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1/7/2018
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Lac-Beauport, QC
CA
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1180th
Bored at home... (also a Maxxis fan)
Maxxis Minon DHF is the best all round/wet conditions tire that you can run both front and back.
Maxxis High Roller 2 is the best dry/desert conditions tire that you can run front and back.
To save money I like to rotate tires from the front to the back and put my new tires on the front.
Would love to hear you guys tell me how dumb/smart I am.
Maxxis Minon DHF is the best all round/wet conditions tire that you can run both front and back.
Maxxis High Roller 2 is the best dry/desert conditions tire that you can run front and back.
To save money I like to rotate tires from the front to the back and put my new tires on the front.
Would love to hear you guys tell me how dumb/smart I am.
Just my experience, cheers!
For Wet/Soft conditions tyres both the Schwalbe Dirty Dan or the new WTB Verdict Wet are great.
I'd love to try other tyres, but Maxxis has cornered the market here in Aus. I walk into my LBS and they have 4 of every tyre in every size/width/casing so it's just convenience more than anything. I wouldn't mind trying some of the new Michelins or Onza's however.
Regarding the DHR, it is also significantly lighter if you are using for a trail application where heavy tyres are probably not so desirable. That is if you care about such things.
For a faster rolling scenario, I'd like to try the Dissector in the rear.
The Michelin Wild Enduro Front and Wild Enduro Rear (clever name) are a fantastic combo.
The front tire is light and has killer bite in the corners. Loose, wet....doesn't matter it tracks well. Super confident at speed
The rear is a little heavy but it is tough and has a ton of grip.
In the 29-inch size, they are only available in 2.4-inch width...but they do measure true to size.
I like the Specialized Butcher front and rear (even though I'll change the front to a hillbilly during the mud months).
In my experience they're grippy, predictable and long lasting plus you can get them with different casings to suit your needs.
This all depends on where you are riding. The XR/SE4s are great for 'trail riding', but if I were doing park laps all day I would probably go Maxxis DHF front and rear. I have not tried the Assegai but that would be another option for some downhill focus. For even more XC-focussed spinning, I would go with a dual Maxxis Agressor combo or Bontrager XR3s for quick rolling but good traction.
Continental Barons for trail riding
Mudkings for wet racing
Black chili compound is a solid mix of grip/durability and particularly good on rocks compared to some other similarly hard compounds.
I wish they would come out with a Baron+ though. Not a tough enough tire for true DH tracks but the tread would be excellent for enduro racing. Where the kaisers simply a little too grippy especially on pedally tracks.
Maxxis DHR II 2.4s great in all dirt conditions other than super dry dust they get a bit understeery
Continental Der Kaiser 2.4s Roll amazing, great all conditions. Not the most grip on off camber roots rocks.
Schwalbe Magic Mary 2.35s Amazing in the mud, loose dirt. Wear out quickly. Roll Slow, slow pedalling
WTB Convict 2.5s Amazing mud tire sheds like no other. Great in loose dirt. Rolls and pedals suprisngly well. Has terrifying understeer on hardpack dirt.
Maxxis Minion DHF 2.5s Amazing grip in all conditions. Can pack up with dirt if its sticky. Roll decent. Great climbing grip.
Maxxis Recon 2.8s Good grip in all conditions other than mud. Rolls suprisingly well. great grip in rocky terrain.
Schwalbe Hans Dampf 2.35s Rolls really good. Great overall grip. Wears out waaay too fast.
Maxxis Shorty 2.5s Best gripping tire ever in the sand and dust (sierra nevada dirt). Can get werrd on slick rocks. Rolls really slow.
WTB Vigilante 2.6s Really good all around grip, very predictable cornering. Good on off cambers. Not great in sticky mud. Super slow rolling.
Specialized Butcher 2.6s Great in all conditions. Roll really fast. Wears out fast.
I decided to make a custom one designed around DHR2, with wheelbase length that stayed in the tire's sweet spot speed. I adjusted the CS length (sliding drop-outs) to make it so 2-wheeled drifts was natural feeling, and didn't have too much weight excessively on one wheel when standing. 1230 and 435mm...
