Trials Tire or not

[Hendersonville]

I was wondering if anyone has put a trials tire on their 250 x and how they liked it. I got to ride a gas gas up a large slick rooty hill and it went right up the hill with no problems. I had brand new knobbys on mine and I spun the tires frequently.

[625SXC]

Don't have a 250X, But I do have a trials tire on my 250KTM and also a Rekluse clutch. I can walk up hill the first time that my knobbie buddies have to take a couple shots at. For mid-speed trail riding it really is like cheating. Mud??? fair to OK. Not better or worse than a knobbie in mud... Just OK. Dry to moist it's awsome. Rocks, Logs. ect....Freakin incredible

[Roger M]

Haven't tried one on my X, but I can tell you from what I've seen that a trails tire is no good if the mud gets serious, although they are said to be excellent on rocks, roots, and any hard surface. Because the sidewalls are so flexible, most riders use tire balls instead of a tube to prevent flats. I would say that it's not a type of tire that you could put on and use under any conditions--you'd have to be willing to switch to a knobby whenever you expect to be in a lot of mud.

[625SXC]

I'll elaborate a bit on mud. First allow me to state we're talking SOuthern Ohio clay mud. Perhaps the slickest substance known to man. Forward traction is fine. At least equall to a S12 on level ground. Climbing muddy hills it's still better than a knobbie. It'll find roots, twigs, rocks, pebbles... Whater there is to grab onto and pull you to the top. Side hillin' or riding ruts? No problem, just ride along the edge without falling to the bottom. WHen you can you'll want to spin the tire to clear the tread. Braking on down hills? Well there we have some issues. Braking isn't as good. We were at Hatfield McCoy in WV and it was muddy. One steep downhill in particular I was gaining speed and couldn't do much about it. I do feel my buddies had better control in that situation. Back to slick Ohio clay.... I was rolling along and spun out (180 degrees) unexpentantly. I blame it on the slick clay, But don't think it would have happened with a knobbie.

A few situations I don't like it as much

1. Downhill we talked about above

2. Road sections... It feels squirlly, controlable, but squirlly

3. grease covered hardpack(as above)

4. When ya you're on singletrack and need to dump the clutch and spin 180 to go back... Too much traction, ya just go forward.

5. brake sliding is different, can be done, but different

All in all my Dunlop D803 has lasted (will last) as long as 3-4 knobbies(S-12 type). We normally replace tires at about 50-60% tread to keep square knobs. My tire with a FULL season of riding still has over 80% of it's tread! If you try one...And you should. Don't judge it on your first half hour of riding. It'll take a few rides to get use to it and learn how to ride what is now a totally different bike. If you climb hills.. Your buddies on knobbies will think you're Superman and wonder where your new found riding skills came from.

[625SXC]

Here is a picture of mine with about 1,100 miles on it. I do dual sport rides so it sees a bit of pavement. I usually change knobbies at about 400 miles. As you can see the $$$ per mile ration makes these tires a bargain at $70.00 a pop. I will get the better part of another season out of this one.

[ramz]

What's available and where: Stuff - Trials Tires

[A7594217]

Here is a picture of mine with about 1,100 miles on it. I do dual sport rides so it sees a bit of pavement. I usually change knobbies at about 400 miles. As you can see the $$$ per mile ration makes these tires a bargain at $70.00 a pop. I will get the better part of another season out of this one.

What about summer. Lets forget about the mud. I ride where it is really lite dust, like silt. How would it be there?

[625SXC]

I have a few experiences with trials tires and sand. 1 was when I was in SoCal and did a trials school. Alot of the terrain was sand and on a trials bike it was fine. In Ohio we have VERY little sand. The one place we do is at Maumee State Forest right by Lake Erie. I was VERY pleased with it in sand. This place is a forest so the sand had a fair amount of moisture in most places. A few spots were dry and deep. The trials tire was very predictable and I swapped bikes with my Bro who was on a 450MXC with knobs. I feel it handled as well as knobs.

Not really sand, But we get thick silty, powdery stuff in SOuthern Ohio when its dry and the hard clay turns to dust(not very often) and in those deep silt berms it was still pretty good. At least equall to my knobbied buddies.

I would imagine that a soft skinned trials tire would bet beat up pretty bad in the South West. I have ridden in Arizona and SoCal a few times and I know how brutal those rocks can be on tires. Also the higher pressures needed to keep from pinch flat'n may take away some of the LOW PRESSURE bite a trials tire gives you.

