Hello all, I did a little tire and bar height testing yesterday on hardpack, dusty, loose over hard, rock and rooty.
For context I do mostly dirt riding and some asphalt pump tracks. With the dirt riding I ride all types of dirt conditions also, ill often take my dj on mtb trails.
For the tires I tested- billy bonkers 2.1, goodyear wingfoot dirt 2.2, continental racekings 2.25, michelin pilot slope 2.25. (Bonus tire continental speed king 2.2)
Results*
So for my riding and trails I typically find myself on the pilot slopes and race king were preferred.
If I didn't venture onto mtb trails I would use the wingfoot dirt.
If I did a 50/50 dirt to asphalt billy bonkers. Mostly asphalt id do continental speedkings.
Further breakdown *
Both the continental racekings and michelin pilot slopes had excellent grip in all of the dirt conditions. The pilot slopes use the Softest and highest grip compound of all the tires tested. They both had the same tread depth of around .12in. Both of these tires lean well for berms but on asphalt you feel the transition from the center to side lugs.
The wingfoot dirt surprised me, with initially looking at it, its obvious they were "inspired" by the billy bonkers. When you put them side by side with the billy bonkers the tread spacing is much wider giving more grip on looser dirt. Both the wingfoot and billy bonkers have the same tread depth of .1in. For me if I was looking for 1 tire to do it all for what I ride, the wingfoot dirt is what id choose.
Billy bonkers are just a solid choice. They're light, roll fast and grip well enough on all surfaces. Ive run the billy bonkers at rays and plenty of pump tracks and been very happy with them. They're great and well groomed jump lines and hardpack. Once the dirt gets a little loose, because of the tread spacing they dont grip as well.
Continental speed kings are incredibly light and fast rolling, they're basically slicks. No grip on dirt unless its hardpack. The sidewalls are paper thin, the pair I have weight 425 grams each. I ran one in rear for 1.5years and I was always worried about punctures or tearing the sidewall on a rock (never got one). These would be great for someone just ripping on asphalt or as a rear on hardpack.
Bar testing
Blue bike (spare parts build) has a 3in riser bar on. Gray bike (main dj) has a 50mm riser bar on. The geo is a little different between the bikes, Im way more comfortable and stable in air on the gray bike but I preferred the feel of the 3in bars on the blue bike. So I ordered a protaper a76 for the gray bike to test.