I'm in the same boat. I'm looking at trying a trials tire also, but where I ride the terrain varies a lot - from hard pack clay to rocky (big rocks) stream beds, to sandy granite fireroads with big berms and single track. I've had nothing but trouble finding a good all-around tire that will still hook up when things get wet. Maybe it doesn't exist, lol. I tend to ride a big loop where all the above conditions occur, so I'm not quite sure about a trials tire yet, as I am usually a very aggressive rider - at least for the first half-hour or so, LOL. i'm currently using a dunlop geomax mx-71 which has a pretty tight knob pattern and works well excepting muddy stuff.
Your opinion regarding a trials tire is similar to several I've read.
Gearing with a trials tire?
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rbates9
- Supporting Member II
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- Location: UPSTATE New York
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rbates9
- Supporting Member II
- Posts: 3164
- Joined: 06:07 pm Apr 27 2010
- Country:
- Location: UPSTATE New York
Re: Gearing with a trials tire?
I got a good ride in today with the trials tire back on. I ran 12 Psi in it and it seemed to work very well. The ground was mostly hard and dry with a lot of loose rocks and some thick deep mud. I was more than impressed with the trials tire in everything. 
There was six of us and one of the others had the MT43 on his KTM 300. There is one very nasty, steep, rocky hill that I have never been able to make it up before and myself and the other guy with the trials tire were the only two to see the top of the climb! And that was on the worn out, slow ride back to the truck at the end of the day.
The mud that we went thru was no more of an issue than it was for the rest of the people with knobbys.
The sandy spots were fine.
The big bare rocks was where the tire really shined! I found at times it had a little too much traction.
My last ride with the trials tire gave me a not so warm and fuzzy feeling at higher speeds but today I didn't notice anything too bad. Actually seemed pretty natural.
As far as gearing I think I will probably end up getting another tooth or so bigger rear sprocket at some point because the bike seemed to run low on power at times due to the extra grip and no wheel spin to keep the rpm's up.
I am now a fan of the trials tire but I think the knobby will stay mounted on the spare rim for the spring thaw rides.
There was six of us and one of the others had the MT43 on his KTM 300. There is one very nasty, steep, rocky hill that I have never been able to make it up before and myself and the other guy with the trials tire were the only two to see the top of the climb! And that was on the worn out, slow ride back to the truck at the end of the day.The mud that we went thru was no more of an issue than it was for the rest of the people with knobbys.
The sandy spots were fine.
The big bare rocks was where the tire really shined! I found at times it had a little too much traction.
My last ride with the trials tire gave me a not so warm and fuzzy feeling at higher speeds but today I didn't notice anything too bad. Actually seemed pretty natural.
As far as gearing I think I will probably end up getting another tooth or so bigger rear sprocket at some point because the bike seemed to run low on power at times due to the extra grip and no wheel spin to keep the rpm's up.
I am now a fan of the trials tire but I think the knobby will stay mounted on the spare rim for the spring thaw rides.