Thinking of a trials tire on rear - does it brake slide?

[Hans Schmid]

10 minutes ago, everlast said:

 

I don't see the problem with thread: I asked about sliding a tire, other people jumped on me implying I should learn how to ride without doing that. I googled "DIRT BIKE SLIDE" and clicked the very first video I saw, which showed sliding a dirt bike to illustrate what I was talking about. Then I illustrated how narrow the trails are by saying that my DRZ doesn't fit since people STILL seemed to think I should be roasting around the corners.

I just wanted to know if dragging a trials tire would work or not to rotate the bike.

 

Given how I desperately don't want to ruin the land I'm riding on and want grip over rip, I'm going to try a MT43 rear. I'll use my Parker DT on the front for hard lateral bite.

Thanks to those who stayed on topic.

I'll try to report back my findings, but not if people will just tell me its the wrong tire and I don't ride correctly. :/

Hmmmm, maybe that's part of the problem? Outside of the weight, a DRZ is physically the same size as any dirtbike out there...

But because of the weight of the DRZ, sliding the rear end around isn't going to be ideal on such a heavy bike. It takes a large amount of energy to ride a bike aggressively, sliding it around, ultimately wearing you out prematurely. There is no question you could go through the trees faster if you learned how to use the mild mannered but tractable motor, and engine braking to your advantage you could make better time with less wear and tear.

For how you describe you ride, a trials tire just isn't going out work to give you any advantages. A more aggressive knobby would. But if your willing to learn to change your riding habits a trials tire might give you a major advantage... 

[woodsryder]

I'll stay out of the "how to ride" argument. 

My impression of trials tires is pretty good but they are different. They do get traction like nothing else when conditions are bad. Wet rocks, roots, grass, etc,..  Just like you find in trials,.. Duh!  In better conditions I find they have amazing grip,.. then abruptly lose grip. If you adapt your style this is also good because they have better grip than a knobby,.. until they don't. Deep mud and sand, a knobby is better but not by much.

In my opinion, the thing they do worst is brake slide. On hardpack, they just grip like crazy, better than a knobby then slide with little in between. Its not as predictable or controllable as a knobby. On gravel or small rocks, they just slide on top of the marbles instead of scratching through like a knobby. 

The brake slide technique is not mainstream but you can make it work well. People can go just as fast other ways too. I would say a trials tire is the wrong choice for brake sliding but if you adapt your style to the tire you can go just as fast. 

[adnohguy]

[everlast]

Sorry, just to clarify, I only mentioned the DRZ to illustrate the size of the trails. Normally, I'm on a CRF230 or 150. The DRZ was frickin' hell to put through the easiest trail and in NO WAY would fit in the smaller ones, hah. I only did it once and I was exhausted lol. On top of that, I have "adventurized" it so it has luggage and a huge tank, etc. 

This new tire is for the CRF230 that I just got. So my choices are, amongst others, MT43, Motoz hybrid, or a soft knobby. One of those gummy knobbies might be neat I suppose.

I get to ride up to 4 different 230f's at this place, so having a new choice of tires benefits everyone there, and I can compare back to back. Other than my bike being 'uncorked', they're all basically stock with all the terrible suspension, etc.

[Oil Baron]

24 minutes ago, adnohguy said:

That's funny.  

Last year there was a guy on the Baja forum looking for folks to ride Baja with.  

He clearly stated on his thread NO SUZUKIS for some unknown reason. 

 

[Fuz71]

If you are considering buying a trials tyre will you only ever be riding dry tracks? Wouldn't ever consider anything but a decent knobbly front and rear here in NZ. Trail ride yesterday no one would have even left the car park with a trials tyre on.

Brake sliding is not faster than well controlled power round corners by the way. Looks flashy but it is not faster.

 

[Chuck.]

Yes a Trials tire does require a different riding technique and it is unforgiving when you screw up.  Every few years I have one of those events and while most end with nothing more than a moment of excitement and white knuckles the one last week didn't. But that is the trade off price for more  traction.
You can brake and power slide a Trials tire; I watched a Trials exhibition a few years ago and the rider consistently brake and power slid the bike on smooth concrete.

 

 

[xplodee]

Check out the MotoZ Xtreme hybrid- it's one step closer to a knobby than a trials tire compared to the Mountain. I have one but don't have enough riding experience in general to give you guys an evaluation on it other than I like it haha.

[Chuck.]

I ride mud with Trials tires but the mud is associated with water puddles so traction is not a big issue, except for the red clay on hills when wet. One rider refers to riding it as the "brown ice power slide".  I have more traction on the wet clay with a Comp Trials tire than with a knobby, if I lower the psi so the tire flexes enough to self clean.   I've had two graphic rides on wet red clay that illustrate the issues:
On one ride I had a knobby and the other two riders had Comp Trials tires. The clay was wet and I had traction issues on any grade and often lost traction and became stalled, they would ride up to me, stop, and wait for me to get going again. The following week I bought Comp Trials tires.
The other ride was just two of us with our Trials bikes and we were climbing hills in the wet. One hill was pretty steep and had curves and turns so after the first turn I stopped to check on my partner, he got stalled about half way up. So I started to walk down to help him and found that I could not walk on the travel way, I had to walk on the sides in the vegetation. That ended our morning ride and at lunch he observed that the rear tire on my bike was clean and his wasn't. We lowered his pressure and after lunch we both successfully climb the problem hill. 

So a Comp Trials tire can also work in mud.  If I rode loamy soils like on a MX tract I would use knobbies because their longer lugs work better on that type of soil. But I ride trails and I want a tire that provides traction, not a tire that digs trenches. That is why I think the hybrid tires are filling in the gap between Comp Trials tires and knobbies and provide some benefits of both. As I mentioned in another post there is a local riding area that the Ranger District requires Trials tire to reduce trail damage. Depending on where and how you ride YMMV.

[everlast]

I ordered a Motoz hybrid tire and I'll report back on its performance. Also dropping to a 12T to offset the additional size as it's just slightly bigger, a 110 vs 100. Hopefully 12T is not too small.

[adnohguy]

I ordered a Motoz hybrid tire and I'll report back on its performance. Also dropping to a 12T to offset the additional size as it's just slightly bigger, a 110 vs 100. Hopefully 12T is not too small.

 

12 tooth is great for forcing your chain to wear out sooner as well as making an already super low first gear unusable .

[bajatrailrider]

I can only add the Mt Trials dirt bike tire we use in baja. Is just plain cheating my built 230 loves it. After other riding partners with Xr440s   KTM 500s   stock Crf230s. Have seen what my bike can do with that tire. They have all made the change will not go back to knobby anytime soon. We all run 6psi with Ultra HD tubes  it also is long lasting even in deep sand works great. makes bike ride more plush. Way less energy to ride the hard stuff so your can last all day.

[Lumber83]

I put an MT43 on my KTM 520 EXC and won't go back to a knobby. Great all around tire, especially in the Summer time on hard pack, rocky terrain. Seems to hold up really well too.