Tires... going to try something new. Rubans

DaveMatthews

DaveMatthews

Dave's not here. Cheating since 2018
Region
Canada
Well I just bit the bullet on some Continental Ruban tires. Went for the 29x2.3 variant as that was closest to the 29x2.4 Rekons I have on now.

Ruban: From Rural to Urban

The energy-saving SUV allrounder that gets you to both Rural and Urban. The partner for your commute, running errands and the weekend tour.
www.continental-tires.com www.continental-tires.com

They are supposedly fast rolling on pavement with nice knobbies for grip in dirt. Should be great SUV/all rounders.
Should be here in a week or so. Can't wait to try them out.
Tubeless of course...
 
DaveMatthews said:
Well I just bit the bullet on some Continental Ruban tires. Went for the 29x2.3 variant as that was closest to the 29x2.4 Rekons I have on now.

Ruban: From Rural to Urban

The energy-saving SUV allrounder that gets you to both Rural and Urban. The partner for your commute, running errands and the weekend tour.
www.continental-tires.com www.continental-tires.com

They are supposedly fast rolling on pavement with nice knobbies for grip in dirt. Should be great SUV/all rounders.
Should be here in a week or so. Can't wait to try them out.
Tubeless of course...
Click to expand...
The best is the enemy of the good, Dave :)
 
I had Continental Trail Kings on my last emtb bike, I really liked them, butt
they were incredibly hard to mount! I've never had a tire so tight!!!
 
ruffruff said:
I had Continental Trail Kings on my last emtb bike, I really liked them, butt
they were incredibly hard to mount! I've never had a tire so tight!!!
Click to expand...
Interesting. I'll likely go to a shop for this, but we'll see.
 
Prairie Dog said:
For all rounders, those look quite trail ready. You’ll be ready for anything, Dave…just like in the promo vid.

Click to expand...
Well I feel like a bit of a guinea pig as there's not a lot of real world info out there. It was either these or Johnny Watts, but I read mixed reviews about JW tubeless, and these Rubans are tubeless ready.
We shall see...
 
The Rubans interested me, but I ended up going with JW on my Watts Wagon Hydra mountain bike (sometimes commuter). I like that the Rubans can be tubeless and some say that the JWs can be mounted tubeless, but for now I'll run tubes.
I'll be interested in your review of the Rubans.

With some tubeless installs I've been able to pressure and seal the tires with just my manual pump, but other times I've needed my compressor. It just depends.....
 
Went out and got the wheels from LBS at lunch. All they charged me for was sealant!
No charge for tire install and I didn't even buy them there! Excellent customer service.

Mounted the wheels with new Conti Rubans and went for a short 8km ride around the hood which included mostly road but short stints in gravel and dirt.







Observations:
These Rubans are quite a bit less noisy than the Rekons. Bonus. There is some more noise when cornering hard as that gets the side knobbies involved. No worries... feels reassuring.
All surfaces were dry and all felt very much under control. Hard braking on pavement felt excellent.
In my haste to try them out I forgot to check the pressure. They must be pumped up to the max as the ride felt a bit stiff. Will check that later. I usually ride between 35 - 40psi.
Too early to come up with hard evidence but it seems like the rolling resistance is lower for sure. Bonus again. Maybe that'll change a bit with the expected lower psi.
Tomorrow there will be rain, so Saturday should give me an opportunity to try them out on wet surfaces on a longer ride.
Positive vibes so far...
 
I went out for an impromptu ride on Saturday.
I dropped the psi down to 30 and set off.
The ride was 61kms with the first half being trail and gravel. The second half was mostly pavement.
These Rubans are much more quiet. Surprising really, as my first ebike (Fathom) came with Maxxis Forkasters which were loud on pavement and awesome in dirt. The Stance came with Maxxis Rekons which were miles better but still noisy on pavement and excellent grip overall.
The Ruban is smooth. I did the first 30kms with ease and even with a headwind on the 20km Mud bay gravel it very much felt like I was putting in less effort to attain a slightly higher speed than usual. Bonus.
Traction on the gravel and trails were every bit as good as the Rekons. No problem at all. That's important to me as when I want to go off road I want/need it to be a good and stable experience/ride. Job done.
The mostly pavement ride back was impressive.
The happiness I experienced from the trail/gravel was eclipsed by the road ride.
Did I mention they're quiet? Yes I did, and it's only fair to say I'm comparing them to the two aforementioned Maxxis Forkaster/Rekon.
That said it makes sense. These are "SUV", and meant to be much more "all rounders" than those are.
The feel on the road is great. I can actually hear the Stance/Yamaha motor sometimes! I can experience more of my surroundings. I'm actually getting a higher speed overall with less effort and battery drain. When you corner hard you can feel/hear the side knobs, but that to me is a feel good situation.

