to trials tire or not to trials tire?
 

I need a new rear and thinking about a trials tire, I'm a weekend trail rider not a racer. Should I stay with trellborgs or make the swap?

I ran trials tire for a bit ... I'm back to knobbies. If it is dry they work great, if it is muddy but there is "stuff" like roots and rocks in the mud they will get you through it. If the mud is greasy or there isn't any thing in it you are doomed. I ride in new england where you can encounter every type of soil condition in one ride or race. I bagged the trials tire for two reasons. one they affect the handling of the bike. they have so much traction they can make the bike handle a bit funky in the turns. two I always seemd to encounter at least one section of track or trail that was not trials tire friendly. Of course that one section would always beat my ass getting the bike through it, then you had to go into recovery ride mode. If you don't have a lot of greasy mud in your area give it a shot. I still have one in the shed and could see putting it on for a ride if I knew it was going to be dry and rocky. you might tray and find out where hte local trials riders in your area are ... you might be able to pick a cheap used one to try. new ones are expensive

I'm down south on the gulf coast, every kind of dirt mud and sand known to exist, no rocks other than gravel roads, lots of roots.. I'm also running inserts so that may be a problem with bias ply tire I'm not sure..

can you run mousses with a trials tire? i think it would really kill the effectiveness of it?

i ran trials tire for a while, and had the same issues as skid - but i was racing, not trail riding. cornering got weird, i couldn't square things off like i normally would, i had major problems trying to adjust my brake slides. i could not lean in and dig through the turns - it would get unpredictable. and if it was wet with no solid base, you were done for. if you're willing to relearn turning, i bet you could be fast with it. i struggled, and was not willing to put the time in to learn how to use the tire effectively in a race situation (and i ride a trials bike regularly....)

BUT for trail riding when you're not in a hurry, and not being pushed, they're fantastic.....if you're willing to deal with the limitations.

i have not seen a single bike at a race here with a trials tire. there is always something wet here. even with no rain for a week, and temps in the 90s all week, there was 100 yards of mud here i would not want to take a trials tire through.

My experience with a trials tire (and this is on a trials bike) is it either works or it doesn't. It gets grip by grabbing hold of the surface. All depends on what surface your on. Something like slick mud or whatever, it will grab the very top of the mud, but that mud doesn't grip what's below it, so ur in trouble. Also why it can't be backed into a corner or spun. it is either hooked up or it isn't. Also, the lack of side knobs means at high pressures (8psi is high pressure for a trials tire) it can't flex to keep that center section in contact with the ground. Going slow, you won't notice it, grass track leaned over you very much will. It works on a trials bike because at the low pressures that are run it can flex and keep that whole patch in contact no matter what. Also, u think they grip on an enduro with 10psi, u should try them at 2psi. It will LAUNCH up a rock. Like bike goes up rock while you stand there watching it fly away. However, if u start it spinning it is almost worthless until it hooks back up.

thanks for the replies lots of good info, guess I should stick with the trellborg 120-90-18