Tire chat (nerds only)

Yeah, that seems to be the general consensus, but I am wondering if their super soft holds up pretty well or if their soft is fine for some slightly wet root/rocks. 

I've went to this setup in both my bikes. Really works pretty well. Not having the hassle of tubeless anymore is really relieving. No more sealant drying, small dents don't open seal, and its pretty tough. I watched a buddy destroy a rim running this the other day and with a bit over 30 psi in the tube the tannus kept the tube whole after a rim had buckled in. 

Another double pinch on a DD aggressor with Rimpact and 27psi on a mystery hit- didn’t hear rim or anything.

Need that DH casing Aggressor.

I fixed the spoke don’t worry. 

I feel like the wide spaced knobs of the aggressor make it really easy to puncture one way or another, I’ve always had bad luck with them. They roll amazing though 

Agree- rolling speed is awesome, grip is good enough and they seem to last a long time if you don’t puncture.

But yeah- not buying any more of them.

If you like the rolling speed of Aggressor then the Continental Xynotol could be a good alternative. I have the Aggressor DD 2.5WT and Xynotol in Enduro Soft. Both roll similarly fast. The straight line braking between both tires on loose dirt is similar with predictable drifting. The side knobs on Xyno hook up better overall from my back to back testing. It is offered in DH casing and super soft compound which might help you guys avoid these flats.

Happy to find this thread because I do nerd out a lot when it comes to tires and might have a slight hoarding problem. Here are some combos I run these days and some notable favorites highlighted (Front/Rear) AMA

Maxxis:

Ikon, Aspen <-Fav XC race combo
Ikon, Rekon Race
Ikon, Ikon
Rekon, Ikon
Rekon, Aspen
Forekaster, Aspen
Forekaster, Ikon
Forekaster (DC,3C,2,4/2.6), Rekon <-Running right now for non-competitive XC
DHF DC, Rekon DC <- One of my all time favs on short travel 140mm trail bike
DHF DC, DHR2 DC
Assegai, Aggressor <-Great for Sedona/Moab
Assegai, DHR2 <-Good for AB/BC DH riding but doesn't over a week

Continental:

Argotal DH SS, Kryptotal-R, Enduro S <- My current fav on 170mm Enduro rig
Kryptotal-F DH SS, Xynotol Enduro S <- 2nd fav on spare wheelset. Speedy combo for long pedaly enduro days
Kryptotal-F Enduro S, Xynotol Enduro S <- Fun on both trail and enduro bike

Nothing useful to add, just felt like commenting on how "fun" it is to keep myself and the family happy with their tires in the midst of our annual month of Whistler bike park riding. Oh, and it's been raining too. FWIW, I'm running a Delium Versatile reinforced on the rear with cushcore and 23lbs, my 130lb14 year old son is tubeless fresh DHR II MT DH and I'm afraid to put the pressure gauge on it, he says 35 and he's hearing rim dings and not bringing his whips back. His FR541 is still true and dent free, I hope I didn't just jinx myself...

Believe it or not, i've only ever damaged rims/tyres when running Inserts, I remember a Pro once told me the reason why they don't and they had the same issues i did, i cant remember it word for word so I wont try make a sh1t show of English ha-ha
It's quite funny how lots of DH pro's  don't use inserts now but basically all XC racers do.

 

Xc racer like the insert mostly for the run flat capacities to be able to get back faster to the tech zone for switching wheels during a race. Don't think most of them care about the sidewall support or other characteristic of an insert.

I am still running an original Rimpact insert (which is quite light) to try to save my rear WAO Union. I am amazed the shit kicking and hits these WAO rims have taken. Even though aluminium is cool again, I'm very tempted by staying with carbon forever for the legit lazy factor of never spending any hours over last two seasons truing or building wheels.

My line choice isn't perfect and usually doesn't take into account dangerous things on the ground (I race enduro, not usually DH). It defaults to whatever looks the fastest on a macro scale when trying to go fast. Basically running it as rim insurance for mistakes and run flat. I can't see going up to full cushcore again (so awful to pedal). Light insert + heavier casing on the rear has been my go-to for awhile. I like it more than just a naked rear DH or DD casing tire.

