Cheap Tyres Vs Expensive Tyres | Can You Save Money On Your MTB?

[@loamchasers]

Why does everyone test expensive tires vs the cheapest thing out there. Would be a better test if you used budget instead of cheapest tires. Something half the price would be a better option

[@bigspear4358]

comparing brands copies/ similar tyres would probably be better, price varies so much, i got some magic marys for half price yesterday at the same price of some of the cheapest tyres out there

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

You can get great deals if you keep an eye out for them, I tend to find the sweet spot for cheap tyres is about £20 each, not £20 all in.

[@Paulklampeeps]

specially when you can buy maxxis wired tires(ardent) for $15

[@milesfinch]

GMBN treads a fine line in their content. They overly rely on the industry and always play safe in their videos. Look elsewhere for non-biased content.

[@johnstoddart9026]

@@milesfinch pink bike did the same thing with their cheap vs expensive. But tbh here it's the same with every industry the top end is way out of proportion price wise and the ultra bottom end are trash generally

[@NoggintheNog37]

I'd like to see the expensive stuff up against Schwalbe or WTB cheaper options, so the £20-£30 a tyre price range.

[@gmbn]

Thanks for the suggestion! That would be really interesting to compare! 👍

[@mark-anthonykroezen7335]

Zwalbe is pretty good i used them om my mtb till it got stolen. Now i use bontager XR2 COMP great tires

[@mikereed4876]

@@mark-anthonykroezen7335 mine are wobbly AF but do work well. Almost wore out the rear tire at about 600-650 miles so that's disappointing.

[@MarvinWestmaas]

This! I'm sorry GMBN but you're becoming another Pinkbike where they compare 'normal' with 'cheaper' options but in fact it's always TRASH they put as the 'cheap' option instead so the result is always predictable. Don't pick obvious TRASH. Go for the cst's of the world, GOOD stuff but still cheaper. I loathe pinkbike for trying to imprint on people that unless you go for the top of the line spec, you're basically using TRASH. In fact, that's why I now consciously avoid any of their video's.

[@fcktherich6913]

I would imagine it's diminishing returns at some point, like a 40-50$ or pound tyre is exponentially better than a 5$ tyre but I bet the difference between a 50$ tyre and an 80$ tyre is far less measurable

[@Radke32]

"the rim is completely true and the tire is all over the place" Sounds like most Maxxis tires I've run

[@fev31]

Should do a middle of the road option aswell, like shwalbe nobby nic

[@gmbn]

Thanks for the suggestion! 👍

[@MarvinWestmaas]

@@gmbn Please don't act like this is news, you KNOW that is the only actually informative content we WANT but you're becoming Pinkbike in your comparisons where you obviously care more about your manufacturers contacts then your community. No one CARES about absolute TRASH, but there are actually VIABLE budget parts out there which are actually worth the money and it's obvious why showing this is bad for your business contacts. Keep this up and you can join Pinkbike on the ignore list.

[@benjamesthomas]

Why not do a useful comparison that might actually inform and help riders? Compare the same tire in an expensive and cheaper compound

[@adamsatur7277]

Sponsorship.

[@senorgrande9323]

Yes. I'd like to see them compared to my Schwalbe Smart Sam 29. 2.6 inch for 17€.

[@alexandermajor6467]

would never know this channel was sponsored by vittoria tyres ;-)

[@christianholmstedt8770]

🤣

[@DirtlovR]

I only ride for a little more than a year but I already learned how important the contact point between rider, bike and dirt are. Good tires will make a cheap bike feel way better and cheap ones will make a even the best bike feel average at best.

[@barryholt3526]

Well that was consumer knowledge that nobody needed. Why not test against a genuine budget option like a Schwalbe Magic Mary Bike Park version? Surely Vittoria do a budget version you could compare with the top spec.

