A good mountain bike tire can make the difference regardless of whether you are cycling or in a race for fun. Every mountain bike tire is specially made for specific circumstances. The one specific mountain bike tire is perfect for dry, sandy surfaces and the other is perfect for sucking mud. And then you also have tires that are suitable for several surfaces. But how do you know which mountain bike tire is suitable for which terrain?

Look at the material of the tire

The rubber of a tire of mountain bike tire should also be considered. Take a look at the rubber on the outside of the tire. Looking at this part, you will notice that it is made out of a special compound. That is also called the compound by the manufacturers. The compound determines the hardness of the rubber and thus also the wear sensitivity.

You can say that hard rubbers are less wear-sensitive and soft rubbers wear earlier. And that is difficult when putting together a good mountain bike tire. A tire, with a lot of grip, wears faster, but a tire that is very durable again has less grip. The solution for mountain bike tire manufacturers is to use different types of rubber on a tire. On the tread, other rubber is used than in the cheeks, depending on the purpose of a mountain bike tire. Some manufacturers even use 3 types of rubber in a single mountain bike tire. The compound of a mountain bike tire is often the result of a search for the ideal relationship between grip, flexibility, weight and rolling resistance.

Pick a tubeless bike tire

Now that you know how a mountain bike tire fits together, you have to make a choice. Are you going for tubeless or not and do you opt for a folding tape or a wire tie? You can start with the choice of a folding tape or wire band. The folding tire is often a lot smoother and has a lower rolling resistance. But these bands are a little more expensive to make because smooth thin threads are used in the heel of the band to strengthen the heel.

The heel has a single thick steel wire in a band. That makes the tire firm, but also rigid and somewhat harder to get into the rim. The general tendency is that more and cheaper bike tires will become folding tires.

In addition to the folding tire or wire tie option, the choice is mainly to drive tubeless or not important. The tubeless driving is in any case increasingly popular because it actually only has benefits.

The rolling resistance is lower, the tires wear less and they are also much more leak-proof. The only drawback is that tubeless MTB tires are a bit more expensive than a non-tubeless variant. Furthermore, your mountain bike wheels must be tubeless ready or made.

The mounting tubeless mountain bike tire is relatively easy, once you have it by trick. In addition to a tubeless mountain bike tire, you also need liquid latex and tubeless valves, so keep that in mind when purchasing.

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