My favourite tyre combo at the moment (been on this combo for a yr or so) is WTB Judge Tough/High Grip 29x2.4 front and WTB Trail Boss 29x2.4 Tough/Fast Rolling on the rear.

Local riding consists of hardpack/loose (coarse sand) over hard interspersed with granite rocks/boulders and the odd root sections

Would be curious to hear some thoughts on on the Xynotal vs Kryptotal Rear. It’s fairly dry, rocky and dusty on most of what I’m riding and it seems like the Xynotal might be sweet as long as the dust isn’t deep.

I just swapped from a DHR 2 maxx grip dh to a the Kryptotal in DH Soft rear and really like it so far. Will probably try an enduro casing Kryptotal FR up front when my Assegai’s all wear out. The exo+ casing and maxx grip combo in the Assegai seems to be what conti is missing for a front tire. Would buy a super soft enduro casing kryptotal instantly. 

The Xynotol excels in hardpack and rocky conditions due to it's short and tighter packed center tread. If you have very dry blown out loose dirt conditions then it will lock much much faster in a straight line than a Kryptotal Re. This of course can be fixed with more front braking. I think it is worth running the Xynotol for the extra speed and playfulness. The side knobs are still very stable and hook up great for cornering. Just did a rainy alpine ride on it and it was a hoot.

If you are replacing a Assegai Maxxgrip then I'd go Kryptotal FR SS DH. The Soft Enduro is more comparable to a Maxxterra. It is worth the extra weight.

I’ve run a Xynotal before and now stick with the Kryptotal Re because I prefer the trail damping characteristics more than rolling speed.  It deadens the trail chatter and gives a softer feel that maintains contact with the trail surface better.  The shorter tread tires like the xynotal and aggressor work great on shorter travel bikes but for me on a 170mm bike, I don’t like the feel.  Especially in rocky terrain.  Rolling speed is the only benefit imo.

You guys all paying full retail on these?  Maxxis/conti/schwalbe?

Having a hard time wanting to spend $220 on a set of tires.

German websites have been great for all those brands. Paid 52 euro for a Argotal SS DH on R2bike. Made in Germany version too if that matters to anyone.

Some say that inserts put stress on the inner portion of the rim, in the "well", exactly where rim manufacturers remove material to save weight. Some inserts like Tannus don't do this, but they are lighter duty. 

I try to buy used, takeoff, or NIB tires from the Pinkbike buy/sell page, half because of the cost savings and half because of my hippie desire to contribute less to the consumption of petroleum and new products. If someone's getting rid of it, might as well get some mileage out of it. To be clear, I am 100% not buying a tire with more than a few runs on it. Typical price for a new or lightly used DH Maxxgrip tire is $40-60. And yes, $110 for a super soft rear tire that will last three days at a bike park is a tough pill to swallow.

Anyone try Delium tires? I'm looking at the "Fast" tire vs Maxxis forekaster. Weight is about the same, cost is not haha.  

From the ZF motor interview… hopefully it will hit the shelves soon

(kryptotal super soft enduro casing)

Ooooh, intrigued.

Why do you have so many washers under the head of the caliper mounting bolt?

For a decent bit, I've run dhr ii maxxgrip front and dhr ii maxxterra rear on a couple of different bikes.  Got conti curious.  FWIW, here are my thoughts. 

Enduro Xynotal soft is my new trail-bike, local-trails tire of choice unless it's dry and loose.  I was on a NC trip a while back and had an Madonna and EXe with me.  Was mainly riding the RAAW, so I left the Xynotal on the back of the EXe to see how it would do.  Plan was to just use the RAAW rear wheel if I didn't get on with it up there. 

I did a day at Kanuga in damp conditions and was really impressed with how well it did.  Few weeks later I was at home on tamer trails, but it was really, really dry and loose.  Thought I was going to die.  Felt like the lack of a channel between center and edge knobs meant it couldn't dig in, especially on off camber stuff and flat corners.  DHR went right back on. 

My current thinking is that Xynotals are the default rear tire for my EXe and 5010 from when the leaves get chewed up and until about this time of year when it gets really dry and loose at local trails.

On that same trip, I ran DH Kryptotals on the RAAW.  Super soft front.  They were good, but I struggled a bit to totally hit if off with the front.  Think it's either the square shape vs my normal maxxis or I've just gotten too old and slow to need a DH casing front tire.  

