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I typically ride a local loop from my house, where the majority of the time is spent on tarmac - some cinder track, some rocks, some sand, some grass/mud- I've been using my cross bike and fitted some landrangers on there as they didn't cost much, are puncture resistant and seem to last forever.
What... MTB tyres do/would folk use if riding a lot on tarmac as a part of your regular loops - new mtb has 2.2" Bontrager on there and I can see them disappearing as I ride along....
What I use are semi slicks or 'race' type tyres like Specialized Slaughter, Maxxis Minnion SS, Maxxis Race TT, Hutchinson Cobra, etc, whatever is on offer on CRC or elsewhere usually.
Can't say I've ever had an issue with tyres melting on tarmac, if anything, it's the tarmac sticking to the tyres that creates takiness.
No issues with my Maxxis Minions, nor the nobby nics. Yep they drag a bit, but not much !
Racing Ralphs have been good, a couple of years on my Salsa doing the same sort of riding. They are 2.35 though and I run them at low pressure which I think helps - spreads the torque out over a much larger area. The next set should be better still as I can choose Addix Speed on the rear for harder wearing and SpeedGrip on the front so I don't die.
They have done far more miles than the Specialized Ground Control on my XC bike and they were shot.
Race kings
Some excellent suggestions there folks - many thanks
£12.99 for some basic racekings are winging their way to me now...
basic racekings
You may (not) live to regret that. Basic conti tyres are woeful, borderline leathaly bad. I like conti tyres but quite how their brand image survives the bog standard/oe black rubber death circles I do not know.
Fwiw the black chilli compound was about as good as I've ever had in a mtb tyre for road durability, though they sounded like they were flat. They're also blooming expensive.
The WTB range come in "high grip" & "fast rolling" options. The fast rolling ones should suit, choose a tread to suit, maybe their Nano.
And / or see what On One have going cheap.