I replaced the surprisingly short lived Hutchinsons with a pair of Maxxis Larsen TT 2.0″ tires from BMCR today.  The above photo is a Hutchinson Toro 2.15″ with less than 200km of trail use — no pavement.  While the Hutchinsons still have some life left, they are certainly past their prime.  The Larsen TT tires are fast-rolling XC tires which weigh either 500g or 540g each depending on which model I have.  So far I haven’t been able to determine which model, but I really don’t care, so we will just leave it at that.

When new, the Eriksen was originally weighed with a pair of Panaracer FireXC Pro 2.1 tires (590g each).  The total weight was about 23.25 lbs.  After arriving in Australia and rebuilding the Eriksen with a few minor changes and the pair of aforementioned Hutchinson tires (570g each), the weight was down to 23.09 lbs (10.47kg).   So with my armchair bike scale, the total weight should now come in between 22.78 and 22.96 lbs (10.33-10.41kg), depending on which tires I actually bought.  However, I probably didn’t comply with the standard bike weighing procedures as I left the bike computer mount and a few other insignificant accessories installed, so none of these numbers are worth anything anyway. We will just call the total weight around 23 lbs.

Back to the tires.  I left the bike shop and proceeded directly to the Mitcham MTB park where I then crashed.  We’ll get to that soon.  The new tires are definitely faster than the old worn out Hutchinsons, climb better and seem to have sufficient braking grip.  Climbing on loose gravel is a little sketchy, but the tires perform well on most other surfaces.  Cornering grip is not as good as a tire with a more open tread pattern, but it is usually a good trade off for a faster tire overall.  I have not used the new tires in the mud, but due to the closely spaced blocks I suspect they would quickly clog.  The Hutchinsons, even in their current state, are probably a better mud tire.

UPDATE: I rode Eagle Park on Sunday.  The ride started out warm, dry and sunny, and the new tires performed well.  The ride ended cool, overcast and rainy.  The Larsen TTs gripped well on wet rocks and on damp ground.  The tread did start to clog and pickup wet clay on the climb up ‘Top Deck’, but traction was still very good.

Overall, I am very happy with these tires and will probably stick with these or try another fast/low rolling resistance tire when they are shot.  A fast tire, like the Maxxis, really works well with a hardtail.  While there are tire designs that offer more grip and more stability, they can (and usually do) make an otherwise quick handling and fast hardtail feel slow and sluggish.

I’ve had a few tires on the Erkisen over the past year and a half:

The crash.  The lack of cornering grip should not come as a surprise based on the Larsen TTs low(ish) rolling resistance, closely spaced blocks and narrow cross section.  I’ve ridden similar tires before, and generally prefer them to more stable, wider and slower tires.  What did come as a surprise can be seen in this convenient video at approximately 4:15:

The first post Reba rebuild ride was at Mitcham Hills near Lynton.  This was the first time I’ve ridden at Mitcham, and as a result, the fork took some larger than expected hits.  Having sufficiently exercised/abused the fork, I think it is safe to say that the rebuild was a success.   The Reba has regained full travel and the poplock is once again functional.

Anyway, back to the trails.  From what I’ve been reading, MTB access to Mitcham is a relatively recent and many of the MTB trails are still under construction.  My first-ride impressions are that there are a wide range of trail types from easy fire roads to fork-killing downhill runs.  I rode several (most?) of the open trails.

The green/easy fire roads are used to connect many of the more difficult trails.  There are also some sections of green/easy singletrack that is mostly smooth and fast.  The  blue/modeate XC trails are fairly fast with a mix of loose rocks to smooth dirt singletrack.  The black/advanced trails have some nice drops, steep climbs and technical downhill sections.  There are also some double-black trails, but I haven’t made it to those.  If the black trails are any indication, the double black trails are probably not very rideable on the hardtail Eriksen, but I try anyway.

Overall, Mitcham has some fun and challenging MTB trails and I’ll definitely be back many more times.  I’m going to ride the Erkisen there the next few times, but soon I’d like to get the cyclocross bike on the trails and see how if works — I haven’t even had the knobbies on the Gunnar since leaving Maryland.  The last post showing the Gunnar with knobbies was all the way back in November ’08.  Anyway, based on my first ride, Mitcham seems to be more cyclocross-bike-compatible than Eagle.  I think there are some green and blue trails that will be fun on the Gunnar, but I’ll bring a couple spare tubes.