[@tims_builds]

Again GCN makes the classic mistake of finding "the cheapest on the internet" to compare to some of the most expensive. Like bro, we all know those tires are in a totally different league. Compare to something more reasonable like a cheaper but still good tire. For example my Kendas that I picked up on a warehouse sale that are miles better than whatever the "cheapest thing on the internet" is

[@jamesweldon8118]

I wish you would have used a quality budget tire. I get it though, you've gotta put over the sponsors 🤷‍♂️

[@simonm1447]

Yeah brands like Conti or Schwalbe offer a quality budget line beside their more expensive competition grade line. These tires are still good for amateur riders, but half the price or less compared to the competition tires

[@Durwood71]

Indeed. Can't have a budget tire showing up the sponsor's offering.

[@davetbassbos]

Tires affect feel more than anything, however the most expensive is not always the best, and the cheapest might be the worst, mid range is where to look, I reckon!

[@simonm1447]

Indeed, Conti or Schwalbe have a 2nd less expensive line up beside their competition grade tires. Such tires are still good tires, but for much less than what the Vittoria costs

[@connerjudd7977]

After destroying a $80 Vittoria tire I've been getting Specialized tires for $15 each. You can find them if you search sometimes even on they're own website.

[@chinguyen8778]

Remember just a few episodes back where gmbn’s definition of cheap/budget was a £1900 orbea laufey h10 they put Rich on to advertise…I mean…compete against Anna and Blake?

[@2scoops624]

I would like to see more tire brand comparisons. There's some pretty good budget brands out there now, like Delium or American classic. I've had very good experiences with WTB and teraveil tires, as well as maxxis.

[@nomad-pq4yw8iy7v]

more economical tires are one thing, but cheap tires are another thing all together.

[@piast99]

I had the opportunity to compare the same tyre - Schwalbe Hans Dampf but evo Trailstar (softish dual compound) with Performance version of those that came originally with the bike. I was on holidays in bikepark where I managed to chew and destroy Trailstar tyre so I put Performance which I've brought as a backup. Worn down Trailstars had much more grip than slightly used Performance. The difference was enormous.

[@StacyODell]

I'd love to see a breakdown of what to look for in tires: compounds, dimensions, knob patterns and sizes, etc. How to choose a set based upon riding style, conditions, etc.

[@stefantobler983]

You have to check out wolfpack tires. Absolutely worth the money!! superb compromise on resistence/durability/grip/weight. I don‘t know any other brand which achieved this!

[@seal9737]

The bend in the tire usually means it isn't seated on the bead properly

[@PedroFTeixeira]

I've bought a pair of continental trailking for less than 60€ in 27.5x2.4 they are great... and they are quite cheap.

[@toozydude2]

Cmon at least compare the same width tyre...

[@pierrebroccoli.9396]

Gee that Graphine stuff gets around, tyres, injections, cough - cough. No compromise on tyres to an extent but the Schwalbe Performance tyres are of for a cheaper option but not great on wet roots and rocks. Still find Vittoria tyres hard to come by.

[@HelplmAlive]

Disappointed that Mike Bear didn't make an appearance.

[@1supertec]

This Chinese knock off was never going to be a replacement for the ones you are running but I will put my neck on line and say you can get tyres that are about half that price which is a big saving and get reasonably comparable performance.

[@alphadog5676]

Dreadful video. Presumably done deliberately to keep the sponsorship deals from top brands. If you are looking to save money on tyres, you would clearly look at cheaper options from reputable manufaturers/retailers not the cheapest rubbish from eBay.

[@evan5167]

Could’ve done a comparison like a wire bead barzo with the top range folding bead barzo

[@stanb1604]

Maxxis has been my go to ever since. Reliable with approachable prices.

[@2scoops624]

Love maxxis tires, but I have to disagree with approachable, they're some of the most expensive, unless you get the more basic, dual compound stuff.

[@Durwood71]

Some of the most expensive mountain bike tires on the market qualifies as "approachable"?

[@stanb1604]

I don't know about the prices on your end but here in SEA, they're quite approachable along with Kenda & Schwalbe.

