Dirt Bike Tire Buyer's Guide

hello everyone I'm chase Rocky Mountain atv/mc and this is our dirt bike tire buyers guy alright so in this video today we want to share with you some of our top picks in our best-selling dirt bike tires now listen dirt bike tires it's a tricky subject we have a lot of great tires that we offer at Rocky Mountain and we know that everyone has their opinion and why they like the tires that they ride on but ultimately it's just gonna come down to rider comfort a lot of riders will find a set of tires that they really like and they'll stick to that set of tires because then they know how they react how they handle in certain conditions but if you're new to this or maybe just looking to switch it up and try out a different set well then this video is really gonna help you out now keep in mind if you do want to learn more about tires in general we do have a tires one-on-one video where we talked about the different tread designs the different compounds also your hard your medium your soft train that will give you a really good idea of what type of tire that you should be using depending on the style of writing that you like to do so remember give that a watch but also keep in mind if you do not see a tire up here that you have it you really like in our guide today well make sure comment below let us know what tire that you have what you like about it that's really gonna help other riders out who are looking to pick up their next set but with all that out of the way let's get started with our sand in dune tires alright so first up let's talk about doing tires now look if you are going to the dunes without a doubt if you want the best experience possible and have the most fun you definitely want a paddle tire on your bike nothing more compared to how much drivin traction you can get by having a peddle tire on your bike yes you can't get away to you see using the knobby I've done it before but trust me you definitely want to have a paddle tire on there now we've got two options up here on the table both are some of our best selling year after year we've got the CST surge we've also got the Sedona Doudna tick now both these are gonna be great options both these are very popular again year after year they do a great job very simple what I like about paddle tires very affordable if you're not familiar with the paddle tire well the name says it all if you look at these you can see you've got these very large scoops going all the way around the tire those give incredible traction forward Drive again in that really soft sandy conditions that you're going to have with the dunes now with these both are going to be great options you couldn't go wrong with you if you want to you could ask questions on the product page for these get answers from customers who are using these exact tires you can read rider reviews what I do like about the CST surge is that the user they utilize a specific tread compound to help reduce chunking now one thing you want to consider if you're choosing between these two tires is how many paddles you want on your tire so both these come in an 8 paddle but the Sedona do take also has a 10 paddle as well now for your smaller bikes so say a 250 you're gonna want an 8 paddle on there but for your larger bike so you have a 450 or maybe a 500 two-stroke and you want those extra two paddles that get even more Drive then I'll say yes you want to go with the 10 paddle from Sedona that's gonna be a killer option but either way both are gonna be very good tires you can't go wrong with either one now moving on from those we have our sand in mud tire and the choice that we have up here on the table is the NX 12 from down low this is a newer tire replace the MX 11 which for years was a very popular tire so if you look at the rear tire it's kind of a hybrid between a traditional knobby tire and a dune tire if you look at the tread design you can see here that the center treads or excuse me Center lugs are more of a scoop design the user Vblock technology so in sand and muddy conditions so think if you watch pro motocross think of Southwick or when they have those Mudder races this is a type of tire that those riders are gonna be using so those Center lugs the K those V block scoops are gonna get very good drive in those soft loamy sandy or wet and muddy conditions but what I like is if you look at the side lugs here you can see that it has more of that traditional lug that you would see on a regular knobby tire and what I like to so if you're in those sandy conditions wet muddy but maybe you do get down to a hard base having those aggressive lugs on the sidewall are gonna help with that corner in traction that stability and what I like about the new MX 12 that is different from the MX 11 as you are now seeing them incorporate they're blocking a block technology which i think is awesome so you see that here on these side lugs so what that actually does just like the name says you have essentially a block inside a block that just gives you more biting edges a little bit more leaning over traction so that's the MX 12 rear tire again very popular for sand and mud conditions now when it comes to a front tire for sand and mud we've also got the MX 12 front tire up here as well so very unique tread design very different than you know a regular knobby child tire that most riders are used to if you look at it it has a unique thinner more cross shaped tread design here and what does it ultimately designed to do is one do a great job of self-cleaning the last thing you want what they say I'm on tires for mud to pack in there so that is designed to optimize that self-cleaning but also with that tread design does a great job of just really digging into that sand in that mud and giving you a good straight line stability now keep in mind with doing tires a lot of riders will ask well what type of front tire should I use and honestly most riders with a dune or a paddle tire will just use a soft intermediate terrain front tire that's what I've always done they do they work great but if you do want a sand specific tire that MX 12 is going to be a great option so those are our top picks and our best sign when it comes to dunes and for sand and mud all right so let's talk about soft tires now we've got two tires up here on the table that we want to show you that I've used personally that we are big fans of one is a star cross v soft from Michelin the other is the MX 33 from Dunlop so we'll start with the star cross v soft so with this tire came out a few years ago it's been very popular like I said I've used it I'm a big fan I'll kind of point out the features that I really like about it so starting with