GBC Mongrels
The First thing I did to this bike was replace the tires, I have always been a big fan of GBC's 8 ply tires and I have had a lot of luck with them in the past so when I seen they were coming out with a new 8 ply rated DOT approved high speed rated tire I had to have a set. These tires have a deep rim guard and a tight tread design so they should prove to not only be tough and very puncture resistant they should get excellent traction on various terrain and really excel on the rocks and the hard pack.
On the first ride I went to Pickett to try these tires out and I got to say I am highly impressed. Not only did these tires do great in the rocks and the hard pack but they really impressed me in the loose mud. First off we have had a lot of rain over the last couple months and the trails at Pickett are high traffic trails so the rain combined with the traffic made three to four inches of loose mud on top of some super slick hard pack trails. In this mess the Mongrels cleaned out great and offered awesome traction. I had enough power that I could play and have fun when I wanted to but when I needed traction it was there.
On my bike I went with 26/10x12" tires on all four corners and At 15psi these tires measure a true 26" tall. With a tough rubber compound, a deep rim guard, and a tight tread design these tires not only offer good looks but they offer excellent durability and function. And another big plus for the non directional tread pattern is you get great traction no matter which direction you are going and that coupled with all four being the same size a spare can be carried that will work on all four corners with no issues. Something else I really like about a same size non directional setup like this is when the rear tires start showing a little wear the tires can be rotated so that all four wear equally..
So far I have had zero issues with these tires and I will update when I get a few more miles on this setup..
