29er tires

anrothar

entirely thrilled
alright, so it came time to have the shop order me in some new tires, because as well as i've managed on the exiwolves, they just don't cut it. not aggressive enough and might as well not be there in the turns. i was going to get a set of bontrager acx's, but trek is out of them right now. so, i had a look through the available options, and narrowed it down to either the rampage or maxxis ignitor. the rampage is big and knobby as all hell, and pinch flat resistant. downside is it's heavy. ignitors are aggressive, normal width, and light. i know they work well around here, because the solo singlespeeder camped out next to me at allamuchy(we were one-him/two-me for the bragging rights ss category) was running them and loved them. they cleared mud well, and hooked up great.

so, considering my racerish outlook of late, i decided to go with the ignitors. i'll let everyone know how they work. i would have gotten the rampage, but the weight difference was too good. the ignitors are about 2/3 the weight of the rampages. this means the rest of you 29er riders in nj need to try out the other available treads so we can get a better idea of what works around here.


no, norm, i don't care what they said about them on mtbr. ;)
 
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jbogner

NYCMTB: President
JORBA.ORG
I've been riding Ignitors on my 29er for nearly two years now (ever since they were first released in 2005). They replaced a set of Exis that I'd ridden for a couple months- the Exis sucked badly in the spring wet conditions, and the Ignitors had every bit as much traction in the dry plus tons better mud clearing and traction in wet conditions. Bontrager tires, IMO, are junk compared to the Ignitors.

So you made a good choice. My next 29er will probably get some Rampages, since it'll be more of a fun trail bike than a fast race bike, but for lighter trail tires, the Ignitors can't be beat.
 

jdog

Shop: Halter's Cycles
Shop Keep
alright, so it came time to have the shop order me in some new tires, because as well as i've managed on the exiwolves, they just don't cut it. not aggressive enough and might as well not be there in the turns. i was going to get a set of bontrager xcr's, but trek is out of them right now. so, i had a look through the available options, and narrowed it down to either the rampage or maxxis ignitor. the rampage is big and knobby as all hell, and pinch flat resistant. downside is it's heavy. ignitors are aggressive, normal width, and light. i know they work well around here, because the solo singlespeeder camped out next to me at allamuchy(we were one-him/two-me for the bragging rights ss category) was running them and loved them. they cleared mud well, and hooked up great.

so, considering my racerish outlook of late, i decided to go with the ignitors. i'll let everyone know how they work. i would have gotten the rampage, but the weight difference was too good. the ignitors are about 2/3 the weight of the rampages. this means the rest of you 29er riders in nj need to try out the other available treads so we can get a better idea of what works around here.


no, norm, i don't care what they said about them on mtbr. ;)


I rode the Ignitors yesterday after a few months on the Rampages. (great minds think alike??)

So here are my findings after one ride.

The ignitors are way faster
They hook up almost as well as the Rampage

The big volume is missed (by me)

The R has a freeridey feel and really would be the best bet if you don't care about speed.

I found myself getting jostled off the saddle on the lower volume tires on the same bumps I cruised over on the R's

Both tires are very good.

The huge weight savings of the Ig's over the Rampers was very very noticeable.

For me a tire just between the 2 would be near perfect. My next trick is to try some combo of the 2.

Edit:

BTW this was on a 29!

The rampages seem to pack with clay based mud pretty easily. This makes for a nice set of 40 lb wheels.

I personally think a 2.3 Bulldog in a 29er would be super. Fast and smooth with lots of air volume.

J_
 
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D

dzm3

Guest
Another tire to consider is often overlooked Specialized Resolution.
Fits smack in the middle between Ignitors and Rampages.
Weight-wise, volume-wise, and agressiveness of the tread-wise.

Oh and if you're looking for super light 29er racey tire, look at Kenda Crows. Slightly lighter than Ignitors, slightly less volume, good front and rear specific treat, they hook very well, but turned out to be too lightweight and didn't hold up to rocky trails.

I then switched to Ignotors on Stans rims, very lightweight setup, but personallly after a year I just built a heavier duty whels and have Rampages to put on them. Lihtweight is nice, but strength is better, and the weight difference isn't THAT big.

But I see where you're coming from.

dz
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
awesome. good info! i should clarify that i liked the exiwolves, but i just seem to end up racing in more varying conditions than those tires can handle. and the turning thing was getting to me. hopefully the ignitors with help out there. i always used to run 2.1's back in the day on my gt ricochet, so i don't see the volume being a huge problem.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
sean, i think i told you i picked up the rampages so i'll make sure i keep you in the loop on their performance. i only have about five miles on them now (well, 10 if you include my commuting miles :whatever:) so i can't make any statements on them yet.i

'm going to "race" the mary at least once this year but it'll be at LM (maybe KVSP) so hopefully it'll be dry and i can run the exis.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
pedals? dude, i have a push bike. :D

spd

btw, as advertised, they did pack up a bit today. not the center treads, but the side treads and definitely NOT like the exiwolfs. they more just had some mud stuck on 'em.

in all fairness they really didn't have a chance to clear out. while KVSP wasn't wet, it wasn't bone dry either.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
not sure a wide tire exists that wont pack up a little bit in really sticky mud. alright, how about gearing? i'm trying to think of a an easy way for us to swap tires for a ride or part of, without actually removing the tires, since thats a pain in the ass....
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
32/19.

do you have a pedal wrench? i could just throw it in my camelbak and we could swap pedals. that is def. the easiest.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
i swap back and forth between 18 and 20t. so we should be able to swap wheels. remember im a foot taller than you. you might not fit on my bike, and vice versa. oh wait. you've got disks.... well, we would just have to avoid really long downhills with sharp turns....
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
so, you're what, 6 apples tall? what size is the KM and is it safe to assume your seat height is adjustable? i'll be cougar bait trying to keep up with you anyway so the likelyhood of me pushing things is slim.
 

anrothar

entirely thrilled
i'm 6'4". the km is a 20". 33" standover. once the instigators are in and on i'll let you know, we'll set a date.
 

bonefishjake

Strong like bull, smart like tractor
Team MTBNJ Halter's
i'm 6'4". the km is a 20". 33" standover. once the instigators are in and on i'll let you know, we'll set a date.

oh. 33" huh? hmmm.

ok, so does anyone have one of those old skool BMX style top tube pads? you know, the ones that had those funky covers that said 'mongoose' or 'schwinn' (or if you were budget, like me, nothing) on 'em? coupla snaps to keep 'er in place? that outta keep me safe...sorta.
 

J-Dro

Well-Known Member
Back to tires...

I have a few rides now with the Nevegal 29er. I really like them for cornering and overall grippy-ness. I haven't tried the Rampages, but I suspect they are similar in weight and mud holding characteristics based on how the tread patterns look. Honestly, anything besides the Exiwolves was a huge improvement. Downside is the Nevegal's aren't a tire for speed demons. Right now I'm only running the Nevagal on the front to keep the rolling resistance down.
 
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