# Fast rolling tire for commuting and trail?



## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

I'm in the process of buying a new hardtail that will see double duty as a trail bike and also a commuter. I hate swapping tires, so I am looking to get a set of tires that have a fast rolling low profile tread that won't be boat anchors on the road and can also work ok on the trail. Most of the trails around here are fairly rocky, some loose sand and some hardpack. Currently I'm looking at the Kenda Small Block 8 or the Maxxis Crossmark. Any opinions on either of these tires? Any other tires that might fit the bill?


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## ImaBoku (Sep 14, 2007)

I am curious for opinions on this as well. I just got a new hardtail for the same purpose, daily commute with some light gravel plus trails on weekends etc. Being fairly new to the hardtail scene its difficult to sort through the multitude of options.


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## EDDIE JONES (Mar 26, 2005)

Geax Lobo Loco's may work or something along the lines of an IRC Kujo. The Geax will wear quicker but it has a round profile for street riding. The Kujo is heavy as hell but would do decent on street or trail and they wear like iron


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## Dan Gerous (Feb 18, 2004)

The CrossMark works great. Very fast and silent on smooth trails and pavement yet has surprisingly good grip when the trails are bit more nasty and it corners well too. When going straight on road, it's almost like a slick...


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

pixelninja said:


> I'm in the process of buying a new hardtail that will see double duty as a trail bike and also a commuter. I hate swapping tires, so I am looking to get a set of tires that have a fast rolling low profile tread that won't be boat anchors on the road and can also work ok on the trail. Most of the trails around here are fairly rocky, some loose sand and some hardpack. Currently I'm looking at the Kenda Small Block 8 or the Maxxis Crossmark. Any opinions on either of these tires? Any other tires that might fit the bill?


Conti Twister SSs. 370 grams. Microknobs in the middle but bigger edge knobs to turn in loose stuff.

I picked up 2-3 mph and at least one gear over Conti Explorer SSs, and they turn ok.

I am guessing they will not wear all that well.


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## timehoc (Sep 17, 2005)

small block 8.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

BadHabit said:


> Conti Twister SSs. 370 grams. Microknobs in the middle but bigger edge knobs to turn in loose stuff.
> 
> I picked up 2-3 mph and at least one gear over Conti Explorer SSs, and they turn ok.
> 
> I am guessing they will not wear all that well.


Nice. Although the super light weight kind of scares me. These tires need to be somewhat durable.


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

pixelninja said:


> Nice. Although the super light weight kind of scares me. These tires need to be somewhat durable.


I am not many miles into them, all Illinois MUTs.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

BadHabit said:


> I am not many miles into them, all Illinois MUTs.


MUTs?


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## BadHabit (Jan 12, 2004)

pixelninja said:


> MUTs?


The despised multiuse "trail"--the bike trail out the door.


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## NormanPCN (Oct 13, 2005)

Kenda Small Block 8.
Specialized Fast Trak.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

NormanPCN said:


> Kenda Small Block 8.
> Specialized Fast Trak.


Any idea which one you think is faster rolling?


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## GreenLightGo (Oct 24, 2006)

+2 on the Crossmark recommendation. I've used both the SB8 and Crossmark, both have their places where they excel. For road riding though, the Crossmark rolls well and has more loose terrain bite than an SB8 so that's what I'd recommend.


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## Rover Nick (Jul 13, 2006)

Small Block 8's


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

timehoc said:


> small block 8.





Rover Nick said:


> Small Block 8's


 Are you guys recommending the SB8's over the Crossmark?


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## drainyoo (May 12, 2007)

pixelninja said:


> I'm in the process of buying a new hardtail that will see double duty as a trail bike and also a commuter. I hate swapping tires, so I am looking to get a set of tires that have a fast rolling low profile tread that won't be boat anchors on the road and can also work ok on the trail. Most of the trails around here are fairly rocky, some loose sand and some hardpack. Currently I'm looking at the Kenda Small Block 8 or the Maxxis Crossmark. Any opinions on either of these tires? Any other tires that might fit the bill?


Crossmarks are awesome. I needed a tire for the same reason and these are perfect. They are very fast on the road.


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## NormanPCN (Oct 13, 2005)

pixelninja said:


> Any idea which one you think is faster rolling?


I have tried both. They both roll fast and smooth. Never did any mental comparison. Sorry.


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## jyeager (Nov 30, 2006)

I'd have 2 wheelsets for the 2 different purposes.

But barring that, I like my Conti Leaders. They are a lighter weight racing tire, but that's what I do. Their tread pattern is very fast and looks to be suitable for pavement. Nothing grips well in loose sand, everything grips rocks (ie. friction with rubber, not tread). and they are ideal on hard-pack. Terrible for mud though.

I have no experience with the Smallblock8, so I'm not necessarily saying the Contis are better.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

Thanks for all the good feedback, guys. I went ahead and told my LBS to get the Crossmarks.


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## urmb (Oct 4, 2005)

Continental Traffix


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## grawbass (Aug 23, 2004)

WTB Nanoraptor


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## mile6cycles (Sep 16, 2005)

*I use intense system 3...*

Intense System 3. It's a semi-slick with regular intermediate and side knobs. I use these on my commuter because they're almost as fast as slicks on the road. For quite a while I used them on my trail bike. They work well on the trail, my biggest complaint was that they were too low volume for me (240lbs at the time) and I had to run them at 40 & 45psi to keep from pinch-flatting. They corner great, a bit less traction than full knobbies but very predictable. The traction and braking isn't so great, as you can imagine.

