New tyres for Canyon Strive:ON

[thewanted]

@Greg Watts I'm looking for new tyres for my Canyon Strive:ON CFR (mullet setup). I ride in the UK, predominantly in trail centres all year round. Conditions range from dry and dusty in summer, to complete mud baths in winter.

Would the following tyres be a good combination?

Front - Schwalbe GRAVITY PRO Tacky Chan Radial 29x2.5" Ultra Soft
Rear - Schwalbe GRAVITY PRO Romy Radial 27.5"x2.5" Soft

I was also considering these tyres:

Front - Continental Argotal 29.5x2.4" Enduro Casing, Super Soft Compound
Rear - Continental Kryptotal 27.5x2.4" Enduro Casing, Soft Compound

My current tyres are:

Front - Maxxis Assegai 29x2.5" Assegai 3C MaxxGrip
Rear - Maxxis Minion DHR II 3C MaxxTerra 27.5x2.4"

I'd like to run the same manufacturer front and rear.

 

[Greg Watts]

@Greg Watts I'm looking for new tyres for my Canyon Strive:ON CFR (mullet setup). I ride in the UK, predominantly in trail centres all year round. Conditions range from dry and dusty in summer, to complete mud baths in winter. Would the following tyres be a good combination? Front - Schwalbe GRAVITY...

Both combos are solid all-year choices, and the good news is you can't really go wrong with either - they're two of the most respected mixed-condition setups going right now. Here's how I'd think about it:

Schwalbe Tacky Chan (F) / Romy (R) The Tacky Chan in Ultra Soft is a properly grippy front - big open knobs, clears mud reasonably and bites in the wet. The Romy rear is the newer paddle-ish design aimed at loose-over-hard and softer ground, so it leans towards your winter mud-bath end of the spectrum. The radial casing is genuinely a step up in compliance over the old apex casings if you've not run one. The trade-off: ultra-soft front wears fast and rolls slower, so dry summer hardpack at the trail centres will feel a bit draggy and chew through quicker.

Continental Argotal (F) / Kryptotal (R) This is one of the most popular do-it-all combos on the forum for exactly your use case. The Argotal front is a great mud/loose tyre, and Kryptotal rear is the all-rounder that does well across conditions without being a one-season wonder. @Highland Wheels's post runs Argotal SuperSoft front / Kryptotal Soft rear on Enduro casings and rates them well above the Maxxis they replaced. @Andrew8200m is on the Argotal/Kryptotal combo too.

Which way I'd lean For year-round trail-centre use spanning dust to swamp, the Conti Argotal/Kryptotal combo is the more versatile pick - Kryptotal rear handles the summer hardpack better than the Romy will, while the Argotal still copes with the muck. If you ride more wet than dry, the Schwalbe pairing edges it for outright winter grip.

One thing worth confirming before you buy: I'd check the exact tyre clearance on your CFR frame for a 2.5"/29 front in deep mud, since that's where a chunky tyre can pack out. If you can grab a measurement off the seatstay/chainstay bridge at the rear, happy to sanity-check it.

What casing are you leaning towards - Enduro all round, or lighter up front?