to mount them up or ride them yet. I have no intentions of using the rear as an mtb tire, solely as a monster cross tire on my cross check, or possibly on one of the new fisher cross bikes? I’m planning on mounting up a set of the front 29-3s in the next week or so and giving them a go here in the upper midwest.
Please keep us informed very interested in this tire. I’m pretty sold on the front but not as a rear tire. Xdx are great tires but don’t do it for me to use as a rear.
I just picked up the 29-3 front tire from my LBS. I have not even mounted it yet but I am not at all impressed with the weight. The label on the tag says 650 grams but the scale says 970. I can understand a few grams outside the estimated weight but not 320 grams. Taking them back to the shop and will weigh the others they have in stock to see if maybe I just picked up a bad one.
Anyone else notice such a massive weight difference?
@ Vescus: I do know that the pre-production tires I have were manufactured with the incorrect casing. Too much rubber was put on it, as it was explained to me, so the weights were off from spec. Not as much as yours though!
That is very odd! Check back in when/if you find out anything more on that.
GT, I took the tire back to the LBS. They were just as shocked over the weight as I was. The other one they had in stock was just as portly. They are sending them back for lighter models. Of course one wrench (jokingly) tried to convince me that the heavier tire was better because the extra rubber means extra traction and protection. I told him to put them on his bike and give me some proper threads. Too bad though…I wanted to test them out on the SM100 course this weekend. I’ll be using the Bonty Jones XRs instead.
@Vescus: Good luck in the race! XR’s are no slouch tires either. I like the front version on both ends myself. fast, fat, and float over sand. Good treads!
@Vescus- I didn’t weigh mine before I mounted them. If I remember, I’ll weigh them when I take them off. I can tell you that mine didn’t weigh 900 grams. They seem pretty light. The 120 tpi team casing is quite supple.
I have one ride on the 29-3 front-front combo so far. It didn’t tell me much about the traction of the front as a rear because the trail conditions were the best I’ve ever seen at this particular venue. (Wolverine trails in Ironwood, MI) The dirt was incredibly tacky. Anything and everything would have hooked up like drunk college students. That said the 29-3 did seem to hook up well for climbing. I was purposely lazy with body position while climbing (on a SS) and the rear tire hooked up beautifully. Other observations: (1) These tires are plush/supple. As I noted above, I have the “Team” version with the 120 tpi casing and the combination of the quality and volume of the casing make for a very nice feeling tire. My benchmark, everyday tire is the Bonty ACX, because they work well enough for the majority of my riding. They’re a reliable jack of all trades, master of none. The 29-3 has a larger volume casing and definitely feels plusher/more supple. Keep in mind that I’m riding these with tubes at this point… I rode them at about 20 psi. (2) The rubber compound feels pretty tacky. As I mentioned, the dirt was pretty much ideal, but these tires felt awesome on the rock/root sections of the trail as well. The rubber seems tackier than the other tires I use. Gut feel is that these tires roll faster than the ACX but nowhere near as fast as the XDX. Cornering seemed good. Better than the XDX, maybe on par with the ACX. I’m primarily looking for these tires to be a race tire that corners better, and is performs better in damp (wet rocks and roots, not mud) conditions than the XDX. So far they’re promising.
The question marks in my mind are: (1) HOW fast they are, (2) Rear wheel traction in a variety of surfaces. Right now I have both tires mounted in the same orientation (3) HOW well they corner.
I’m heading up to the UP for another race this weekend that features loads of swoopy singletrack. Cornering traction=success in this race. I plan to pre-ride the course with the XDX and see how it feels. I’ll have the 29-3 along as a backup plan. We’ll also be doing plenty of riding in Copper harbor over the weekend, so I may have a chance to really push this tire combo, depending on which tires/bike I decide to ride.
Update on the 29-3 front-front combo:
I didn’t race on them this past weekend, as I decided to ride my XDXs. I did ride them for about 3 hours in Copper Harbor. Copper Harbor features some of the toughest trails in the midwest. The trail surface ranges from sandy loam (not much) to loose rock mixed with dirt (most of the trails). I came away very impressed with the 29-3 tires. They rolled pretty well and offered great cornering traction in the numerous loose rock covered switchbacks. On Friday, I rode the same trails on my Hifi 29er with Panaracer Rampages. On Sunday I rode my Rig with the 29-3s. On both days I rode with a friend who was on a 29er hardtail with WTB stouts. Friday, I would gap him a bit on some of the downhills, but never by much. I may have had a couple PSI too much in the tires, but nothing crazy. I think I ran 22ish psi on Friday. Sunday I straight up ran away from my friend on the downhills. One of the trails features repeated loose rock filled swtichbacks and I never ride that section much faster than him, and never feel comfortable on it. Sunday I gapped him and felt better on that section than I ever have. The tires really surprised me at how well they lean over in the switchbacks, as the side knobs don’t appear very far out. The tires were also top notch on some steep sections with a mixture of rocks, tree roots, etc. I ran 17 psi front/19 psi rear. There’s a race there in a couple of weeks and I know which tires I’m running for the race. The tires seemed fine after one day of riding on the rock, but I wonder if they would hold up to continuous shredding with that much rock. So far I’m liking them a lot.