Very keen to hear how it goes.
Also, do any bikes come with Rekon Race OEM (i.e. with White instead of the ugly yellow graphic)?
Yeah, I’ve seen Rekon Race F/R on a few bikes. My friend’s 2020 or 2021 Spark RC is one (I bought them off of him, 2.35” rather than 2.4WT).
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I git rekon race 2.35 on my 2021 Orbea Oiz last May. Didn’t care for them, felt slow.
The Scott Spark RC 2022 comes with Reckon Race 2.4 WT. I changed them after 1 ride as they’re no good in mud at all
I weigh 190. Barzo / Mezcal have held up well for me. I tried Ray/Ralph 2.35 in super ground. I ripped knobs off the Ralph in one 20 mile ride. Which just so happened to be my first ride on that tire.
I’ll be trying Cont Cross King 2.3 front with a Mezcal 2.35 rear next. It will be heavier than the Ray / Ralph combo. But, I really don’t like Ray / Ralph. I may try a Recon Race 2.35 in place of the Mezcal at some point - just because I never had and I have heard good things about it. But, I flatted an Aspen pretty easily / quickly so don’t have high hopes for a recon race.
I have had good luck with the Vittoria TNT sidewalls in general and would trust them for the FKT.
As a newbie in Minnesota I want to get some new tires for the summer but don’t know much. The terrain I ride is hard pack clay I think. Some rocks and roots. I have 2in ardent race right now.
I hope to get some data on that…on my next set of tires (thinking vittoria mezcal 29 X 2.6 maybe?) running them vs. my standard ardent race/ikon setup first with tubes then again (probably on another day) tubeless and seeing if they actually run faster tubeless. I mean, it’s a fact that they do but I want to know if it’s a true fact.
Joe
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As far as a fast tire that does OK in the mud, seems like forekaster is the best bet? What about in the rear to match?
Yep Forekaster front and Rear is a good combo for me. I’m trying Forekaster F/Reckon Race R just now and there is no traction in the rear through muddy sections.
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Arden Race is good for MN, but you might like a little wider tire. Maxxis Rekon’s, Rocket Ron’s or Ray/Ralph all work fine. I run Booster Pro’s (2.40). If you go wide, make sure your frame and rims are compatible. If you ride the ironrange trails you will want protected sidewalls, and/or inserts.
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After the last ACC pod, I searched up the Kenda Rush. Low center knob height.
Karma 2 is maybe sim to rocket ron. Both look good.
Super low volume 
I saw rain in the forecast and it’s raining on the course where I’m racing tomorrow and last time this happened, it got quite muddy in spots, so I picked up a Ground Control 2.35 for the front, just to have some extra insurance.
It’s a nice profile actually. Meaty but short. Interested to see how it goes. I moved the Fast Track to the rear to replace the Renegade I had there.
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Does anyone know if a partially worn or even 3/4 worn mtb tire is FASTER than a new or minimally worn tire? Seems all the hairs and sharp knobs on a brand new tire add some rolling resistance.
This is if traction/cornering and braking traction aren’t really a factor. Mostly dirt road.
Is there a point where it flips and the worn tire becomes slower? Or if you can ride the thing and maintain control, then it’s gonna be faster all the way until there’s nothing but casing and threads left?
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Just got my Mach4SL built up and decided to put Ikons front and rear. 2.35s
So far I’ve been happy. The trails at the house are mostly hard pack or just loose over, nothing crazy muddy.
Hump
So the theoretical benefits of a worn tire would be less traction/friction and a smoother/flatter contact patch. Also, as the tire is worn it becomes marginally lighter as rubber is worn away. If I were to take an educated guess, in an ideal world on an ideal surface then possibly a worn tire would be fractionally faster.
However, outside of a lightly used tire, as the tire is worn the rubber is stretched and the sidewalls become less supportive. So the tire may eventually no longer behaving as intentioned and the contact patch may become less than ideal. So on a straight gravel road possibly their are some extremely minor improvements in rolling resistance (as long as the side knobs don’t make contact), but those advantages would be quickly lost on a trail and in turns. So aside from having less traction on a trail, a worn tire could be flexing and moving too much that it becomes actually slower rather than faster.
Rather than analyzing the benefits of a worn tire, the lesson here is choosing a proper tire for your terrain/trail. IMHO, a new proper tire is better/faster than a worn less than ideal tire.
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Ah, didn’t think about the side/cornering knobs making contact or the sidewall characteristics changing. Good points.
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Update on the Ground Control:
I actually really liked this tire a lot. I had a race where it started to rain/hail half way through, with some sandy loose soil that got progressively more chewed up as the race went on and this tire was pretty confidence inspiring in the front.
I was limited in selection at the shop since the tire swap was a last minute call, so I had to buy the Grid version which is a bit chonky weight wise.
I could see myself running these for any more technical race or just as a fast rolling trail tire.
Ran it with a Fast Trak in the rear and it was a good setup. A bit slow but I was never worried about traction.
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Did you use T5 or T7? asking for both tires.
The word around here is that T5 is a bit lacking in wet, but T7 works fine
I’ve been running the Vittoria Mezcals on my Hardtail for ~2.5 years now without a single issue. They’re relatively fast rolling and have pretty good grip for an ‘XC’ tire. I use the TNT version (so their Trail version) and I don’t think I’ve had a single flat on them. Also, I weight in the low 180s so not a lightweight.
The Syerra’s look interesting but I bet they’re a hair slower rolling than the Mezcals