Mountain Bike Tires

Mountain bike tires quick guide

Mountain bike tire is a part that will hugely influence your performance and the enjoyment of the ride and it is a fairly easy one to upgrade. Choosing the right tire for your riding style will greatly improve your speed, and control over your mountain bike and the terrain and will take you further with less rolling resistance. To be able to choose wisely you will need to pay attention to a few points which separate them into different types:

• Cross-country / XC / Marathon – are the smallest of them all  with a width from1.9-2.25 inches. That means they are lighter than then the rest, thinner and they roll faster. Knobs are smaller and fewer and very often distinction is made between the front and rear tire. Being light makes these MTB tires vulnerable to punctures and cuts, so be mindful of where you’ll take them.
• Trail / All-Mountain / Enduro – are the golden standard mountain bike everything. The width sizes vary from 2.25-2.6 inches respectively. With larger widths, the tires get tougher and more aggressive, and the knobs are taller. Here tires need to withstand the higher speeds and provide more traction to achieve more aggressive cornering.
• Downhill / DH / Gravity – are 2.4-2.5 inches wide, not the widest, but they are built toughest to accommodate the speed, obstacle drops, and hits of a demanding downhill riding style. Side lugs are necessary.
• Plus - these MTB tires can be mounted on specially-built bikes with wider clearance. Plus mountain bike tires are 2.8-3.0 inches wide and their floatation is useful for riding on snow or sand. Lugs are widely spaced.

Talking about lugs in general, MTB tires with tightly spaced lugs will reduce rolling resistance and will allow you to go faster. They are best suited for dry and hard surfaces. Side lugs will accommodate sharp turnings with better grip and more traction. Widely spaced spikey lugs are the choice for sand and mud as they won’t pile it up and weigh you down.

Mountain bike tire types by build can be:

• Clincher tires– the most and cheapest type of mountain bike tire. They use rigid wire beads to snap onto the wheel and it is easy to change a tube in case of a puncture, so they are a common choice and easy to find on the market.
• Folding tires- are just like clincher tires, but improved. The bead isn’t as rigid so they are packed folded, which makes them a good choice for a spare as well.
• Tubeless tires– run without the tube, at lower pressure, which ensures better traction. They don’t flat out easily, but they sure are difficult to fix.

Take a look at our offer

At Velo Deals you will find a great offer on various types of mountain bike tires.

If you have any questions regarding the purchase of your brand-new mountain bike tires, feel free to contact us and we will be more than ready to assist you!