The top 4 cheap 27.5 mountain bike tires

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In this article I’m going to give you my top picks for the best cheap 27.5 mountain bike tires.

To be honest, that’s not an easy thing to do. 27.5 inch is a wheel size for bikes which are relatively new (less than 10 years old). Especially not in an industry that keeps ramping up the prices, rather than offering affordable solutions.

I’m also not the type of person who opts for unknown brands that have distinctly eastern-sounding names. So no SimeiQi and Meghna for me. I understand that also for big brand names, everything’s probably fabricated in the far east, but that’s just me I guess.

So that also leaves us with the question of what exactly is “cheap” when it comes to 27.5 inch MTB tires? Although I don’t have exact numbers I would argue that a price below 30 dollars can be considered affordable at the very least. And I know, that’s still not very cheap. But you have to understand that with all those supply line issues, the price of tires have gone through the roof, and paying almost 100 bucks for a single premium mountain bike tire is no longer an exception.

So 30 dollars is the limit set here, let’s see what I came up with in my list of the best cheap 27.5 mountain bike tires.

Continental Cross King

The Continental Cross King Wire is the budget-oriented version of their top-of-the-line XC tire.

It means you get a wired version with the same tread pattern without the BlackChili compound and ProTection puncture-protection.

Even without those tire characteristics it still is a great way to obtain a very solid, and smart-looking mountain bike tire for a more than reasonable price.

Sure it’s heavier and less durable, but in the end it’s the legs that do most of the work, not the tires.

Expert Experience

Garrett | Customer – August 18, 2022
Whether hitting the trail with a group of friends, shredding some singletrack segments, or taking a long cross country trek, the Continental Crossking is the tire for you. It’s performance is top notch and in my personal opinion it’s value is unparalleled. I am looking forward to many more adventures on these great tires.

Pros and Cons

Maxxis Rambler

The Maxxis Rambler is a gravel-oriented tire meant for riding tarmac and hardpack in dry conditions. It’s the most versatile gravel tire in Maxxis’ lineup with a wide array of applications.

So as long as you don’t like riding in the mud, this tire will get you where you want to go, and will do it in style with selected sizes coming in a tan-wall version.

There are EXO and SilkShield versions, which mean you either have reinforced sidewalls or bead-to-bead protection respectively. All in a tubeless-compatible package.

You really can’t fault the Maxxis Rambler. The brand almost never offers the lightest tires on the market, but as far as value-for-money in a solid allround gravel package, the Rambler ticks all the boxes.

Expert Experience

James Stout | Technical reviewer – September 4, 2020
These tyres mounted extremely easily, with no issues over tubeless leaks. The Ramblers are a good choice for hard packed gravel roads, and they’re light enough to perform well on hilly routes. On the road, these didn’t impress me so much and on trails that might be considered more suitable for a hardtail mountain bike, I found them lacking – but there are more suitable options for this style of riding elsewhere in the Maxxis range.

Pros and Cons

Schwinn Cruiser

The Schwinn Cruiser is actually a great-looking and very cheap tire for urban, commuting, and gravel use.

It will turn your mountain bike into a perfect commuter, while still maintaining some off-road capability for gravel and light cross country riding.

It’s a bit too light to take on the trail, but if you grew up riding mountain bikes in the 90s, nothing is too light probably.

The main attraction is obviously the price, which is about half you’d pay for a more premium counterpart. So unless you want to move into the territory where tires begin to have unpronounceable names, this is the go-to solution for the cheapest light off-road tire.

Pros and Cons

Schwinn Mountain

Coming in a variety of sizes the aptly named Schwinn Mountain tire is as cheap as they come.

The tread pattern actually supports commuting with a fairly unbroken center tread line. So whether you want to slap a pair of cheap tires on your fixer-upper you’ll be going to use as a fun daily driver, or you actually want to rock your local trail, the trail will serve you fine on both occasions.

Don’t expect anything fancy other than a bit of added puncture protection. But there’s enough rubber to keep you going a long time.

Pros and Cons

Specifications cheap 27.5 mountain bike tires

Name	Size	ETRTO	Weight (gr)	Tread color	Sidewall color	Compound	Tire bead	TPI
Continental Cross King Wire	27.5×2.30	58-584	775	Black	Black		wired	3/180
Continental Cross King Wire	27.5×2.20	55-584	740	Black	Black		wired	3/180
Maxxis Rambler	27.5×1.50	40-584	475	Black	Black	Dual	tlr	120
Maxxis Rambler	650x47C	47-584	628	Black	Black	Dual	tlr	60
Schwinn Cruiser	27.5×2.10	52-584		Black	Black		wired

Sources

Garrett, Continental Cross King Tire [Rider Review], WorldWideCyclery, August 18, 2022

James Stout, Maxxis Rambler Gravel Tyre review, Cycling Weekly, September 4, 2020

Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His cycling career has seen him at the starting line of classics such as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege. Realizing his racing capacity would fall short of what was needed he obtained a MS from the University of Amsterdam in engineering. His love for cycling changed into riding in an amateur capacity with his local cycling club TFC Weesp as a roadie and supporting MTB Noordwest as a mountain biker. He repairs, restores, and builds bicycles and shares his knowledge on YouTube, Facebook and this website.