I feel everybody should at least try a trials tire once. If ya don't like it... Big deal buy a knobby next time. SOme of the really fast guys have issues with them at race speeds, But for real semi-aggressive trail riding speeds I LOVE MINE. As an added bonus they are SOOOOO GENTLE to the trails. You're not spinning and diggin' ruts. If you have a group of 3 or 4 riding buddies. Everybody chip in $20.00 and buy one. Take turns swappin bikes on a weekend ride. I think you'll find that 3 of the 4 guys will want to buy thier own trials tire.

[625SXC]

Because the sidewalls are so flexible, most riders use tire balls instead of a tube to prevent flats. .

Actually I don't know anybody with a trials tire who runs tire balls. I run a XHD tube with 2 rim locks. I generally run 8-10 psi and haven't had 1 flat in 1,100 miles. With that said I try to be careful not to purposefully slam my rims into rocks if I can help it. Sometime does happen though.

[ACESMN]

Lots of really good analysis on the post, especially from 625SXC. I just returned from a four day ride in the Ozark's of Arkansas. A riding buddy had a trials tire on his '06 250X, and on my '06 250 I had a Michilin M12 with about of year of riding on it, pretty well used up. The terrain was rocky and either moist or wet. Not much mud. We both have Rekluse's and are about the same calibre of riders (B class). On hills, my X would spin and often I would end up pushing my bike up the hill. Sometimes I had to have others help me up the hill. His would chug up most of the hills without help. Might be he's better at hill climbing than me. But it did appear that his tire was a better fit for the trails than mine was. Nevertheless, a AA rider with us, running regular knobs on his new KTM250XCW climbed every hill with reckless abandon. In the final analysis, it's more the "man than the machine". Me? I'm leaning towards experimenting with a trials tire this year.

[625SXC]

That's my opinion as well. I feel me and my buddies a B riders and when we climb hard hills my knobbie buddies have to get crazy runs at hills and spin and paddle and push or end up ghost riding the top of the hill. Great for video footage, But not alot of fun. With a trials tire I am able to just walk right on up the hills. Somebody stalls or spins out in front of me.... Normally ya give up and turn around to try again, With a Rekluse and a trials tire ya just start up the hill from right in the middle. I know it sounds too good to be true.... Give a trials tire a try:prof:

[3ECRFX]

another place they work really well is on frozen ground.

[Roger M]

I would agree that trails tires are superior on any surface that can be gripped, but in some condtions, such as extreme mud, there is little or nothing to get a grip on, and then the only thrust available comes from the tires' ability to scoup up and throw as much material as possible behind you. Only an aggressive knobby can do that. From my experience, when muddy conditions are expected at an upcoming race, I won't see a single trials tire in use, but you can be sure the local dealer will be sold-out of IRC M5B's.

[hodaphile]

I run a trials tire on my 06 X and have yet to find anything it doesn't excel in, even snow. Sand, silt, dirt, rocks, even mud but I haven't tried the clay stuff. Run 12# pressure and XHD tube (moose).

[hondatrailrider]

they are great, the only thing they are not good for is deep slop or snow. for that I use a s12. I run my pressure at 8 to 10 depending on the surface.

[Gary C]

is there a DOT front trials tire? if you needed to be DOT front and rear for MV inpection what would you run?

[andrew_driscoll]

The best compromise between a knobby and a trials tyre is the Pirelli MT43. It's a "heavy duty trails tyre". It means you get most of the trials tyre grip, but it won't float or wallow... which means you can rail and powerslide corners with the same stability as knobbies. Not to mention to nice stable high speed mono's.

It's also way tougher than the likes of the Dunlop 803.

[highmarker]

have you used one Andy? on your x? only ask because a friend just put one his ktm300 and had to lengthen the chain so the (taller) tire wouldn't hit the swingarm.

[625SXC]

If this helps... Just measured my D803 and from the rim to the outer edge of the knobs.... It measures just about 3.75 inches. I imagine a fresh tire would be no more than 4 inches. Yes it is a tall tire, But I bet if ya measured an aggressive knobbie it would be pretty close to the tops of the knobs. More than likley your buddies X had his bike setup with a shorter than usuall chain and ran his axle forward.