A Newbie tire question to the Experienced

Gary B

Gary B

Member
My bike has Nobby Nic’s on it and I ride at about 32 psi. 30 psi causes premature sidewall wear. The tires have tubes. Over the past years I have noticed wear on the sidewalls of the tires (sidewall threads are starting to show) at even 32 psi, and felt it necessary to buy new tires (tubed) at the end of each season.

I have noticed while shopping for new tires, that Nobby Nic’s also come in a tubeless version, Nobby Nic with SnakeSkin @ $75. Knowing that tubeless tires can be ridden at pressures way below 32 psi and exposes the tire sidewall to a lot more sidewall contact with the ground, is it better to instead run the tubeless tire version on my bike and still run tubes in them (at 30 psi)? Does anyone know if the SnakeSkin version has better/thicker sidewalls? I understand that they are meant for tubeless bikes. I haven’t been bitten by the tubeless bug yet.
 
Gary B said:
My bike has Nobby Nic’s on it and I ride at about 32 psi. 30 psi causes premature sidewall wear. The tires have tubes. Over the past years I have noticed wear on the sidewalls of the tires (sidewall threads are starting to show) at even 32 psi, and felt it necessary to buy new tires (tubed) at the end of each season.

I have noticed while shopping for new tires, that Nobby Nic’s also come in a tubeless version, Nobby Nic with SnakeSkin @ $75. Knowing that tubeless tires can be ridden at pressures way below 32 psi and exposes the tire sidewall to a lot more sidewall contact with the ground, is it better to instead run the tubeless tire version on my bike and still run tubes in them (at 30 psi)? Does anyone know if the SnakeSkin version has better/thicker sidewalls? I understand that they are meant for tubeless bikes. I haven’t been bitten by the tubeless bug yet.
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I always run snakeskin and I'm tubless and run much lower pressure. Sidewall scraping isn't something that concerns me, however the extra control and traction that I get from lower pressures is very important. I wouldn't sweat seeing a few threads, but admittedly I say that as a guy who always has the snakeskin protection from whatever the mfg is. I'll never run 30+ again (with the exception of my old mtb which doubles as a road bike).
 
Gary B said:
I haven’t been bitten by the tubeless bug yet.
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What is holding you back?
Tubeless offers much better traction and tire tracking due to the ability to run lower pressure.
Depending how often you ride and where you ride, replacing tires every season is normal.
 
I'm running around 25 psi with tubes on my downhill bike, sometimes go a little lower with no problems
 
have been running the tubeless nics w/ snakeskin between 18 and 22 (27.5 x2,35) psi for the spring, fall and winter for the past 3 years. snakeskin is very durable and it rarely fails ya. sans the tubes and upgrade. you will enjoy.
 
Don't know where you ride, but if it's technical or you ride aggressively, get another tire. I found the Nobby Nics to be terrible. Even with snakebite I had to run close to 30psi tubeless not to get flats, and they wear like shit without gripping that well, which makes no sense, but that's what it is. Check out Maxxis, and definitely go tubeless, much easier to do than you think.
 
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