The top 9 best 650b XC tires - restoration.bike

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In this article I’m going to discuss my top picks for the very best XC tires currently available.

With so many tires available you can get quickly overwhelmed with all the different tread patterns, compounds, technology, and even different options for front and rear wheels.

On this list you’ll find the best tires that combine weight, grip, and puncture protection. Choosing tires is always a tradeoff between something. Weight, rolling resistance or speed, grip and cornering confidence, durability, feel, braking power and traction. It’s like a video game where you get skill points you have to assign to your character: you can max one bar, but it means you can’t max another. With good tires there are more skill points to assign so to speak.

True XC tires are much lighter than your average trail or enduro tires. They also have a shallower tread pattern with smaller knobbies densely spaced. Such a tread pattern ensures a smooth even ride, at the cost of digging less deep into the road and sacrificing some grip.

One way to maintain a good amount of grip is with a wider tire. But a wider tire adds weight, and increases rolling resistance. Added weight is not necessarily a bad thing because it also means it rolls more easily across rougher terrain because of increased momentum. But you could go for a grippier, wider tire up front and a less wide tire in the back if you occasionally veer into the direction of trail riding.

Now with that all ouf of the way, let’s take a look at the contenders for best 650b XC tires.

Continental Cross King ProTection

The Continental Cross King ProTection is the newer version of a magnificent, lightweight cross-country racer.

ProTection replaces the RaceSport moniker. It’s a three- and four ply system underneath respectively the tread and sidewall, ensuring maximum puncture protection and shieldwall tearing.

This doesn’t take away from the fact that this tire is still one of the lightest in its category. A true racer.

Continental Race King ProTection

The Continental Race King ProTection is an extremely light tire. In the weight department it means it outshines every comparable tire from every other brand by far. And it’s also the best XC tire in the rolling-resistance department.

I cannot stress enough that with respect to speed and acceleration, a light tire makes all the difference. And tires are also the most cost-effective way to reduce the overall weight of the bike.

Try reducing a couple of hundred grams of any other bike component and be ready to spend in the hundreds of dollars. Not so the case with tires. And on top of that the tire has the advanced ProTection puncture protection, with a composite breaker and a bead to bead sidewall protection polyamide fabric.

All that speed comes at a price, because traction is not this tire’s strength when compared to other mountain bike tires. And it’s the reason this tire performs best in dry conditions.

But when riding in those conditions getting up to speed and keeping it is like nothing you’ve ever experienced before. It rightly deserves its name.

Maxxis Ardent Race

The Maxxis Ardent Race is a great option to mount as a very grippy dual XC setup, an aggressive XC front tire, or a lightweight, fast-rolling trail tire.

The triple compound provides a fast-rolling center with softer and grippier side knobs for added traction and cornering confidence.

In dry conditions the traction will prove to be outstanding. In wet conditions the small close-knit knobs can get packed with mud. So you’ll need to resort to a different tire if you want to ride year round without swapping tires.

Maxxis Crossmark II

The Maxxis Crossmark II is fast-rolling, dry condition, XC or gravel tire with the shallow center knobs and minimal side knobs.

It’s designed for speed on dry hardpack when going in a straight line, with the most minimal tread pattern you can find within this mountain bike category.

The hard-wearing 60 TPI dual casing and EXO reinforced sidewalls make it an excellent companion for long gravel and/or touring rides as well. Especially if you want to have the flexibility to veer off the beaten path yet still ride with confidence.

Maxxis Ikon

The absolute cross-country king in Maxxis’ lineup. The Maxxis Ikon has near perfect all-round tire characteristics, which makes it an excellent option for diverse road and trail conditions. Though it’s categorized obviously as an XC tire, it’ll also perform superior for bikepackers and gravel riders.

That being said, this is a racing tire, which means it’s light. But the reliable EXO compound, also used for harsher enduro racing, also means you’ll enjoy this tire for many miles.

As with any tire with this type of tread, it’ll perform well in dry conditions. The 26 inch version has both a 2.35 and 2.2 inch width option. You can run this tire both front and back, and might opt for the wider version in the front for some added grip. Especially if you expect some portions of your ride to be particularly rough.

It’s undeniable that the top-of-the-line products of Maxxis are superior to many if not all of their competitors. And the Maxxis Ikon shows it, with a perfect blend of weight, speed, grip, and protection.

Schwalbe Racing Ralph

Schwalbe’s lineup consists of a number of highly specialized cross-country tires. The Schwalbe Racing Ralph being one of them.

As stated on the website, the Racing Ralph was designed for the rear. That’s because it has the shallowest center tread pattern, making it perfect for riding as fast as possible in dry conditions.

