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Had 2.2 Rubber Queens on my last bike and loved them. Now running 650b and want to replace the stock Nobby Nics but can only find Trail Kings in 2.4 in stock. Is this too much tyre for normal riding?
Cheers
Depends on what you class as normal riding. Xc...I would say so, guessing they are a bit heavy.
They'd be used on everything from tarmac to rocky trails and everything in between. I'm guessing they would be too much, will have to try and track down some 2.2s
http://www.starbike.com/en/continental-trail-king/#
Even with the postage costs they work out about £75 delivered for a pair of the Protection version
I have the 650b 2.2 trail kings and don't rate them at all, there is plenty of grip if ran tubeless but with tubes they pinch punch far to easy and you then end up running then hard and losing grip.
Also the tyre is very soft and gets punctured easier than other tyres I've used.
philfive how do the 2.2s measure up, are they 2.2 as claimed?
They aren't wide just tall
I'm running a 2.4 Mountain King up front and a Minion DHF on the back at the moment. Love the Mountain King. Riding more or less XC, although on a fairly hefty Heckler, I'm no whippet but I don't feel that the tyres are holding me back.
I had a 2.4 26er RQ on the front for a while, bit mixed- brilliant in rocks and that, but a bit cloggy and floaty on mud. Did occasionally lose traction in corners where it really shouldn't have, I think maybe there's a fair bit of movement in the carcass because of the size and flimsy sidewalls? The 2.2 doesn't do it as much. Never felt it was "too much" though, it quite often wasn't the ideal tyre but not in that way.
All in all, I wasn't knocked out but it was basically good. I ended up a specialized fanboi, the Butcher 2.3 isn't as big or as fast, or as grippy on big rocks, but it's more consistent and works on more surfaces, miles better in winter. Oh and cheaper 😉
As the big bike is at work today I measured the tyres with some calipers:
Trail King 2.2 Protection 27.5
Carcass = 59.6mm (2.34")
Tread = 54.0mm (2.13")
Magic Mary 2.35 Super Gravity 27.5
Carcass = 59.8mm (2.35")
Tread = 61.9mm (2.44")
That's on Flow EX rims at ~25 psi.
I've only ever used the UST Rubber Queens (they're currently on the 26" hardtail) and Protection Trail Kings, never the basic unreinforced carcasses, which I'm sceptical would hold up well under hard cornering without a very wide rim and higher than ideal pressures. Never run them with tubes either!
Personally I think the RQ/TK 2.2 UST/Protection is almost the perfect rear tyre if you something that rolls fast-ish, brakes and drives brilliantly, corners well and is never snappy and handles all ground conditions decently. When it's loose (be that mud or dry) I prefer something with bigger edge knobs up front but it works great when I'm riding well, just doesn't tolerate poor technique (lack of lean) because the centre knobs don't really do turning.
I run 2.4 trail king protection on my do everything bike (1x10 genius 700). The 2.4 up front is a spectacular tyre and I happily accept the weight handycap for the kind of commitment it let's you give to tech line choices.
Out back I started off with a 2.4 x-king but once things get wet and muddy it gives up on traction a little when pushing 1x10 gearing.
The 2.4 tk out back solves any traction loss even in sloppy loam. Its a great tyre to steadily pedal up and rip a tech descent but holy smokes its a heavy tyre to be pedalling around a Squamish twoonie race course!
I'll probably move over to 2.4mkII fr/RR soon and enjoy a huge rotating weight saving but that 2.4 to up front is such a hero tyre I might not be able to stay away from it for long!