I weigh 178 lbs currently and a few pounds less when at race weight. I had the Mezcals on 24mm ID rims the past 2 years but just recently upgraded to the following rims that have 26.5 front and 24.5 rear ID. Curious if I’ll notice any difference this year from my past 24mm “cheap Chinese” rims.
why not go with something lighter at the same price point? e.g. Industry Nine - Ultralite 280 Carbon or Roval Control SL, Bontrager Kovee XXX and others… is there something that warrants 32 spokes for you at your weight? (I’m heavier btw). I am looking to upgrade my wheels as well, so I’m still looking for suggestions…
I’ve been looking at Nextie. Thinking about building a set of wheels with larger ID and bigger tires to put on my XC bike for rocky terrain like Moab.
I got a deal at 45% off so the price was too attractive. Also I prefer durability, I only have 1 bike for everything, over super-light. I am weight conscious with parts but not a weight weenie.
I’ve heard good things a bout Nextie. My pervious wheels were LightBicycle that I built and they’ve been great.
Here’s a good resource. Rocket Rons seem like a decent bet to try.
Is there a reason to test MTB tires at such high pressures. He starts beyond where anyone uses these tires and goes up from there. Sure, thing should scale, but not always.
I’m in New England & running Vittoria Barzo on my Orbea Oiz M10 TR -2.25 on the back & 2.35 on the front. Wheels are BTLOS 26.5mm inner 28 hole laced to DT240s hubs with Sapim CX Ray spokes. The wheels are pretty darn light & feel good to me. We’ll see how they hold up but I suspect they’ll be good as I’m not a very powerful rider & I’m usually somewhere between 145 - 150lbs
I’m coming from Maxxis -everything from Chronicle on my plus bike to Ardent 2.4 years ago. I really like the way the Barzo grips, front & rear, it’s super predictable. I used to run an Ardent on the front & those tires gripped well for the first 1/3 of leaning into a turn then the 2nd third felt like the grip went away & finally deeper into the turn they hooked back up. I could never learn to trust those things but they worked well as a grippy rear tire for me. I tried Ardent Race 2.35 front & rear & these just felt like there was very little cornering grip, especially in leaves & didn’t hook too well in the back climbing slick rocks & roots.
They Barzo offer a lot of confidence both front & back. I really don’t notice them which is great in my book! Thinking of trying Mezcal, at least in the rear, when things dry out as the riding season progresses.
Yeah - he should also test at 15 and 20psi.
Also, the steel drum isn’t really comparable to any surface the tires would really run on.
It’s a good list of tires tho to consider if you’re looking to make a change.
CC: @MI-XC
I live in Ann Arbor so I usually ride DTE, POTO, Brighton, etc. And I went from 27.5x2.8 Rekons to 29x2.25 Mezcals and I have been blown away by them. I expected to lose a lot of grip not only because of going from a trailish tire to an XC tire but also from the smaller width but I don’t feel like I lost much grip while also gaining a ton of speed from the decreased rolling resistance. The place where I feel like I lost the most are in the flat, sandy corners but that’s going to kinda suck no matter what tire you’re running.
This was going to be my first season racing some XC so I can’t help you with the “race worthiness” of them but there hasn’t been a single moment where I have been disappointed.
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I will probably draw flak from this because they are not Maxxis, Schwalbe, or Vittoria. (BTW I am a Schwalbe fan). I really like the look of the new Hutchinson Skeleton and Kraken. I like the aggressive side knobs that are usually pretty lacking on most XC tires, weights are competitive.
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Rocket Rons are fast but don’t have much bite and seem to “wander” alot, they take a bit of getting used to. In the end I switched to Rekons.
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I saw the release of the Kraken and thought the same - they look interesting.
I’m trying the Continental Cross King’s this year. I like the overall tread pattern - a little more aggressive knobs than a pure XC tire.
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tempting… especially at that price point. thank you for the suggestion. Do you know someone who’s been riding those over several years?
Where are you at? If you have a lot of rocks I’d run far away from schwalbe. They don’t have half the rock protection that maxxis has, even with snakeskin
Anyone ride the $650 set of light bicycles? Really tempted to upgrade from my crest mk3s
Two friends of mine have bought their fat bike rims. Very happy with them.
I’ve done almost 2 seasons with my aspens…but now I’ve changed the wheelset and, no mather ml of sealent i put in, they’re skippin air(I don’t know from where)…but cerntenly by rubber 
… thats the main reason I want to change them.
40-50% of races, here in Romania are in the woods, mountains… so… rocky stuff 
You ran the same set of tires for 2 seasons? Buy new ones at least every year lol
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the rubber is still fresh they have “meat” in them :))
but the only problem is that they might have small points on rollin surface that skipps air