Rear tire

[gasser]

Chen Shen (spelling?) makes a great intermediate to hardpack tire and it's less than 50 bucks. All my ridding buddies here use them except for a few running Pirrelli MT-16s.
I was running a nearly new MT-16 on my bike and tried my friend's bike with a Chen Shen (both bikes were GG300s). The Chen Shen lasts just as well but hooks up much, much better. I took the Mt-16 off my bike and put a trials tire on that's been ridden 4-5 times as much. When the leaves start getting deep this fall I'll go to a Chen Shen knobby.

[SpeedyManiac]

Never tried the Desert IT, but I think it just has a stiffer sidewall and maybe a tougher carcass on it to help with flats.

I use the Dunlops trials tire and it works great. No complaints, except the price (still $100 cheaper than the Michelin though).

[roostafish]

The Maxxis is a good tire, as are the others mentioned here that folks like. I have had really good luck with the Michelin X11 trials tire, but it simply does not work where I ride in the middle of winter with the red clay. Honestly, the best, longest lasting tire I've ever run is the Dunlop 952. It's not the best traction when new compared to specific tires for terrain, like the Dunlop 773 for soft terrain, but after a few rides, it's more than made up for the initial difference.

All said, that $63 deal at your shop is a very good deal.

Just wait 'till your son rides with you on your trials tire and discovers how you crawl over things he struggles with......... He'll become a believer.

[eff]

I ran the regular IT and would do it again.

[skid jackson]

I ran an irc trials tire and a dunlop trials tire on the back of my 300 last summer. I'm back to running an mt 16. I found the trials tire to be a 50/50 kind of deal. Fantastic hook up in some situations and then riding on grease in others. When looking at what each tire took out of you when in the bad conditions the trials tire was worse. i.e. What the trials tire gave in traction it took away in physical wearing down of the rider when in greasy mud. The mt 16 may not have had quite the traction of the trials tire but in greasy mud it smoked the trials tire. therefore over the course of an event with any appreciable mud if you were running a trials tire you would be more wore out then running if running hte mt 16. I also think the trials tire can effect handleing to the point that over the course of an event you would have to put a bit effort into getting the bike turned. Another source of wearing down the rider. Keep in mind I ride alot of very tight stuff. in more open terrain with less back and forth probably not an issue. all that said ..... for normal trail riding if you don't regularly hit lots of greasy mud a trials tire will last all season and work great. I plan to try some maxxis si and it's and maybe a kenda over the summer. So far though I've been pretty happy with pirelli's

[GMP]

I've been running trials tires for years, before they became popular. Now I have two wheels, one sports a Mitas ET-01 Radial trials and the other either an S12, VE-33, or MT-16. I would always trail ride in the rocks with the trials and race the knobbys, but just before I got hurt I started to run the trials tire at the enduros and only the S12 in the south NJ sand races. I've said this many times before, you have to choose your tire based on conditions and if the advantages of the trials tire will be put to use on the course. You have to use good throttle control with the trials tire to get the most out of it, and once you learn this the scope of the tires use becomes broader. The only time I will not run one now is if there is a a lot of grass track, sand, or soft bottom mud (no rocks undernerath). Anything else its the bomb for me, in the rocks I fly with it. The Mitas and Dunlop have stiffer sidewalls and allow more aggressive riding in the rocks. I ride at the B level and I can get a season out of a Mitas, with a smooth throttle hand. The IRCs are a bit lighter in the sidewall but work good an a 125. I'm still amazed how fast my nephew can go on a GG125 with an IRC in the real nasty stuff.

[RONALD BRUNDIGE]

Mt-16 The Only Way To Go. Or A Trials Tire Like Skid Stated.

[eff]

According to tests, the MT-43 has the stiffest trials sidewall.

[Cruiser]

Originally Posted by SpeedyManiac

I use a trials tire on a regular basis too, it's awesome but some guys just don't like them. Their loss.

Steve,
No offense, but I would never recommend the S12 for rocky terrain. Especially the stuff around Spokane, WA. We use the S12 up here, but it gets trashed in the rocks. Traction is great, but after a 3 hour hare scramble it is absolutely toast (mind you this is with my friend who is a AA racer using it. I only use an S12 in the soft stuff since it chunks so easily in the rocks). This experience is with the 130/80-18 and 140/80-18 tires.

I've heard some talk about chunking with the s-12's and I did running 120 and under,, but never on the 130 or 140? I know lots of people running this tire in the Pa and New England rocks with great results.. Might be the rock type.. our rocks are smooth boulder/river rocks.. out there are they sharp edged? And I lean very far in turns,, I'm planning on trying a trials sometime,, but I have issue with the cornering of them. I tried GMP's 03 with the trial tire and then his 07.. It pushed me out of the corners and slid or should I say "let go" when leaned over.. I think I would have to relearn cornering to use one.. which wouldnt be bad.. always good to learn another way thru a corner..
I've tried mt-16 before and didnt like them,, felt a little greasy on the big rock faces,, like the 756 dunlops I tried at the time..

[Skidad]

Love the MT-16 for New Englands rocks, roots and mud. I now have a TuBliss system to try in it which should allow me to run 10psi or less for awesome traction. Pirelli Scorpion Pro on the front.

I'm also running a Mitas trials tire on my KTM 250 and it works well at 7-8psi and no funny stuff on the roads. I've put some really good gashes in the sidewalls but I just keep using it anyway. Pirelli MT-43 in waiting.