# Bike Packing Tire Thread



## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

It seems to me that one of the critical pieces of bike gear for bike packing is the choice of tires yet I don't see much discussion about them. Am I missing a tire thread somewhere? 

I have a couple of questions for experienced bike packers.

1. Do regular mountain bike tires hold up under the extra weight and long distances? I've thought of using UST versions just for some sidewall protection. 

2. Is a tire like a Schwalbe Marathon (Extreme/XR etc.) with volume a better choice?

I'm willing to sacrifice some rolling resistance for grip in the dirt. Ultimately I'd like a tire suitable for most conditions. My top choices are Kenda Small Block 8, Continental Race King or Touring tires like Marathon Extreme, Continental Travel Contact.

The bike is a rigid Surly Troll, I ride pavement only in search of dirt. I'm doing the Canadian portion of the GDR in a week.

The Specialized Fast Track Armadillo Elite is definately on the radar.


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## hunter006 (Jan 20, 2012)

There's a tire forum on MTBR, you might want to check that out.

If it's any help, the semi-official tire for the Ride the Divide race is the WTB Nanoraptor. What seems to work as a good compromise is something like the Continental Travel Contact, which has a smooth center tread with knobs on the edges.

Nice bike btw. I'm a big fan of the Troll. I have the Troll's bigger brother, the Ogre .


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## SimpleJon (Mar 28, 2011)

My thoughts on tires - it is completely dependent on what you are going to ride and expected trail condition:
For bikepacking with my Epic I generally run the same tires I would run anyway - I run Raplhs / Nicks if it's going to be dry, Nevegals or a mix if I need more grip. 
For adventure style dirt road / tarmac mix tour, I use 2.0 Scwalbe Marathon Dureme's / or Marathon Supremes - If you're loaded front and rear I find anything smaller than 2.0 to be quite uncomfortable.
The people I know running Mondials (new name for the XR's) are the heavily loaded round the world or pan continental guys, but not tried them - apparantly they are very heavy and have a lot more rolling resistance than the Duremes - but they do go on forever. I think you would be better off with an MTB tire for bikepacking rather than XR and a lighter weight faster rolling Marathon for adventure touring


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## teatreetim (Nov 14, 2011)

XR's have more kevlar than the other marathons. These are my favorites:
- 29er 2" XR's for mostly dirt road
- Front ones are 26 x 3" arrow racing savage/duro wildlife leopards for heavy mud
- Rear 26 x 2.7" Arrow racing launch for rough road (they are actually the same size as the hook worms plus tread).
- All time awesome tarmac/dry trail 26 x 2.5" hookworms


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## big_papa_nuts (Mar 29, 2010)

Interesting read, Rubber fetish: Schwalbe offerings « while out riding , but if you check the blog it seems like he will ride what he can get.

Personally I'm just gonna go with standard MTB tires. Nano rear, Saguaro front. The handle everything well and I can't think an extra 50lbs makes much of a difference in lifespan.


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## hunter006 (Jan 20, 2012)

big_papa_nuts said:


> Interesting read, Rubber fetish: Schwalbe offerings « while out riding , but if you check the blog it seems like he will ride what he can get.
> 
> Personally I'm just gonna go with standard MTB tires. Nano rear, Saguaro front. The handle everything well and I can't think an extra 50lbs makes much of a difference in lifespan.


That's a cool link.

I used Marathon Plus's to do mostly on-road but some rough-road/off road riding on my old fixie/singlespeed, which typically would weigh between 32 and 36 lbs depending on what I was carrying at the time, and all the weight was up the rear of the bike (under seat bag). It is not the best tire for either application, light trail at best really... but one of my coworkers challenged me to ride it until there was a blue strip of liner showing all the way through the (rear) tire; I said I'd get it to 10,000 mi or bust, and this photo was the result of that effort. Zero rear flats after 10,000 miles.


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## Saddle Up (Jan 30, 2008)

Thanks everyone, I think I'm going with Kenda Small Block 8's. 2.1 for the back 2.35 for the front. It seems to make the most sense to take advantage of the larger volume since I have all the tire clearance I could ever want.