[@Martin0202M]

Yeah! I luv my trusty maxxis reckon race

[@scottlstone]

I’ve recently had a Conti Terra Speed with a warped profile. Every time the wheel spun it would wobble, I had to replace them. I’m certain it happens with other brands albeit rare. A rat bike can use these budget tires

[@Bonanno13]

Had the same from Maxxis on a Minion DHF.

[@Danil-Crypto]

the tread is very similar to the kenda small block

[@richardjensen3655]

Tires are $50-100, they can last 1000 to 3000 miles. Think of how much other mtb money you are spending on the rest of the bike while those sub- $100 tires wear out. Dont pretend you only spend money on tires and nothing else! 10-12 speed chains can cost as much, and cassettes can cost a lot more. Just be happy there are so many great tires out there to choose from.

[@Mark__A]

I bought Hans Dampf performance 29 x 2.3 16 pound each in multi buy.

[@J.William78]

Some of the best tires ive used are Bontrager. Can't go past the Vallnords for aggressive XC. Anyhow lads, hope your all well. Toodle pip.

[@Thedoug369]

With the old starter fluid trick you could make the cheapass tires tubeless, or send em into a low earth orbit lol.

[@TheWillRogers]

Would have liked to see CST and Schwalbe put up against the comperable tread tires from the bigger brand names. CST and Maxxis have very similar tires (for a reason) that would make a good comparison video.

[@simonm1447]

Your reason is CST is the mother company of Maxxis ;-)

[@TheProjectX3]

You don't look for "cheap mtb tyre" you look for a normal tyre but sort the results list to cheapest...

[@digital.olimon]

"Today we compare a cheap plastic kitchen fork with a solid stainless steel fork to see if cheap is still good"

[@Durwood71]

Pretty much. Buying the cheapest thing you can find on eBay is a guaranteed way to end up with junk.

[@lukemtb6800]

Most maxxis tyres are all wavy like that too 😂

[@Durwood71]

It has more to do with the how the tire is seated on the rim than the tire itself. If it is not mounted perfectly, then there is going to be a bit of visible wobble, but it will likely not affect your ride unless it is significantly off-center.

[@lukemtb6800]

@@Durwood71 maxxis tyres are notorious for wobbles in the tread. This year alone I have seen 20+ through my shop

[@DownhillDesireMTB]

just put a set of specialized Hilbillys on £28 each!!! awesome winter tyre!!

[@Warmagon]

Why not compare similar nominal tire sizes? One complaint was too narrow, but that is according to spec (2.25 v 2.125 IIRC). Yeah, you pointed out that the cheap tire may actually be narrower than listed, but it's still supposed to be narrower. Your quality tires do come in some 2.1" sizes according to the US version of their website, so a more like for like comparison that controls for tire width would have been possible. Based on my ride today, a $20 tire is better than a ? old one where most of the side knobs have worn off at least!

[@christianholmstedt8770]

Come on guys. This was a stupid video. Why not rename it "Our tire sponsor Vittoria vs. Any other tire". It'd be as useful. Seriously, there are tires in the segment between $70 and $10. Wire bead versions of a tire for example. Some brands offer a cheaper wire bead version.

[@Graeleaf]

Might want to check out American Classic tires. They have great Enduro tread and casing, and are only $50 American.

[@dpugh39]

Best cheap tyre is the scwalbe smart sam and you can set them up tubeless when there nit ment to be 👍

[@vernonrpeekiii]

My wife and I buy our maxxis tires in the size we want but lowest amount of extras to save loot...they work fine

[@MoonlightingBadger]

Currently riding Vee tires FlowSnap on one bike and Maxxis on the other. The Vee tire FlowSnaps were 100 for the pair, where as the Maxxis were 160 for the pair. Would like to try Continental or Shwalbe tho. Just to compare. Conti's seem a bit more expensive, so is the extra cost worth it?

[@Kingsoupturbo]

I've run two season with Flow snaps on the rear and an Assegai up front, the flow snap is a pretty good tire, reasonable wear as well, nice 72tpi sidewall gives good low pressure. I would have liked to have seen him try with a compressor to setup those cheap tires tubeless.