If Conti ever gets their shit together and gets to market with enduro (and hopefully trail) casing Kryptotal fronts (EDIT: in super soft), I'm going to switch a couple of bikes and see if I can get used to the shape.  The enduro casing is excellent and the soft rear tires seem to wear really well.

Would be curious to hear from anyone else struggling to go from maxxis to conti, especially on the front.

Just got my first set of modern Contis mounted...I haven't run continental tires is roughly 30 years, when they were famous for being undersized. I've got a Kryptotal F/R combo in 29x2.4 Soft Enduro. 

Preride impressions 

1. Hard to mount. I'm a pretty strict no tire levers guy, even when using inserts, but these broke me... I had to get a lever out for the last bit of bead. Running i9 27mm aluminum rims, nothing special there. 

2. Compound feels good...softer than maxterra, but well supported knobs...I expect a good combo of bit in soft/loose and stick on hard/wet.

3. Square, especially the rear. Again, modest 27mm rims... We'll see how it translates to trail feel, especially when leaned. 

Looking forward to riding them, probably tomorrow.

FWIW, the issues I had with the EXO DHR2, no issues so far with an EXO+ Assegai. I also pinged the front rim hard today with an EXO assegai and no issues.

I'd bet that DHR2 was somehow defective...

Bringing in this discussion here after being thrown out of the tech rumors thread haha. 

post from @Suns_PSD :

"Which 2.5 front Enduro tire would you choose today for dry rocky e-bike (Relay) usage? Include the Krytoptol Super-soft Enduro casing in that please."

So to answer that, I don't have any dry and rocky time on the Kryptotal SuperSoft enduro, sadly. Still waiting for test samples. My two days riding them were one day in the proper wet, and one day on rapidly drying bike park terrain. Was well impressed with it in those conditions, for sure. Stable support at lower pressures than I usually run, grip felt great.

For dry and rocky...I have had great results with Specialized Butcher T9 up front, really like the grip and predictability. Go with the DH casing on the eeb if you really charge hard. One tire that always impressed me in dry and rocky terrain also is the Michelin wild enduro, IF you can hack the stiff sidewalls. With that I mean, that tire works when you charge it HARD. If you cruise, it can feel skittish, depending on what the trail looks like. I'm dying to try some of recently released Michelins, including the resurrected DH patterns, but still waiting for samples of those. Seems like a trend recently...me not getting tires to test haha!

XC racers are running super light pool noodle style inserts to prevent pinch flats while running low pressures for better rolling resistance and grip. They're not running inserts for run-flat protection. Super lightweight casings + pool noodle isn't going to be much of a run-flat setup will tear off/fold in a corner. 

Loic on Argotals (again) for finals in Les Gets. Finn on Hillbillys. 

In the PinkBike video "Big Disc Energy"  Angel Suarez's mechanic says that he replaces Angel's tires every handful of laps, not because of rubber wearing, but because the casing 'breaks down' or something to that effect...  

I didn't think much of it... however: 
-I installed a Kryptotal Rear 27.5 DH casing onto my rear wheel a few months ago. Rim is a Roval Traverse aluminum. Very nice rim. When I mounted the tire I had to use Pedro tire lever(s) to get it mounted. Super tight fit. Recently, I removed the tire to inspect the aluminum rim. Tire has probably 60 hours of riding on it at most. I went to re-install it and the tire was so 'baggy' on the rim that I couldn't get it to seat. I used a floor pump with the charger tank that dumps massive air in there all at once, I used 20g CO2 cartridges and even a huge air compressor. Tire so floppy it wouldn't seat. 

I then installed a tube, and seated the tire. I planned to un-seat one side of the tire and pull the tube out and then try to re-seat with compressor (have done this successfully on other tires in the past). However, as soon as the pressure was let out of the tube both sides of the beat snapped out and tire was loose again. So I've been running a tube in there for weeks--until I spend another $90 for fresh rear tire I guess. Pretty lame that they stretch out that much. 

Edit: Must mention, I've removed my 29" Kryptotal Front from the matching rim and re-installed with no issues (tire definitely was noticeably looser than new though). Only the rear tire has exhibited a lot of stretching.