the rear but I like nice spread out lug design so this tire really does a great job with self-cleaning so that mud sand does not pack in but what I like too is you have these mud phobic bars going in between the center tread lugs those are to help promote self-cleaning so that mud and dirt does not pack in you also have these very fine lines you can see all the way throughout the entire tire those again are just to help with self-cleaning so very good traction great grip even as the track starts to dry out a little bit it still offers great traction now at the front tire I will say in my opinion that the star cross 5 front tire gives the most bite of any front tire that I have ever used it that's really what you are looking for this is definitely a tire that I would recommend they did a great job with that tread design and as you can see here just like with that rear tire you are getting those little tiny bars here in between the tread lugs again that's going to help with that self-cleaning last thing I want to point out I forgot to mention is Michelin they use our comfort casing technology so what I did is actually lighten up the tire so it's a very lightweight tire it just helps give a little bit more flex and shock absorption with that sidewall now moving on from the star cross soft we now have the MX 33 from Dunlop this is new for 2018 it replaced the old MX 3s which with was one of the most popular dirtbike tires out there but what I love is that new for 2018 it is new and improved so we'll start with the rear so what I really like about the rear tire if you look at these Center tread lugs they are very tall very large almost like a scoop and in my opinion this tire gives the best forward drive of any soft intermediate train tire that is out there so very good forward Drive also you will notice that with these side loves again their utilize not blocking a block so more body and edges more contact area with the ground also they've improved the amount of lug that you're getting on the rear tire so more rubber means more contact to ground better grip and what I like too is that with the front the soft are excuse me the rear and the front tire they're utilizing a new rubber compound to add to the durability when the old set of tires especially the front a lot I was complaining about how you'd rip or tear nabis off so what they've actually done along with that new tread compound they are utilizing these tie bars in between the tread lugs both on the front and the rear to strengthen those and you're gonna now see that with your front tire you've got their block and a block technology on the side lugs again just to give better and leaned over traction but our control I'm a big fan I've used this new set of tires they do a great job and with that front tire it is very very close and very comparable to that star cross five soft when it comes to biting edge now with the star achieving with the AMX 33 this is a soft intermediate tired so remember it's one of our top picks for soft train but it also transitions extremely well into intermediate so if you ride a mixture of soft intermediate this would definitely be one of our topics for intermediate as well which leads us into our next category for intermediate tires alright so for intermediate terrain we've got our two top picks up on the table we've got the maxis max IT desert we've got the battle cross x30 coming from Bridgestone so for all you desert riders out there the maxis max IT deserts been around for a very long time tried-and-true very popular tire if you read rider reviews and what's unique about this is for desert terrain that's what intermediate or the I T stands for intermediate is it has a special compound that maxis uses to help give better durability reduce chunking in the desert and rocky terrain and also what's unique with the front and the rear is it actually utilizes a stiffer carcass which is going to minimize flex which helps reduce his pinch flats so if you're a desert rider that's a type of tether you're looking for this is a tie that we would recommend now moving over we've got the bat across x30 coming from Bridgestone so another very popular intermediate tire and what I've noticed most about this tire because I've used it personally a couple things for me that right off the bat standout is one price point if you want to save a few bucks Bridgestone always has great prices on their tires and the other is durability I really feel like with these tires it's a tire that for me lasts a long time so if you're that kind of rider you don't like to fork over cash all the time to keep your tires nice and fresh well I think you get great durability out of these so a couple unique features about these if we look at the rear Bridgestone uses what they call their castle block technology so you can see here that with the lugs in the center and on the sides they have a second tread lug inside the main lug that's gonna get more biting edge it's gonna get better contact with the ground so if you do get down to a harder base that's gonna give some added grip and also with these side lugs here they is a convex side lug so and that lean angle does a great job at staying planted to the ground give you good traction another unique feature about the x30 if you look at the sidewall here they use what they call their cooling fins or their anti-degradation fins and what these are actually designed to do is we know that rubber and heat they do not mix they don't play nicely and as a tire gets hot that air pressure will actually start to increase inside the tire which doesn't give you a real consistent performance so by having these cooling fins around the outside it's gonna help dissipate heat just to make the tire more consistent looking at the front again great durability what I like about is an asymmetrical tread design so if you look at the sides it's not gonna be the exact same on each side so that's gonna just really help optimize your lean angle traction now with these tires like I said great durability great price point now the only thing in my opinion that I feel you sacrifice with the front tire is gonna be with the traction in my opinion it just doesn't give as much front-end bite as these soft terrain tires that we discovered just a minute ago but overall price point durability I don't think you can beat it so those are two top picks for intermediate tires alright so for hard terrain we've got two tires up here we want to show you we've got the geo max MX 52 from Dunlop we've got the 505 cheater coming from Shenko so the MX 52 from Dunlop what's unique about Dunlop is they actually only have two tires that cover the entire spectrum from soft I'll