This sounds great, think I’m going to order that set up. Im running a 30mm internal rim. Were you running WT tires, I seem to be having trouble finding WT currently.
I wasn’t- my previous wheels were narrow and ancient (2016 lol). I’ll poke around and see if I can find WT later or see if my LBS can get them.
I’m super interested in what people say here.
I’d like to try Maxxis tyres in the WT variety, but it seems like there’s not really any great front options?
Rekon seems reasonable, but is a lot if tyre compared to a Ralph or Barzo it seems? The ardent varieties seem pretty hefty? Forkaster doesn’t come in WT.
Or is Maxxis really a loose over hard specialist (in XC, I know their DH tyres are market leaders)
What does your Ardent Race measure out to? And did you weigh it by chance?
The Rekon Race comes in a 2.4 WT, but the Ardent Race does not. Now that @Sangamon mentioned the Ardent Race as pairing to me, it seems like a very good solution. So I may just go with the normal version of the tires as opposed to the WT. I used Ardent races as a rear forever ago, and thought it was a great tire.
I’ve used the WT tires on in DHF’s and Aggressors, but dont have anything to compare.
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Ardent race front 2.4 + ikon rear 2.4 is 30-35 seconds slower on a 14 minute lap for me vs the 2.6 kenda booster pros f & r at the same power. The maxxis are the exo casing, the kenda is the thinnest casing (I forget what it’s called)
The wild card is durability
Joe
On same bike and same wheels? I had to look up the Kenda Booster, but looks like a copy/almost exactly the same as a Rekon Race.
Don’t know if it has changed, but the 2.4 WT Rekon used to only be available in the 60 tpi casing, which may be worth keeping in mind. Having ridden the 2.6 Rekon (so not entirely apples to apples), I think the Rekon is probably too much tire for XC. I run 2.35 Ikons personally (not WT so doesn’t help there), and I don’t think I’d want to go to the beefier Rekon for any reason.
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That makes a lot of sense and aligns with my thinking.
I don’t know what to try. Might test Rekon Race front and rear, or Rekon Race and Aspen, but I am not convinced that they’re the right tyres for where I live with my level of skill.
I just looked up that Kenda Booster Pro mentioned above and it looks like a great option IF I can deal with that little grip in the front. They are light and look good, though it’d be nice to see how they measure up width wise compared to a Rekon Race WT.
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I’ve heard the 2.4 Kenda Booster Pro is a little on the small side.
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Without having read this entire thread, and being only an occasional mountain biker due to living in Chicago … let me know if there is a simple answer to the following questions:
As recently as 3 years ago it seemed like everyone riding XC MTB or “down country” bikes were using 2.25 wide tires. I believe in the old podcasts Jonathan and Nate would talk about their tires and reference riding tires of this width … now it seems like everyone is talking about (based on a quick survey of this thread), or riding, 2.4 tires.
- Am I correct? And, 2) what was the catalyst for this change?
For reference, my MTB (2019 BMC Agonist 02 Two) is pictured below and it came stock with 2.25s … I’m guessing it could clear 2.4s, but haven’t tried yet. Wondering if I’m missing something … thanks in advance for any insight.
You are correct; the trend in the last few years has been to wider tires (lower pressures, improved traction, etc). But this trend is paired with (or enabled by) wider internal width rims. So before you go and toss some wider rubber, you’d want to make sure that your rims are suitable to wider rubber. ‘Old-school’ XC rims were on the ~25mm internal width, when tires were 2.1-2.25 width. Now rims are coming more in the upper 20’s, or even 30mm on XC rigs and you can run a 2.3-2.4 range tire on that width.
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Super helpful … my internal rim width is 25mm … just checked the OEM site and it says they’re ideal for 2.1 -2.35 tires. Thanks!
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In general the larger volume tyres are faster, a combination of smoother rolling l, and also giving a greater confidence.
25mm rims are fine for 2.4 tyres, even Maxxis WT tyres say they are ok on 25mm rims.
With regards clearance, I’d be highly surprised if your bike from 2019 couldn’t happily accommodate a 2.4 tyre. Especially XC varieties. The front will be no issue, it’s usually the rear that’s tighter. Maybe a 2.4 DHR would be risky.
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Thanks. Strike that off the list.
ETA: further googling suggests that the Booster Pro 2.6 is essentially a 2.4 on normal sort of 25-30mm rims.
Back to the drawing board/run what I brung.
No excuse 
The trails in Palos are pretty good considering they’re 30 mins away from downtown. As good as Kettle Moraine IMO (once you get over the novelty factor of Kettle). Brown County is far, but worth a trip, especially in the fall when the leaves are changing.
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Same bike, different wheels and the booster pros were tubeless with 100mL of sealant vs. 250g tubes in the Maxxis tires…so that might be an issue (haven’t tested). It works out to 27.25 sec. faster on average with the booster pro . This is the Maxxis 3C maxspeed exo TR tires vs the Kinda booster pro TR version (the really thin one).
FWIW the other tires in the test were previous gen nobby nic 2.35 and previous gen (not sure which model) spec fast trak 2.2 tubeless with an insert.
The 2.6 Booster pros measure about 2-3m wider than the 2.4 maxxis tires so they aren’t a huge 2.6.
Joe
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Interesting stuff. I did follow your other thread about big tyres. I think tubes are supposed to be slower not only due to the weight, but also due to the friction with the inside of the tyre. Adds a complication to your analysis anyway.
Sounds like the 2.6 is the one worth looking at.nit doesn’t appear to be for sale here anyway.
Hopefully Schwalbe and Vittoria will bump up the width on their XC tyres for 2023.
I was watching some more Maxxis reviews on YouTube, it seems like the Aspen is preferred as a front to the Rekon Race. Seems wild to me.
My mate rides Aspen front and rear, but he’s a top level bike handler, and he calls them “drifty”.
Sounds like a sure fire recipe for a front wheel wash out for me 
.
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Yeah that makes no sense to me either, although I’ve heard it too. I ran Aspen as a rear last year and would never have put it in the front. Switching to Rekon Race this year, will try front and rear with that.
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