In preparation for my upcoming trip to sunny (hopefully!) Arizona, I paid a visit to Revolution on Saturday to pick up some new rubber for the BMC. After soliciting advice from Ryan and Ty on an endless number of front and rear tire combinations, I settled on a 2.35" Maxxis Ignitor for the front paired with a 2.1" Maxxis CrossMark for the rear.
Originally I had planned to go with the Larsen TT for both front & rear but there were no UST versions in stock and I wasn't sure if I'd have time to return prior to my scheduled departure. However, had I known that I would leave my jacket hanging on the rack of team clothing I would have ordered a pair. Living without my jacket is no big deal, but the $20 in gift certificates to Ab's Drive Inn I won on X96 last week I need. Oh well, I've run the Ignitor before with good results and the CrossMark is new so will be fun to try. Assuming all goes well with the pair, I'll use them through 5-Mile Pass at which point I'll switch to a non-UST tire for the remainder of the season, probably the Continental Mountain King PROTection.
I mounted the tires this evening and, thanks to Ryan stating that he has no trouble getting Maxxis tires on Mavic rims without tire irons, I was able to get them on with nothing more than my bare hands. Unfortunately I wasn't able to inflate them with my floor pump. This necessitated a call to a neighbor that owns an air compressor. I really need to buy one myself as it sure made inflation easy! I added a little less than 2 caps of Stans to the front tire and about 1.5 caps to the rear. Overkill I know but I don't want to mess with flats while ripping the desert 1-track.
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6 comments:
I like the look of both of those tires. The Ignitor looks similar to the Continental Vertical - a tire I really like for consistent handling and good cornering. The CrossMark (be honest, you just bought it because it had your name in the name) also looks like a good tread pattern for a rear tire. Let me know how it climbs in loose stuff - I may give it a try.
Ignitor, 2.35, not a true 2.35, but a great desert front tire, hooks up great.
The crossmark is a great tire as well, I have run the double crossmark set up a few off seasons for my multiple st george runs, with great results.
schwallabe makes some really great and light weight tires as well.
my favorite is the "rolling ralph".
good for desert and in the snow.
KARMA
Use WD40 on the bead to inflate with a pump. To bad about the UST tires, you will never feel ground.
Have fun in AZ but you may miss some good snow.
If you want to try some non UST rubber like karma's or some other kenda let me know, I'll set you up.
Bart & Rico -
I'd love to try the Karmas but worry about sidewall durability. I'm not the best descender and often find myself riding lines that make me cringe so a tire that can take a bit of abuse is needed.
If you think the Karma can work for a hack like me I'd be happy to purchase a pair of your excess inventory if you have the 2.2.
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