Mountain Bike Tire Sizes Front Back

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Mountain bike tire sizes front back.

By necessity those run very different tires front and rear. Tubeless tires are recommended when you want lower tire pressures. When wtb redesigned the vigilante last year they went all out on a modern front tire for aggressive mountain biking. Once you ve identified your tire diameter 29 27 5 or 26 you ll want to dial in your width.

Alongside the tire size you have the option of running tubeless or tubed tires. Additionally rear tire tread designs should complement the front tire but can be very different to achieve rear specific goals. We now have several models in the 2 5 and 2 6 widths that are becoming much more common in the current mountain bike tire market. Mountain bike tire size and width.

Tires are also measured in width. A cross country bike will have tires in the 1 9 to 2 25 width range. At the extreme end there are 69er and 96er mountain bikes that mix and match 29 622 and 26 559 wheels on the same bike as well as terry women s bikes with 24 520 front wheels and 700c 622 rear. Most riders prefer a tubeless system.

Trail and all mountain bikes will have tires in the 2 25 to 2 4 width range. It s important to note that you cannot mix fractional markings with decimals. Frame limitations while there is generally quite a bit of room in the front suspension fork a 2 3 2 5 tire can probably fit the frame can only accommodate a certain size tire. Tread profile is also important.

All mountain and trial bikes have tire width in the range of 2 25 to 2 4. Previously the tire was only available in a 2 3 inch width and the brand released the new version in june 2018 in 2 5 and 2 6 inch widths. With mountain bikes you re mostly safe from fractional sizes but it s worth mentioning them for completeness. 26 inches 27 5 inches and 29 inches.

Tires come in three diameters. Downhill bikes which are meant to withstand the abuse of drops and rock gardens are typically equipped with tires up to 2 5 wide. Fat bikes have tire width over 3 7. Check your tire s sidewall the numbers there indicate your tire size roughly its outer diameter and its width but not always in that order.

In general the desired tire width for the most common biking styles are as follows. It s lighter requiring less energy to rotate. Read our review on the michelin wild rock r2 all mountain tire. Sticking with only a wide front tire is a good compromise.

On the typical cross country mountain bike you won t get bigger than a 2 1 tire back there. Measurements like 26 1 which is the 27 5 size and 28x two fractions which is the 29 size are fractional inch markings. Cross country bikes have tire width between 1 9 and 2 25. This varies from 1 6 to 2 5 inches.

This is also why a narrow tire goes on the rear wheel. We selected tires in the 2 3 to 2 6 inch width range. As tires continue to trend wider so too are the tires in our test. We mounted tires to 30 mm internal diameter wheels.

Some special tires can even be wider up to 3 inches with some models.