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## bobzcheez (Nov 21, 2007)

I thought the same thing and wanted something with more beef than the Marathons. I ended up getting Serfas Krests and I am happy with them. They provide some puncture resistant and can handle a lot of different situations.


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## Ze_Zaskar (Jan 3, 2008)

Anyone around here can say something about how the Mondials grip off road?


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## SingleTrackLovr (Apr 25, 2007)

Saddle Up said:


> Thanks everyone, I think I'm going with Kenda Small Block 8's. 2.1 for the back 2.35 for the front. It seems to make the most sense to take advantage of the larger volume since I have all the tire clearance I could ever want.


Just a pleasure bikepacker since 06 no high miles or racing.
That said Kenda Small Block 8's are my fav's.


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## nachtjager (Jul 26, 2006)

I use schwalbe marathon duremes 29x2 (700x50) and they are awesome. FAST rolling with a surprising amount of off road grip. I have these tyres on 2 bikes in different sizes and the results are consistent. I was originally afraid that I should have got the "extreme" but am now convinced of the Dureme's merits.


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## Addy Marx (Jul 18, 2009)

For mountain bike packing I just use the tires that are typically on my mountain bike. I change them to suit the conditions if needed but do this rarely. On my 26" bike I used Geax Saguaros in 2.2" for many years for all conditions all times of year riding, I live in BC. Bike packing in the Chilcotins, Kananaskis, mountain rides in the north shore, squamish, whistler, pemberton, etc...

On my 29er, which I've only had for about 6 weeks I did the Colorado trail on a 2.4" Ardent up front and a 2.2" Ikon in the rear. This worked great. 

For Bike Touring I'm a huge fan of Schwalbe tires. Their low volume offers a bit of a stiffer ride obviously than that of say a 2.4" Ardent but they are super reliable and durable. 

I toured (paved to rough dirt road to minor single track) on 700x40mm duremes in New Zealand on mostly chip seal and dirt roads with no issues as nachtjager points out they are grippier than they would seem. They are on my commuter and see a lot of use with no problems.

Last year I chose 26"x2" extremes for Chile; Tierra del Fuego and the Lakes District. They were a great tough conditions mixed use tire. A little washy on really rough, dry dirt roads with larger stones but super fast on smoother dirt roads and asphalt. I'd recommend them for touring with dirt in mind.

I'm currently planning another trip to South America for about 5 weeks this time a lot more singletrack (hopefully) and am leaning towards running Geax AKA's, maybe a Saguaro/AKA combo, something with a decent sidewall that I won't have to worry about and can run tubeless. If anyone has any suggestions that would be great!


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## Ze_Zaskar (Jan 3, 2008)

Just pulled the trigger on a pair of Schwalbe Smart Sams 29x2.1.
They seem to have pretty good reviews as a tire with great offroad performance while keeping good road manners and efficiency. Also, Schwalbe rates them to the same level of Marathons regarding durability


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## mattbryant2 (Apr 19, 2005)

Ze -- I will be curious to hear your thoughts on those Smart Sams... I'd love to read a comparison with the Nano, if you have any experience with that tire.


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## Ze_Zaskar (Jan 3, 2008)

I'm also very curious with those tires.
I'm currently using Panaracer Rampages 29x2.35. They are super grippy, and confortable, but weight a ton and are slow on hardpack and really slow on pavement. I was tempted to get a new set of SB8s or to try the Race Kings, but the first are fragile and made of butter and the Continentals are expensive. I refuse to pay that much on a consumable product that I can slash on a rock at any time.

I was looking at the Marathon range, particularly the Mondials. However the bigger versions (47c or 50c) are stupid expensive, heavy and seem to have only average dirt performance. Then I noticed the Smart Sams are now available on 29er sizes. To my surprise, those tires are rated by Schwalbe as having a durability in the line of the Marathons. The protection rating is much lower, but I use sealant in my tubes, which work wonders even with paper thin SB8s. Also, they seem to get rave reviews for their road performance while being a fully functional mtb tire. 

Lets see if they are up to this. To be true, I cant see why they aren't more used.

PS: forgot to say that I have no experience with the Nanos.


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## T-roll (Aug 4, 2011)

I have been running CST Critters on my Troll for the last few months averaging about 200k a week they are great.


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