Staggered Wheels (Wheel Mullet)--Anyone try this? How'd it go?

Noah_Deuce wrote:At 2015 Dirty Kanza I ran a 27.5x2.1 up front and a 700x33 cyclocross mud tire in back. Worked great. \n \nAre you trying to maintain clearance in the rear?

EddNog wrote:I've a Lauf Grit on its way, to upgrade my Renegade (2016 Exile frame, so replacing the stock rigid chro-moly fork)...

Zurichman wrote:EggNog I read your thread and see that you are running a bigger tire up front to take advantage of that new fork. Most people I read that do this run the larger tire up front for gripping on the corners and then a smaller tire on the rear(like 38 mm) for speed. One combination I remember reading about was the Maxis tires.

Zman

The Resolutes are EXCELLENT whenever I'm riding pavement, gravel or dry dirt. As a matter of fact, if that was all I rode on my gravel bike, well, I'd never ever change tires ever again.

However, I live and ride in South Jersey, which is, essentially, one enormous beach. Our unpaved riding in this region is an all-you-can (or can't)-ride endless buffet of deep, loose sugar sand, and I am constantly trying to fit a wider and larger contact patch up front in order to deal with all this sand. Whenever I head out on my plus hardtail to ride trails (my MTB, which is awesome when driven to and from single track to shred the gnar, but a real bane to paved riding), the sand is of little to no consequence to me, but my own riding skill isn't sufficient (yet) to deal with the deep, loose sugar sand on mere 42mm Resolutes when I take my gravel bike out instead (my preferred conveyance, because I just ride it to, at and back from gravel and dirt trails or flow single tracks). This is why I'm experimenting with the reverse wheel & tire mullet.

The 27.5x2.1" Schwalbe G-One Bite will go in the front, now that I have installed the Lauf Grit, which will fit this, and hopefully provide me with a satisfactory level of float and stability on the sand. The 700x38mm Schwalbe G-One All-Round will go out back, where it is a perfect fit for this frame's rear triangle, and should hopefully roll just as fast, if not faster, than the Resolutes.

I'll keep the Resolutes mounted to the awesomely light and fast Boyd Altamont Lites for long days of gravel and pavement riding, and swap over to the stock rear wheel shod with G-One All-Round and the custom 650b front wheel shod with the G-One Bite for days where I anticipate fighting deep sand and shorter rides where I plan to rail it hard.

-Ed