live to hard terrain so the MX 52 is actually an intermediate to hard terrain tires so if you ride an intermediate train and then also you get hard-packed as well this is going to be a tire that transits an extremely well and this is by far one of the most popular hard-packed tires in fact a lot of riders at Rocky Mountain like this tire because they go right at the track for a day but we also like to go down to Moab a lot and hit up the slick rock so this tire transitions extremely well from those different terrains so looking at it compared to the MX 33 obviously is going to be some differences the tread lugs are going to make space closer together it's going to give more contact patch with the ground increase your grip on those hard surfaces and these Center tread lugs here are a little bit staggered and then but what I do like is you can see on the sidewall you're still getting out blocking a block technology so when you lean this tire over again more biting edges gonna really help with that grip looking at the front tire again tread lugs a little bit closer together does extremely well on those intermediate hard packed terrain surfaces so if that's really the type of ride that you like to do this would be an awesome option now moving on from the MX 52 we've got the 505 cheater coming from Shenko now over the years we've actually been seeing a trend in the marketplace where a lot of riders I do a lot of technical riding so hard pack trails rocks logs ruts wet surfaces or slick rock like we do down in Moab they really like to use a trials tire because trials tires utilize a softer rubber compound which gives really good grip in those conditions however a trials tire is obviously not going to be as good in off-road conditions as an off-road tire and that is why manufacturers started making hybrid tires like this 505 cheater so if you look at it you can see it's a very aggressive tread design so if you are doing some off-road riding you're going to be covered but what's unique is that they utilize a softer rubber compound like a trials tire so when you are doing that technical riding that we just mentioned it's gonna optimize the amount of grip that you're getting so if you spend a little time off road but a lot of time on hardpack trails those technical terrains then the 5:05 cheater is gonna be an awesome choice now the last thing I do want to mention with this tire is that they don't make a front tire to go along with it so what we would recommend is just pair it up with one of your favorite intermediate or hard terrain front tires and you're gonna be good to go all right so last but not least we've got some of our favorite trail tires as well as trials tires and the first one that we want to show you is the Kenda equilibrium now this tire just like with that shingle 505 we just showed you is also a hybrid style tire but the reason that we have it for trail riding is because when you look at it compared to that shinka 505 it's not gonna have as aggressive tread design so for us we think that it's gonna be a little bit better fit for riders that stick primarily to trails but a couple features about it we really like if you look at the tread design here these centered tread lugs very similar to a trial style tire very soft rubber compound that they're using with this but what I like is that what these centered tread lugs they actually incorporated these braking scoops that is something that had trials tires really not known for is having good braking characteristics not really what they're designed for so Ken to put these braking scoops on there to help that but then if you look at these sidewall you are gonna see you've got those aggressive motocross style tread lugs so when you are cornering leaning the bike over that's gonna give a lot more grip and also with this tire also with that Shingo 505 you are gonna get a little bit stiffer sidewall as well so for trail riding that's primarily what you stick to this is an awesome tire now the two trials tires that we want to show you that we really like are the D 803 GP from Dunlop and the Michelin trials x-lite now both of these tires like I said before they utilize a very soft rubber compound and when you actually grab these you can feel just how sticky and soft this rubber is so you know that these are gonna hook up on those hard pack well so you know slick surfaces both the D 8:03 GP very affordable price points been around a long time very popular we've used it for years great all-around trials trial again whether using it for trail riding or for trials but if you want our opinion if you want to know what we feel is the best trials tire trials tire excuse me that is out there it's gonna be the trials X light coming from Michelin you got to get out your pocketbook for this tire but it has a great reputation and from the previous version they made a lot of great updates to it it's a pound lighter over a pound lighter than the predecessor they also did stiffen up the sidewall just a little bit and they made the tread lugs a little bit more flexible so overall a very high-performing tire again just a little pricey but if you want the best of what's out there it's gonna be the trials X light coming from Michelin alright everyone so there you have it those are some of our top picks and our best line dirt bike tires now remember like I'm mentioned earlier you want to learn more about tires in general watch out tires 101 video and if you have a tire that you did not see up in our guide today well make sure comment below let us know what that is if you have one tires that we did talk about today even better comment below let us know about that tire again that's gonna really help other riders out to pick up your next set it is very simple just click on the link at the end of this video if you like this buyer's guy well do not hesitate give it a thumbs up subscribe to our YouTube channel and that's going to keep you up to date and as always orders over 75 bucks ship free I am chase we'll see on the trails [Music] you

Channel: Rocky Mountain ATV MC

Views: 85,869

Rating: 4.806211 out of 5

Keywords: Rocky Mountain ATV/MC, rmatv, rmatvmc, atv/mc, atvmc, motocross, rockymountain, dirt bike, motorcycle, parts, accessories, rocky, mountain, tire buying guide, dirt bike tires, tires 101, buyers guide, mx tires, motocross tires, sand tires, hard terrain, soft terrain, best dirt bike tires, dirt bike tire, 2 stroke, 4 stroke, sand tires in snow, sand tires in mud, bridgestone tires, maxxis tires, dunlop tires, bridgestone tires vs michelin, bridgestone tires review

Id: JUPKa9sIJ9I

Length: 16min 11sec (971 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 24 2018