I love em for the commute since I can just head off road on the way home if I want. Obviously don't expect great cornering on the road.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

mile6cycles said:


> Intense System 3.


Hmmm. I like the looks of those. Maybe I'll talk to my lbs.


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## paihk (Jun 27, 2007)

Hi

Anyone knows about Hutchinson Piranha or Python? Which one is rolling faster? THX!


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## crazylax42 (Jan 17, 2007)

I'm currently using crossmark and python combo, works great for lots of commuting as well as the occasional trailride. Nice thing about the pythons is that you can run em at 80 psi for lots of pavement use


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## RedBlueGreen (Aug 22, 2007)

I'm on Crossmarks and their super low rolling resistance is amazing. Pretty grippy in wet XC conditions too. I do have a concern that their wear rate might be a bit fast, but have yet to see.


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## newboy04 (Aug 6, 2005)

*Hutchinson Python Air Light*



paihk said:


> Hi
> 
> Anyone knows about Hutchinson Piranha or Python? Which one is rolling faster? THX!


I have been running Pythons on my hardtail up until my front tire got nicked in the sidewall by rocks. I now run a panaracer fire xc pro or kenda blue groove in front but we'll get to that later. I like the Pythons alot for hardpack trails and singletrack. Being a race tire, they are _very_ fast. The only problem is that they will wash out on you without warning on hard fast turns or loose sand, though this usually happens to me on pavement and never on the trail. For speed and low weight, the Python is an excellent tire. Now, if you ride through rock gardens and bomb downhill, they probably aren't the best choice However, as far as xc race tires go, the Pythons are a joy to ride.

I have no experience with the Piranha, and I switched to a new tire up front because the Python is less suited for the types of trails that I have been riding recently (lots of rock gardens, roots, and technical stuff). I still keep the Python on the rear because the of the aforementioned attributes of this tire.


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## ChuckO (Aug 12, 2007)

My solution for trail and street is two complete wheelsets. On the stock wheelset that came with the bike I'm running Kenda Kiniptons, roll very nice on pavement and are okay for very smooth trails. My other wheelset is Mavic crosstrails with Michelin XCR Extreme tubeless, great for just about everything off road around here.
Takes about three minutes to swap between trail and street.


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## bikerfish (Feb 3, 2004)

ChuckO said:


> My solution for trail and street is two complete wheelsets. On the stock wheelset that came with the bike I'm running Kenda Kiniptons, roll very nice on pavement and are okay for very smooth trails. My other wheelset is Mavic crosstrails with Michelin XCR Extreme tubeless, great for just about everything off road around here.
> Takes about three minutes to swap between trail and street.


Have to agree about multiple wheelsets - much faster than changing tires. I have 3 wheelsets - 1 for commuting, 1 for trails, 1 for winter (el chepo). As far as good fast tires that will also work on trails I use the WTB All Terrainasaurus. I've got at least 2000 miles on them and I'd say I've got about half-life left (maybe a little less). About 70% of those miles are pavement, the other 30% is dirt & rock. They roll very fast, have little to no noise, and hook up pretty well on hardpack, roots, & rocks. They do NOT work well in mud.


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## pixelninja (Jan 7, 2004)

bikerfish said:


> Have to agree about multiple wheelsets


I now have 2 wheelsets. :thumbsup:

One set has Crossmarks for multi-purpose use, and the other has a Panaracer Fire XC Pro/Schwalbe Nobby Nic combo for dedicated trail use.


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## Zero Signal (Aug 17, 2007)

I vote SB8s still


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## markymark (Oct 30, 2004)

maxxis larsen TT 60's - fast rolling, awesome on the dirt. Been using them for commuting and trail riding for years.


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## TrekJeff (Oct 12, 2006)

Ritchy speedmax seem to do well. They came stock on my Cross Check and I havn't had a complaint about them yet.


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## NonConformist (Nov 19, 2004)

I'm suprised to see so few votes for the WTB nanoraptor. It's well known for being one of the fastest rolling tires out there, wear like iron, cheap, and work well enough in all conditions. 

Then again I've not tried the crossmarks,
DG


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## stenu (Dec 8, 2006)

NonConformist said:


> I'm suprised to see so few votes for the WTB nanoraptor. It's well known for being one of the fastest rolling tires out there, wear like iron, cheap, and work well enough in all conditions.
> 
> Then again I've not tried the crossmarks,
> DG


2nd vote for Nanoraptors. Best do it all tire for a mtb.


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## llama (Dec 15, 2006)

Just bought a pair of crossmarks for my HT, which I use for singletrack and running errands. They work great.

But I like the idea of having two wheelsets even better. I plan to add a wheelset soon that will be dedicated to street use.


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## ferday (Jan 15, 2004)

stenu said:


> 2nd vote for Nanoraptors. Best do it all tire for a mtb.


3rd vote for nanoraptors. wear great, roll great on pavement and dirt, and enough traction to be practical. and you can usually find them cheap-ish.


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