Although it’s meant for a combo setup with a grippier tire in the front, you could actually use it as a dual setup when bikepacking or gravel riding instead of pure XC racing.

If you want to ride as fast as possible, and maintain that speed when cornering, I suggest pairing it with a grippier front tire. You can opt for the Racing Ray, Rocket Ron, or Nobby Nic. With the Racing Ray offering the least amount of grip and the Nobby Nic the most. The Rocket Ron sits in between the three.

Schwalbe Racing Ray

Where the Schwalbe Racing Ralph was designed as a rear tire, the Schwalbe Racing Ray is meant for the front. It also means that one of the most obvious choices for a Schwalbe cross country setup would be the combination of the two.

And it seems that the combination works for a lot of people better than ever. with great braking power and traction in the back and great traction and grip in the front, even for wet conditions.

Schwalbe Rocket Ron

Both the weight and tread pattern puts the Schwalbe Rocket Ron squarely into XC territory. The evenly spaced knobs mean you always hold contact with the ground ensuring a low rolling resistance.

They are small as well, which means you need to look for the Nobby Nic if you want a more allround and grippy trail tire. But if you want a bit more speed the 640 gr. for a 2.35 inch version you can run two of these.

You should be able to confidently do light trail riding in loose and wet conditions with these tires, and the XC-oriented tread pattern combined with either the Super Ground or Super Race compound will provide you with the speed you need.

It’s worthy to note that the Schwalbe Rocket Ron performs really well in the rolling resistance department, as do all Schwalbe tires. So it’s both light and fast.

Specifications 650b XC tires

Name	Size	ETRTO	Weight (gr)	Tread color	Sidewall color	Compound	Puncture protection	Tire bead	TPI	Buy at Amazon
Continental Cross King Racesport	27.5×2.30	58-584	635	Black	Black	BlackChili	RaceSport casing	tlr		link
Continental Cross King Racesport	27.5×2.20	55-584	520	Black	Black	BlackChili	RaceSport casing	tlr		link
Continental Race King Racesport	27.5×2.20	55-584	490	Black	Black	BlackChili	RaceSport casing	tubular	3/180	link
Kenda Regolith Pro	27.5×2.60	66-584	849	Black	Black	Dual	SCT	tlr	120	link
Kenda Regolith Pro	27.5×2.80	70-584	829	Black	Black	Dual	TR	tlr	120	link
Maxxis Ardent Race	27.5×2.20	56-584	714	Black	Black	3C MaxxSpeed		tlr	120	link
Maxxis Ardent Race	27.5×2.35	60-584	730	Black	Black	3C MaxxSpeed		tlr	60	link
Maxxis Ardent Race	27.5×2.60	66-584	878	Black	Black	Dual		tlr		link
Maxxis Crossmark II	27.5×2.25	57-584	735	Black	Black	Dual		tlr	60	link
Maxxis Ikon	27.5×2.20	56-584	590	Black	Light Tan	Dual	EXO	tlr		link
Maxxis Ikon	27.5×2.20	56-584	668	Black	Tan	Dual	EXO	tlr		link
Maxxis Ikon	27.5×2.20	56-584	630	Black	Black	3C MaxxSpeed	EXO	tlr		link
Maxxis Ikon	27.5×2.35	60-584	700	Black	Black	3C MaxxSpeed	EXO	tlr		link
Schwalbe Racing Ralph	27.5×2.25	57-584	605	Black	Black	ADDIX Speed	Super Ground	tlr		link
Schwalbe Racing Ralph	27.5×2.25	57-584	680	Black	Black	ADDIX	Super Ground	tlr		link
Schwalbe Racing Ray	27.5×2.25	57-584	605	Black	Black	ADDIX Speed	Super Ground	tlr		link
Schwalbe Racing Ray	27.5×2.25	57-584	680	Black	Black	ADDIX		tlr		link
Schwalbe Rocket Ron	27.5×2.25	57-584	600	Black	Black	ADDIX Speed	Super Race	tlr		link
Schwalbe Rocket Ron	27.5×2.25	57-584	600	Black	Black	ADDIX SpeedGrip	Super Ground	tlr		link

Johan van Seijen is the founder of restoration.bike. His passion for cycling in general, and restoring older bikes turned into a website to share his knowledge with a broader audience. Starting out on his father’s road bike and riding classics as the Amstel Gold Race and Liege Bastogne Liege he has shifted his attention to trail, XC, and gravel riding since. No matter how much he loves writing about everything related to cycling, nothing beats actually using his ever-expanding bicycle collection.