OK... before I come off sounding like a toady, some things:
1) I have no idea how long these will last. I put 3000kms on the Rekons without a single flat and we shall see about these Rubans. I've only got 88kms on them so far.
2) Maybe a niggly thing but 3 times the tires picked up and held pea sized gravel in the center tread. Easy to pick out, but obnoxious sounding on pavement.
3) They're not the cheapest tire in town.

Anyway, I did the 61kms 40 mins faster than my last 60km ride. That's gotta account for something.
Jury is still out, but so far I like 'em... a lot.
Waiting for some rain to try them out in muddy conditions...
 
Last edited:
It is so good to hear a friend having a good experience! Congratulations, Dave!
DaveMatthews said:
I can actually hear the Stance/Yamaha motor sometimes!
Click to expand...
The genuine off-road tyres roar so much on the pavement you would do anything to find yourself off-road immediately! That's why I chose Johnny Watts for the Trance E+. However, JWs get slippery on wet surfaces when the temps go well below 10 C. Interested to hear about your experiences with Rubans during the cold/wet weather! And on the mud, of course.

DaveMatthews said:
60km
Click to expand...
Did you say "km"?! I always thought you were an American! :D
 
Stefan Mikes said:
It is so good to hear a friend having a good experience! Congratulations, Dave!

The genuine off-road tyres roar so much on the pavement you would do anything to find yourself off-road immediately! That's why I chose Johnny Watts for the Trance E+. However, JWs get slippery on wet surfaces when the temps go well below 10 C. Interested to hear about your experiences with Rubans during the cold/wet weather! And on the mud, of course.


Did you say "km"?! I always thought you were an American! :D
Click to expand...
Yeah I really want to try them out on wet slippery and muddy conditions.
I am Canadian. 😁
 
DaveMatthews said:
Went out and got the wheels from LBS at lunch. All they charged me for was sealant!
No charge for tire install and I didn't even buy them there! Excellent customer service.

Mounted the wheels with new Conti Rubans and went for a short 8km ride around the hood which included mostly road but short stints in gravel and dirt.







Observations:
These Rubans are quite a bit less noisy than the Rekons. Bonus. There is some more noise when cornering hard as that gets the side knobbies involved. No worries... feels reassuring.
All surfaces were dry and all felt very much under control. Hard braking on pavement felt excellent.
In my haste to try them out I forgot to check the pressure. They must be pumped up to the max as the ride felt a bit stiff. Will check that later. I usually ride between 35 - 40psi.
Too early to come up with hard evidence but it seems like the rolling resistance is lower for sure. Bonus again. Maybe that'll change a bit with the expected lower psi.
Tomorrow there will be rain, so Saturday should give me an opportunity to try them out on wet surfaces on a longer ride.
Positive vibes so far...
Click to expand...
Did that rack come with the bike, or was it an add on. If add on, what rack is it?
 
UnCamplicated said:
Did that rack come with the bike, or was it an add on. If add on, what rack is it?
Click to expand...
It's an add on rack by Topeak. Max cap is about 25lbs I think...

www.topeak.com

TETRARACK M2L

<p>The perfect quick-mount rear rack system attaches to MTB full suspension seatstays or hardtail MTB without rack eyelets. This large rear rack features an innovative top plate that adjusts to level independent of the seatstay angle. Integrated QuickTrack® system allows Topeak TrunkBags /...
www.topeak.com www.topeak.com

There's a non "L" version, and ones that go on forks as well.
For something that takes more weight Old Man Mountain is a popular choice as well for dual suspension bikes.

oldmanmountain.com

Shop Bike Racks - Old Man Mountain

We make ultra rugged racks for every type of bicycle. Pannier racks, cargo racks, bikepacking racks, bike touring racks, we have it all.
oldmanmountain.com oldmanmountain.com
 
Dave,
Are they duel compound? Some gravel tires for example have soft nobs on the edges but a harder compound at the center.
 

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Went out for a quick shopping trip ride to the store yesterday.
Three blocks from home I felt the rear tire was low.
Stopped and checked and yes... very low! Whipped out the Fumpa pump and brought it up to 26 and went on my way.
Will check again on the weekend. Front seemed fine...
Interesting...
 
***Update***
So...
Every few days I've had to pump the rear tire up. I left it for a week or two thinking the sealant would find the issue and plug it.
Nope...
Saturday I got a tub and filled it with water, only to find out that air was coming out about 4 places on the sidewall! Bizzaro!

www.dropbox.com

20221029-142652_SYeqaFxZ.mp4

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20221029-142715_nQdfyvzD.mp4

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20221029-143408_N6qFL3uQ.mp4

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Front tire seems fine.
Warranty ticket opened with seller.
 
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