[@VictorElGreco]

One of my bikes still has on it the stock Kenda Konversion on but I’m considering the Barzo/Mezcal combo. What would be some of the benefits?

[@davidgunter6973]

Who needs tires? True MTB professionals just ride on the rims.

[@Jeppelelle]

Who needs rims? True MTB professionals just ride on the rotors.

[@gmbn]

Love this! 👆😂

[@mattpocock8393]

Seriously bud, that’s not a fair comparison! Rubber versus nylon? Was obvious it’s not a fair comparison just from the first shot. 🤦‍♂️like other have said, it would have better and fairer to compare a slightly higher priced offering, something like you’d get from Halfords or decathlon. Been running Michelins for ages, and for me they fare very well against £40 + tyres, all conditions, all trail types.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

Result of test clearly set up to get riders to spend full whack on tyres is obvious. Not a fair test, pay a tiny bit more and you will probably not tell any difference because there is very little extra manufacturing expense in expensive tyres, it's all in the profits, marketing, and advertising.

[@TFritz82]

That's ok, like every $100 Maxxis DD tire I mount anymore wobbles worse than those cheap tires...crazy.

[@anitalandkroon]

onza porcupine white 😃😃those are my tires and i love them ❤️❤️

[@optimoespacio]

Vitoria advertising. Wish we had actual consumer focused videos.

[@chrisandrews5881]

tire wobble wasnt too bad, my last set of Maxxis came new with worse wobbles

[@Durwood71]

Honestly, I think it would be hard to find a tire that isn't rideable on that trail (it looks like my local green trail). You would probably need something a lot more technical and sketchy to really tell the difference.

[@BicycleRiding578]

He was probably too scared too

[@MrTheSkiper]

Neil do I need dismount BB to instal dropper seatpost on same Lux?

[@chairmanmeow8388]

No. You need a small nut, some fishing line and a magnet. You just pull it round the bend then tape it to the cable housing and pull that through. It's a bit fiddly but pretty straight forward.

[@user-yv2cz8oj1k]

You were ripped off, £20 for those. You can find reasonable tyres for that price if you keep an eye out in the right places, I've had good cheap tyres, sometimes they get popular and the price rockets, so what does that tell you about pricing? Some expensive tyres aren't great either, it always pays to look at opinions, best combinations, and not just buy the first you see.

[@painteater19]

Tires are not the place to skimp. However you don't need $100 maxxis tires to have a good time

[@gmbn]

Totally agree! We suggest spending as much as your budget allows on tyres. They are the only point of contact your bike has with the ground and making sure you have decent stability and grip for the terrain you're riding is so important. 👍

[@therealsmileyyt]

There are some good cheap tires man like continental tyres here where I live cost from 30-40 euros

[@RigorMortisItrium]

I stopped buying cheap tires. I had a ton of issues with the cheap ones on the trail. I ride a hardtail bike on gnarly terrain and I need the tire to last. Bought good tires (Bontrager XR4 and SE5 29 x 2.6) and not once have I had an issue. They last and grip like crazy.

[@vaclavrehak9880]

why not just budget vs expensive?

[@taylordarion3477]

I bought new maxxis tires at 35% off on lama cycles. Quite the bargain

[@caseycrain1809]

do a comparison to with wheels cheap hub cheap wheel expensive wheel expensive hub then swap them and see the difference

[@manitolas]

Vittoria mezcal is a beast, 💪🤟 best climb grip iv ever tried at xc tyres.

[@robociock]

I bought a pair of Michelin dh 34 bike park for 40 bucks, they ride like a dhf dhr

[@Rawkus919]

Just waiting for...."They are actually the dream".

[@Superteastain]

Bontrager XR4's dude. Pricey but really strong

[@metalofthedeath]

You could’ve at least gotten the cheapest tubeless tire

[@briw4647]

Next time try £25 or £30 tyres vs premium. A more accurate test

[@TheFixten]

I just bought same Mezcal and Barzo for 35 euro. They are chip on there own

[@taol8258]

You can't beat mike bears.

