Different tyres front and rear

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carpenter

Über Member
Location
suffolk
Hi,

I tried a quick search but could only find a reference to different widths front and rear (wider at back).

Is there any advantage to using different tyres/tread patterns on front and rear? I would imagine "knobblier" on rear for greater traction on soft surfaces?

I have Schwalbe "Rocket Ron" on both front and rear of my bike, which seem to be fine both on road and track. Long shot but anyone have experience of mixing these?
 

Kajjal

Guru
Location
Wheely World
It’s really personal preference I have one bike with the same tyres and another which came with different tyres. I don’t notice any difference to be honest.
 

Bobario

Veteran
It's all down to personal preference. I've never noticed much of a difference either, but I'm not as hard core as some. Some people run either a slightly wider tyre or a softer compound on the front so the back end will lose grip first in a sharp turn. It's quite easy to keep control if the back tyre washes out, not so much the front. I remember when the Maxis Minion DHF (downhill front) tyres came out everyone was running them on both the front and the rear.
 

ChrisEyles

Guru
Location
Devon
I like a slightly bigger, lower psi tyre on the front, but am happy with anything between 2.0" to 2.4".

Don't really notice a massive difference between different patterns of knobs myself. Except for a pair of mud tyres I had, which were great for shedding mud, but quite squirmy on tarmac.

If you're not pushing your tyres to the point where they're breaking grip, you probably don't need to worry about it. For me that only happens on loose scree/small rock trails, which would probably happen with any tyre tread.

Watch the clearance on your fork & frame, different tyres with the same nominal width can vary quite a bit!
 
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