 You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Are the blue groove / nevegal tyres still a credible all round trail tyre combo or have they been superseded by something more up to date?
Thoughts before new purchase would be appreciated.
As tyres become more specialised it seems to me that the choice of all rounders is now more limited - or maybe that is just me.
Love my Nevs, V rarely take 'em off.
APF
I like my Stick-E Nevegals but they wear really quickly. Super Tacky High Rollers last about twice as long.
Running 2x Nevegal 2.35s (not blue groove) all the time and for me at least, they work in all but the *claggyist and *muddiest conditions. Well they do but its interesting thats for sure.
*sp
Nevegal up front all year round with no problems.
They're no longer cool, and the inevitable backlash means that some people have now declared them "dangerous" but nah, they're just as good as they always were.
I went to Maxxis and they were okay, but I have just ordered my Nevegal/ Blue Groove tyre combo, but this time went for DTC-Lite versions rather the stick-e, as these seems to drag on tarmac and wear out quickly. So back to good old Kenda's 😀
I don't care about cool, I care about what works out on the trail 😉
There are loads of good tyres out there.
I'd hoped MTB'ers wouldnt go in for this kind of thing....there is loads of tyre nonsense spouted on the motorcycle forums i frequent too.
Tyre choice has as much to do with confidence as anything else, if you think a particular tyre is good then ride with it....you'll probably have a really good ride....if you think a tyre is crap you'll probably tip-toe around, have a crap ride and blame the tyre....its all in the head.
Much more important is how suitable the tyre is for the riding you do. Dont put a shallow treaded tyre on in the middle of winter and declare it a crap tyre because it wouldnt clear the mud....likewise dont fit 2.4 Muddy Marys for mid August hard packed trails and tell people they were 'shit' because of the huge rolling resistance!
Only rarely will a modern tyre genuinely let you down, more often than not its rider error that causes any kind of crash or near-miss.
I like my Nevegals. To be precise, I like a Nevegal up front, as it's always predictable and gives good turn in grip. I'm not so keen on them at the back because they're draggy.
I've a pair of Small Block Eights as well, they're okay but they give up grip under braking too easily.
Speaking of old tyre brands, what ever happened to Nokian? They were everywhere seven or eight years ago (including a DVD on the front of MBUK "Noh-key-yan tyres...".
As far as tyres go they work. Nevegals are a bit draggy and I found that I could either have good cornering or no pinch flats, not both. For trail centre hard pack they are OK, for real mud or rocky stuff I found they got out of their depth quite fast. Depends on how and what you ride I guess. They aren't the toughest of tyre in the 2.1-2.35 category.
I use Nevegals on the East Dartmoor tech trails, so I can expect hard sandy singletrack, endless granite rock and boulder gardens, boggy peat with slippery stream crossings and steep off camber tangled webs of roots just on the same section of trail.. with everything else you could expect to encounter during the course of a ride..
I quite like them and using a stick-E up front gives me plenty of confidence in the front, although the back can be prone to giving way over the slippery stuff on steep tech ascents, especially if I've got tired legs and my technique isn't up to much..
all that said I'm not a tyre tart and will buy whatever is on special offer when my current set wear out..
I like my Stick-E Nevegals but they wear really quickly. Super Tacky High Rollers last about twice as long.
Funny, I find the opposite!
Kenda El Mocos are worth a look as well, I've been riding them for a couple of months and have been very impressed.
+1 for deviant. 3 of our 4 bikes have nevs. I also rate minions but personally dislike the high roller as I have no faith in it and I prefer the feel of squarer section tyres. so many people like them its a personal mental thing. On my motorbike I had total faith in my pirellis and hated and distrusted dunlops despite never actually having a "moment" with them. It was either something real but too subtle for me to quantify or totally mental.
The blue groove2.1 - front ,nevegal2.1 - rear works for me.
Lakes , sarf east and everywhere else.
dred tred1.8 for xc stylee commuting.
If you regularly tear sidewalls then i would consider dual ply types.
Altenatively you could consider a skills course.maybe.
There is a lot of tyre snobbery, I've got the Tomac Nevagals on one bike, seem like a good tyre to me. I've had a disaster with the Tubeless Bonty Mud X's, both tyres leaked air bubbles within the tyre lining and rubber tread, not impressed, thinking of going back to tubes.
nevegals are good tyres imo, but not any good with a tubeless set up. kendas have too porous a side wall to go tubeless... so slowly weening off kendas and going to maxxis
[i]nevegals are good tyres imo, but not any good with a tubeless set up. kendas have too porous a side wall to go tubeless[/i]
never had problem running the standard nevegal tubeless with stans fluid.
i don't like nevegals/ blue groove - to wandery on wet ground. having said that i'm a big fan of the much hated continental vertical.
I think a lot of it has to do with your local terrain.
I like Nevegals (Stick-E up front) and also the Small Block Eight so am interested in trying out the new Slant Six.