I've got some tire Q's I'm hoping for clarification on (I love sliding my rear-end around and am just tearing through my rear, am probably weeks away from needing to get on with buying something new)
Am currently riding 2.4x2.2 of the regular ody Hawks (which are absent on danscomp now, though there's the 'Pursuits' that look to be identical except that they're not, the listed weights are close but not identical to what they used to list the Hawks at...weird) These hawks are great (though I wish I had the p-lyte versions, as I'd save significant (rolling)weight and I don't ride past 60 pounds *ever* anyways!), they're much grippier (lower durometer) than my last set (Duo SVS's) and seem to wear a lot quicker due to that, thankfully they are considerably thick tires. I'm hoping to hear from people who've gone through lots of tires, as I don't see any of these IRL only online so have some Q's I'd love answered:
- What tires have thicker rubber (ie would last longer) than others? I tried analyzing this using their weights but quickly realized that was a fool's errand lol
- Are any tires noticeably 'squat', ie they've got a larger width-to-height ratio than others of the same width? (not all 2.4's are the same height yknow? So a shorter 2.4" would, aesthetically, look thicker than a taller 2.4 - at the same time I want thick rubber but the type of squat I'm referring to here isn't the thickness of the rubber it's how they design the shape of the tire)
- What are the slickest tires in terms of no treading? I'd been wary at first that my hawks may not grip as well, without much treading on them - I didn't find them lacking in grip at all, so now I'm thinking I don't want any treading on my tires, I prefer the look of slick and, if it's not a problem in riding it, I'd prefer the extra rubber lol! (by that I mean that, say in an extreme case, an Animal MTT is going to get thinner much faster than their T1 would, since there's only like 2/3 as much rubber in contact with the ground at any point in time)
- Fitment: So I've got 2.2 in my rear now and, after having built the chain in-place on the sprocket (to slam my rear wheel in the drops), it looks very 'flush' there - I did take my 2.4" front tire and try it to see if it'd fit and it did but the clearance was ~1mm per side, something the slightest warped rim or imbalance would cause to rub - I'd love to hear anecdotes from people who've had tires that *just barely* fit and what your thoughts on it were!! Part of me is thinking "it'd be fine, since your wheel and chainline are true and, if they're not and the wheel rubs, the problem isn't the wheel it's the chainline or rim and that needs fixing asap", another part of me pictures being 1 week into riding it and having had to break my chain several times trying to tinker with it!!
Thanks for any clarification on any of these, my top choices ATM are hawk or dugan p-lytes or the duo HSL's (am very impressed by how cheap and lightweight they are for 2.4's)
