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I need to find a strong but light tyre for my tandem. I have been using conti rubber queens but I have now had two fail - the failure is that the plys fret as they flex and then break leading to the bead tearing off the carcass. The first time it happened was when heavily loaded with camping kit going down a long fast rocky descent and I just put that down to overloading the tyre. However last weekend it happened again on a tyre that had not been used with luggage and that was barely worn in the treads. I was running it at 50 psi.
I have a high roller dual ply that I have been using when taking the camping kit but it is really heavy so I don't want to use it for unladen riding
The complication is the frame will only take up to a 2.2 / 2.3 tyre.
I was happy with the grip / rolling resistance/ weight compromise of the contis. So - wot tyre that has strong sidewalls, is 2.3 or less wide, is not very heavy and offers good grip in all conditions.- moon on a stick perhaps
Rear tyre BTW - fronts are fine
Welcome back tj 🙂
We have Conti Vertical Pro on our Ventana, Seem fine for our combined 24 stone (never had heavy luggage on board) Your requirements really do seem like the moon on a stick and I'd go heavier on the tyres to ensure you get longevity
Hey TJ!
What about the 2.2" Continental Mountain King MK2 ProTection that I had on the rear? The sidewalls are plenty strong, I run tubeless at pressures way lower than 50psi, and will easily fit the tandem; it is slightly smaller than the Trail King 2.2 I have on the front - and that is the same as the RQ you had.
Best of all only £25 at Merlin:
I ride in central spain and it seems to be quite hard on tyres (very dry, lots of sharp, loose rock). (Although i don't ride a tandem). I used to run Minion DHFs but when they wore out i decided to try something lighter. Thus began an expensive odyssey through the land of rubber. I tried Contis and liked the grip but the local rock sliced through them on the second outing. I also tried hans dampfs which were fine with the rock but seem to have less volume and gave me less confidence. I'm currently running a chunky monkey which is a pretty good compromise, the sidewalls seem to be holding out well and they are mercifully cheap.
Househusband - I have run trail kings - but I liked the bigger volume of the rubber queens and the increased grip of the black chilli. Its a thought tho as I do have one I could try.
The tyres are not cutting up - they fail as the threads in the plies break due to fretting as the carcass flexes even at 50 psi You can see the criss cross pattern appearing in the sidewalls due to the flexing.
They are kevlar bead black chilli tyres
The tyres I linked to are Black Chilli - and they are only marginally smaller. I'll take a side by side photo and FB you.
Doh... the tyres I linked to are 27.5 not 26...
(slaps ample forehead...)
😳
chunky monkey is too wide for the frame. any other ideas? 2.2/ 2.3 wide, tough sidewalls, not ridiculously heavy, decent all round grip
We're using something called DMR Moto Digger, and it seems to work pretty well for us. Blocks are close enough to run quite smoothly on road, but it grips on softer stuff. Use to use WTB Moto Raptor but that seems extinct.
We don't have the sidewall problem you complain of, though now I think about it, we do blow out rear tyres on the road tandem occasionally, in fact we did it last ride....
Schwalbe Rock Razor on the back of ours. Very tough yet fast rolling. Survived the HTR550, that'll do.
Too many blow out type failures to be going back to Conti.
We use a dual ply DHR in the wet and a dual ply Larsen TT in the dry.
Ta chaps
Got a pair of the Larsens ta singlespeedstu dual ply rear single front. Very pleased with them. Not as heavy as some, surprising grip in the mud, not too draggy on the road.