I chose the tire based on my trails. I found DHR2 rolled as fast as a Nobby Nic but grippier on SoCal hardpack, which is faster than Aggressor, Shorty, DHF, HR2, Assegai, MM, Hans Dampf, Fat Albert, etc. I think its main fault is how prone it is to pinch flatting.
Step 1: choose tires based on favorite trails (trails you repeatedly ride and don't get tired of)
- take note of how fast you generally good, the amount of stopping, the amount of coasting, the amount of accelerating, etc.
Step 2: choose your bike based on the above.
- do you often go mach chicken but don't feel like you are open enough to accelerate even more? Get a longer wheelbase
- do your trails have obstacles that force stop-and-go style braking and speeding up? optimize for lower weight and tires with good braking traction (a lot wide paddle edges)
- when you cruise and coast, do you find yourself dragging brakes for safety? perhaps rolling resistance can be optimized for this, able to tolerate more resistance
Step 3: re-evaluate choices and add on more "checkboxes"
- do you want to 2-wheel drift naturally? does one end of your bike seem more flat prone? perhaps chainstay length can be scrutinized
- do you want a lot of travel out back, want to still pedal up, but don't want to compromise rear suspension plushness? maybe consider a steeper STA
- do you sometimes take your bike to the dirt jumps or do street on it? maybe a shorter seat tube and lower tube tube can be considered for extra clearance
For dry desert conditions and going fast with maximum braking potential on the front tire.
The e.13 Semislicks come in super-beefy casings (while the MinionSS 29er tires don't seem to actually exist in the retail world in any casing other than EXO).
As a bonus, this allows me to buy a harder compound/longer lasting rear tire. Right now I'm running a hard compound (Maxxis call it "dual compound") folding bead 2.5" DHF with a downhill casing in the rear, and it's a dream. Super stable in turns, durable in rocks, brakes good with its full center tread, but it rolls fast because it's not soft. The Maxxis part number is TB96800100.
Just doing my part to get us through this. Haha
I just recently put on a pair of Assegais, 3C in the front, DC in the back, and so far so good, it's a really 'calm', benign tyre, nice grip, nice rolling, etc.
The idea of putting the front in the back a new one on the front is nice, but then I'd have to run a DC in the front. Might do that for the next winter (my HR went bald on the sides this year), but otherwise a 3C is nice. It's useless for the rear due to it getting chewed up by tarmac.
Trail Bike-Onza Aquila folding on both f/r
Once the front gets worn it goes to the rear and a new one gets put on the front..and so on.
I ride in SW British Columbia where most of the trails are steep and challenging and the DHF was too sketchy for me. I had heard that guys around here like DHRII front and rear and so I tried that the 2.4 size in the max terra compound. Worked great for me and for several seasons I would swap the front to the rear when the rear started to wear out, and get a new one for the front, for the sake of my wallet. I also tried the DHRII 2.4WT exo on 25mm rims with no issue.
Last fall I thought I should try some different rubber to know if the DHRII was as good as I thought. I got a WTB Vigilante 2.5 tough/high grip and a Convict 2.5 in the same compound and ran them on a new set of 30mm rims. The vigilante was a major disappointment: it would break loose unexpectedly at different lean angles, especially on off-camber sections. It sketched me out every ride to the point where I was having a tough time on terrain I normally wouldn't think twice about. The Convict is a copy of the DHRII and it has performed fairly well but the tough/high grip compound has a tendency to spin out on wet wood / roots.
After 6 rides I replaced the Vigilante with an Assegai 2.5 max terra exo+ and it has performed flawlessly on the dozen rides I've been out on it. Highly recommended for wet steep black diamond riding! Might not have the best rolling resistance but I don't care becasue the grip is so good.
I'm going to swap out the Convict for a DHRII this spring. Riding 40-50 times per year I go through one set of tires, seems fine by me. Maxxis gets my money.
FWIW a friend of mine swears by hans damfs but whenever we go for a wet ride he does nothing but complain and I've seen them pack up with mud in Whistler like no other tire.
* front tire is mostly worn from braking forces, whereas rear tire is worn from both braking + accelerating forces which lead to different wear on the front vs back of knobs. Similarly, front tires corner more calmly than rear tires (though I am in no way good enough to 'get loose' and really experience this). Maybe I'm wrong on this one?
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