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Just curious what combo of tires people are using up here in the northwest trails.... I ran into a few that put trials tires on back and knobbies on front.... But what works for you and why.... Thanks

I ride the Northern California Sierra Nevada. In the summer, I'm up at 5 to 6 thousand feet and I either ride an intermediate knobby or a trials tire. In the winter, I'm down around 2 to 2500 foot elevation and run the knobby.

I live in Northern Idaho. I have an mx51 and it hooks up really well here.

Been down virtually all roads with tires. Knobbies, trials, Tubliss, etc. Terrain is probably the single largest factor in the right tire choice. If you are riding the typical Oregon/Washington west side of cascades, then most seem to run a trials tire for the rear and a knobby on front. 2 most popular trials tires are Pirelli MT 43 and Dunlop 803. The Dunlop gets better grip, and the Pirelli is more versatile and can handle faster terrain and is DOT.

I tried a MotoZ Mt Hybrid a couple of weeks ago and am sold. I bought one and will be running it this season. It has all of the great features of a trials tire and is made to be better at cornering and braking where the trials tire can be lacking. I also love the MotoZ tractionator front. Long lasting and great bite.

Here's the MotoZ Mt Hybrid:

Hope this helps.

I'm running Kenda Washougals and am loving them. I ride in Tahuya, Capitol forest, including Straddleline, Natches and some E. WA dessert (Odessa & Mattawa), Oh and at Washougal once.
These tires have been great at all of these places. I only have one complaint.....Braking! They seem to stop real well, to well sometimes. They are also DOT and pretty cheap from On-Line sellers.
I have my son set up with the Washougal front and a Trackmaster II rear, he hasn't complained about that set up and I haven't seen him ride, but I notice his endure time are up a bit since putting the Trackmaster II on. I don't know if it's the tire or not though, since I haven't been able to go to the races w/him since mounting them up.

Dunlops, mx52 front and a xt81 desert out back.

firffighter wrote:Been down virtually all roads with tires. Knobbies, trials, Tubliss, etc. Terrain is probably the single largest factor in the right tire choice. If you are riding the typical Oregon/Washington west side of cascades, then most seem to run a trials tire for the rear and a knobby on front. 2 most popular trials tires are Pirelli MT 43 and Dunlop 803. The Dunlop gets better grip, and the Pirelli is more versatile and can handle faster terrain and is DOT.

I tried a MotoZ Mt Hybrid a couple of weeks ago and am sold. I bought one and will be running it this season. It has all of the great features of a trials tire and is made to be better at cornering and braking where the trials tire can be lacking. I also love the MotoZ tractionator front. Long lasting and great bite.

Here's the MotoZ Mt Hybrid:

Hope this helps.

That thing looks sweet! I think I might have to try that. I've been using the MT43 for a few years now and love them.

for a while there I really liked the mx51/d952. then I ran two sets of maxxis IT. Now I use at81f/at81rc. All of em worked great, just gotta find what pressure they like. honestly with the at81, it was pretty much letting all the air out. at81's are my fav, only because I can't find the d952 anymore. My next rear tire about to go on is an IRC m5b with carbide tipped studs don't know which front, but it'll have studs also.

I have run the MT 43 about 75% of the time for about 6 years. My initial impressions on the MotoZ from about 3 weeks ago:

So, we went out today and hit some very challenging terrain in very challenging conditions. It rained over 2" on Sat/Sun making the Oregon woods slimy and soupy mud. There was also sections with 2" of slushy snow. We did only 15 miles, mostly singletrack with lots of exposed wet boulders and roots. Traction was challenging to say the least!

I was running my Pirelli MT 43 with 7.5 lbs on my KTM 300. My brother was running the new MotoZ Mt hybrid at 10 lbs on his Gasgas 250. A couple of things right off. The MotoZ looks huge! It looks like it would rob power and be heavy although that's not the case. My brother has run the MT 43 for several years on the same bike and there was no difference in power.

I was able to get adequate traction all day with the Pirelli. I did get plenty of fish tailing, especially with any upper rpms. Braking was just OK, but sketchy on long muddy downhills. Downhills with 90 degree turns were "challenging"! Overall I thought I was doing pretty well in the traction department considering the conditions of the day.

I then hopped in the Gasgas. Wow! Big difference!

*Huge improvement in braking. Felt just like a knobby. Able to go into corners harder with no fear of losing the rear when braking in slime. Downhill braking was drastically better and confidence inspiring.

*Cornering is also starkly better. You can lean or lay the bike over similar to a knobby where you could not do this at all with the TT.

*Traction was just as good as the MT 43, if not better. No tire spin on the wet boulders or rocks and exposed wet roots and actually grabbing traction off of those obstacles similar to the TT.

Lastly, I had a few areas that had sticky deep mud that clogged up my Pirelli and made traction near impossible until able to clear it out. The MotoZ never had that issue with the hybrid design.

I'm sold! Ordering one pronto!

Nice!
What front was he running?

MotoZ Tractionator. I run the same. Similar to Michelin S-12, but way more durable and long lasting.

firffighter wrote:MotoZ Tractionator. I run the same. Similar to Michelin S-12, but way more durable and long lasting.

Cool. I think I'm gonna pick some of these up and run them when I finally install my TuBliss.

Still have yet to get out... but soon... I am use to riding down in Cali in the desert... So this will be a challenge to learn... Thanks for the ideas..

I have run multiple trials tires and different knobbies through the years. I really like the Dunlop fronts. They seem to wear a little quicker than some brands but I like the way it makes my bike turn. The only other tire I have tried on the front was a CST Surge and it stopped well but did not turn well in any condition. For the rear I have run Dunlop Trials, Dunlop Knobbies, and tried a sedona tire for a very short period before the sidewall got destroyed. For me the Maxxis Desert It with about 8-10 psi is pretty awesome for most things. I ride all over the state in Washington and even run the tire during harescrambles.