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Im looking for something that offers better grip than a minion at speed on loose gravel type surface. Or do i need to go tubeless?
Husker Du
No, you need to slow down on loose gravel. Nothing will grip on loose gravel.... Think about it.
More talent.
Minion and tubeless?
Skill
How much loose gravel and how many different rubber combo's will you carry.
If gravel is loose, then the only thing stopping it from moving, is other gravel. Since this gravel is also loose, there is nothing stopping the gravel from moving. Therefore, no matter what tyres you have, if you ride full pelt into a load of gravel and try to stop or turn, the gravel will pretty much inevitably shift and slide about. What tyres you have make no difference...
Perhaps the question should be what gravel grips to itself the best...
Just sayin'...
Man vs loose and fairly fluid wet gravel
tomhoward - Member
More talent.
dont see how that would help. after all i am not falling off,just losing a bit of speed due to tyre slip. i understand if the surface i am riding on is moving then no tyre will not slip, but is there anything better than a minion? maybe something easier to slide in a controlled manor? someone else must have had the same problem.
The minion is designed for hardpack ground
Minion isn't the best at gravel tbh, the tread doesn't seem to paddle/stir it as well as some. But nothing's very good at it, unless all your riding is on gravel I'd stick with what works for everything else.
Kenda Telonix in a big size finds a surprising amount of grip in deep pea gravel, but is pretty poor at most other stuff, frinstance.
Minions you say?....
[i]The minion is designed for hardpack ground [/i]
It might have been designed for that, but the single-ply one I've on the front has made a brill winter tyre - especially in soft going.
A couple of inches of gravel and/or sand over hardpack is our usual riding surface here in Western Australia. It's called 'pea gravel' and can be described as like riding on ball bearings over concrete!
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We don't have much choice so we choose the best tyres for the conditions and adapt our riding style accordingly (don't make any sudden changes of direction!)
But to answer the question, Maxxis Ignitor or Ardent front in a 2.3 width, matched to a 2.1 Crossmark on the rear is a very common choice, as its the front wheel washing out you have to worry about on gravel. The Ignitor is a bit more surefooted, but the Ardent faster. Both let go in a reasonably predictable fashion. I've run both tubed and tubeless, and it doesn't make much difference, although I'm all tubeless now but that's for pinch-flat prevention.
The minion is designed for hardpack ground
But works well 90% of the time in most conditions.
By more skills I referred to knowledge that the bike will loose it I the loose and learning to back off or recover. The crash above was due to a combination of a bad fork setup and a lack of concentration due to cleaning the tough bit and relaxing. I get loads of front and rrar wheel drift on the loose here in oz and go with it.
If gravel is loose, then the only thing stopping it from moving, is other gravel
And clay.
3" tyre made out of wet clay. Not sure about durability, though.