[@TheButlerNZ]

I don't know... Maybe with a bigger stick... q8)

[@Paul-py2lc]

Tyre carcass isn’t straight, ever heard of the Maxxis wobble? Never did them any harm😂 but nice Vittoria advert

[@donmob07]

schwalbe tires are the best really cheap ones

[@maricarmenrodriguez1403]

After about 3 years the last Keurig stopped working kzbin.infoUgkxBrV-RbF5Nk0Rlt9i15aao-YMzqzTG8Vf initially was able to unblock, however eventually we couldn't fix. That one was a replacement unit sent by the manufacturer after we had problems with our very first Keurig. This works fine (lol, at least for now) however I didn't realize the water reservoir was so much smaller than our prior unit. With 2 people having one or two cups of coffee each morning, it seems like I'm refilling it daily. Otherwise just happy to have the convenience of pod coffee vs. making a morning pot.

[@maramara1116]

Used to watch every video from GMBN about 5-6years ago. But then they run out of the ideas and become a bit boring... So new faces appeared and become more like teleshopping of their sponsors. Luckily there's many channels where the contend is done by people not looking only to make money. Blake should do his own project btw. as he is always good fun.

[@cornishcactus]

Look to have less wobble than the Goodyear Peak tyres I tired once. Utter tripe they were.

[@raff5604]

We cyclists are being ripped off at every corner. My Car tyres are less expensive than any of my bike tyres. A Car Tyre!!!! I use Continentals on my car BTW.

[@ickebins6948]

Then you really have sh1tty car tires... Just saying

[@raff5604]

@@ickebins6948 No, not sure what you spend on tyres but when have you seen a cheap set of Continentals? Everything here is stupid expensive.

[@ickebins6948]

@@raff5604 Well I spend around 30-40€ ( retail 50-70€ I guess ) on a tyre for my bike and 150-180€ on a tyre for my car.... Not even remotely close

[@raff5604]

@@ickebins6948 that is pretty good. I wish we had prices like that in Canada. Tyres (good tyres) are 3x that here. That's mountain bike tyres never mind road bike tyres.

[@simonm1447]

@@ickebins6948 if you use a common size on your car (for example 205/55R16, a very common size in Europe) you got car tires for around 50 € per tire a couple of years ago from internet (mounting typically was additionally 5 € or so on partner workshops of the internet dealers, if you can't mount them by yourself). Maybe they are a little bit more now due to inflation, however you got good brand tires like Dunlop or Conti for this money. Of course huge 18 or 20 inch rims make tires more expensive, and the tires for a US XXL pick up are also more expensive.

[@TonyStark-ik9em]

So, gasp, the cheapest, most generic chinese tire is not really as good as a Vittoria? Who'd have thunk! A bit low-effort this one, even though some general critique was adressed at the beginning: Many yt channels give off the vibe of living in a very small bubble while being available for manufacturers as marketing tools. The latter i don't mind because producing content has to be paid for somehow while i do miss content for a broader demographic that not only attack berm after berm between choosing their black diamond lines. Let's have an analogy to another world that tires are used in for a very broad spectrum of application. There's no denying that a Michelin Pilot Sport Cup is a solid choice when having a track day on the Nordschleife. If you're booking your first laps there you may be fine even on Chaoyangs for a quarter of the price until you get into the skill-range where you really feel and need the higher quality. Also you might be on a track say 3 times a year and the rest of the time you'd feed your addiction by spirited road driving - very well covered by a medium level sports tire. This middle ground is what i miss on most channels. MTB tires are EXPENSIVE as hell, the upper level is well in cheap car tire range which is just ridiculous. I don't trust them all either - my last Minion DHR2 wobbled way more than you're china tire on the rim. Hunting for oneself is difficult, the product range alone for Schwalbe is too much to check for yourself, let alone that they are as pricey. This might be a POI for creators, where are the 20.- tires that are perfectly capable to entertain Joe Average on his mild local trails? (I just bought a 27.5/2.4 Nobby Nic for 20.- to my delight!) So please, as not only an Aston Martin Valkyrie is a fun car to take to the track, instead of laughing over intentionally picked crappy comparisons to the highest end tires, find us some medium level ones!

