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Was talking to the guy at Phils bike shop stand at MSG today about different tyre, the standard tyres that came on the track arent that confidence inpisring when it gets a bit damp, asked for a recommadation on tyres for this time of year and he suggested a few, nobby nics, racing ralph/rocket rons, some nevegals?(john tomac edition)

Also interetested in the benefit of going tubeless? are they lesss prone to punctures than normal? guessing therre miust be some cons with them tho?

VW is ya man for tubeless, I have the Kenda tyres you mention and they are great in the mud


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cool, how did you get on in the 2hr? tough course i thought today, lots of hills!

Too many hills today.. Absolute knackered me.. Good course and loved the downhill bits.


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First off do you have tubeless ready wheels?
It aint easy the first time you set it up, or even sometimes after that. its easier if you have a compressor for fast air feed.
The benefits are faster (potentially lighter if you have the right stuff)
less punctures (to thorns and pinch flats)
Roll faster (i still not entirely sure why even though i understand all the blurb) they just do.
But downsides, you have to know in advance what the conditions are like so you know you got the right tyres on.
your tyres are going to seal properly
you have to take a tube along spare just in case!
tyres are more expensive
The wife will moan at you if you spill sealant all over the dining room floor.

Vw's bang on with that advice especially the wife bit!
I run 2 sets of tubeless ready wheels one with bontrager jones mud X TLR tyres and the other set with summer non tubeless tyres, but have got them to run tubeless (it can take a bit of time as non tubeless tyres can have lots of pin holes in the sidewall, but they will seal eventually). I use stans sealant, by far the best. This is the ideal way to go if you can stretch to another set of wheels and matching rear cassette. I picked up the the same wheels as my originals that came with the bike, except they were the comp not the elite's for silly money on ebay, about 75 quid and who knows how much i've saved on tubes.
I've not had to make any puncture repairs for about 18mths and at present can see at least 30 thorn pricks in the mud tyres as the sealant is visible as it seals from within.

I do use a compressor and it does make it a doddle and will help anyone who's local if they need help.
also i would advise using valves that have removable cores as this lets you seat the bead fully and permanently without sealant and then inject your sealant via the valve stem rather than unseating a section of the bead again to pour in the sealant and then try and reseat it, this is when you spill it all over the floor.

If one set of wheels is the only way possible then i'd choose a tyre that will handle the mud and roll in the dry. Have a look at Continental mountain king 2.4. in 26' they do look a bit fat but the couple of rides i've done with them so far, one in the axle deep epping mud and one at dry langdon hills, i must say i'm very impressed.
they can be expensive in the tubeless version but you can get the non tubeless version to seal with a bit of time and effort and you same around 300-400 grams which is a lot when it's on bit that turn, thats what helps them roll well as VW said.

as i said if you need any help i'm more than willing to help.

Cheers

Im going to need your help to get my mountain kings seated as I just couldn't do it on a track pump alone. I'll wait until it gets fully muddy though?

No probs. Anytime you want.

Cheers

Yep the wheels and tyres both say tubeless ready, im not too worried about right tyre for the conditon as I Probably wouldnt be changing tyres anyway even running a tube system.
Ive ordered stans tubeless kit and going to give it a go see how I get on.

Then prob buy some better tyres that the standard ones the bike came with.

You may not need the tubeless kit only the sealant and valves?

What make are the wheels and do they have the correct tubeless rims strips in them? A lot of tubeless ready wheels only come with standard rim strips. I had to get the correct strips for my rims.

No mention of puncture resistant inner tubes!

Are they rubbish ? Look a lot less fuss then sticking a tube in.
Makes like Slime & Dr-Sludge. I did tried Dr-Sludge from a bottle and was just a mess to get into tube.

O slower then a snail

The problem with those tubes and added sealent is the weight penalty, if anything will slow you down is extra rotational weight!

Slime tubes are SHIT !!!!
i've just repaired 3 tiny thorn punctures on my son's bike which for the moment has slime tubes. next time the wheels come off those tubes are going in the bin!! slime sealant doesn't seen to be latex like stans. And there's more.... they weigh 600g each!!!!
if you want to run tubes find tubes with removable cores (easy if you use schrader) and stick a couple of 10ml syringes of stans into them.