[@mtbmadman187]

nobby nicks ain't bad, cheap too

[@TheBikeRoom]

Steel bead and wonky tread and needs tubes, yuck. Cheapest folding, tubeless ready tires vs the expensive ones would be useful.

[@LiveTorsionParadoxTo]

Not the best comparison. Certainly not representative of the many cheaper (but not bottom of the barrel) options out there. Not very useful really.

[@Superteastain]

I love watching Neil's face as he discovers "made in China!". Go buy yourself a carbon frame for $500 see how that rides!

[@bobothericefarmer1878]

Cheap tires are good but they puncture to fast

[@chairmanmeow8388]

Why are you trying to set not tubeless tyres up tubeless? Especially those things. Hmmmm

[@DugEphresh]

Big fan of when they film themselves being a douchebag!

[@charliehodgson7222]

Wow that's some pot you got round the waist... maybe you should do a bit more cycling 😃

[@tomassanesson902]

Awesome good to no 👍🤘

[@gmbn]

Thanks, Tomas! Glad this video was useful! 👊

[@G3LDY]

british pounds 😜

[@Damien-pg2oy]

Pinkbike did a series last year that compared budget and expensive bike parts. It was quite informative. Two things to not cheap out on: tires and brakes.

[@MarvinWestmaas]

Informative? Lmao you must have missed the comment section OR you just fall in their perfect category of people with more money than they should have. They compared TRASH, just like in this video, not budget. Because PB is a marketing engine to get you to buy the most expensive parts from their sponsors and everyone knows it.

[@karlmccosmo6041]

I agree with the other reply. That pink bike comparison was rubbish.

[@Damien-pg2oy]

Bah! It was comparing cheap parts to expensive parts. Exactly the same as this comparison.

[@Damien-pg2oy]

So then I should only be buying the premium parts that GMBN uses? Both PB and GMBN were comparing the cheapest parts to probably the most expensive you can buy. And came to the same conclusion.

[@nuancedliars112]

Skin wall tires suck

[@johns9974]

Not a useful comparison way too extreme

[@ickebins6948]

Its just a bad video...

[@christopherfinnegan257]

Those tyres are nasty cheap crap you couldn't pay me to use them

[@alexiea7831]

if you truly want to put some decent sensible content that was worth my time watching you would have looked harder for viable budget options. Again GMBN with elitist opinions, nothing new. How about recommending a good versatile tire that i can put on my hard tail and ride whatever comes my way including a lot of tarmac miles????? Were not pro's we dont want to be either, not filthy rich and certainly not putting a tire on a bike that costs more than a half decent tire for my car!!!!!

[@李永祥-u1l]

they are the same !

[@johnnyglover4756]

noice

[@FirstnameLastname-pe5ib]

Doesn't make a huge difference. In 2022 nearly all tires are great.

[@Jacob99174]

I actually agree with First Name Last Name

[@wrecked3m]

I wish I could agree. Check out Hycline. If tires could come from a gumball machine, these would be it. They actually seem like they’re made from all the leftover gum on the underside of the countertop at the pub!

[@jrc0004]

Those are probably the tires they put on the mass produced Walmart/Target bikes. LOL

[@dudeguy9943]

I agree with the mob this video was a "bodge" for sure

[@PePratiMTBRoma]

Huge guys:) video shared in our group #pepratimtbroma......thank u so much:)

[@gmbn]

Thanks for the support! 👍

[@vickythompson8893]

Omg, never actually read the comments on your vids before. Who knew mountain bikers were such critical bastards. I actually found this vid really useful and I’m about to change my tyres. Didn’t know about tyre construction and tech. And how to match a tyre to my riding. Love the idea of having two sets one for DH one for XC, like the drift car…. Genius! Gonna do that.