Haha excellent! Although I think I need to hang it all off a steel frame as long as a farm gate for maximum kudos 😀

Aye, as long as weights not a huge issue, they are bombproof tyres, I’m definitely a fan.

Ta for that. I actually think that the NN 2.8 is surprisingly good up front, better than the normal-sized versions I’ve tried, but Maxxis has its rubber compounds dialled in a way that ime Schwalbe simply doesn’t. I can feel a tyre-wrestling match coming on…

Off the back of Alex’s glowing reviews and chatting to Si from Pedal and Spoke on a recent coaching session, I’ve just bought a pair of Rekon+ tyres.
I’m off to Wales mid May and will be doing a day at BPW so hoping they don’t explode while I’m there, but I’ll make sure I pack the Nobby Nics just in case.

Also did you have any issue with plus tyres in the BPW uplifts?

Thank you schwalbe. Just scrolling through their new tyre line up and see there’s a 2.8 Magic Mary apex in soft and speedgrip

Schwalbe

Had my 1st ride with the Rekons yesterday. As soon as I got them out of the snazzy little bags I could feel just how much sturdier the Rekons felt. When you hold them, they keep that nice round shape, where the Nobby nics just droop down.

They were super easy to mount and both went up with just a track pump and I didn’t even need to remove the cores. Once I fitted the 1st one I lined it up against the Nobby Nic still on the other wheel. It’s fair to say there is a lot more than 0.2″ between the tyres.

Fair bit of difference in the overall diameter and width

They are mounted on a set of roval 29mm ID rims and the tyre profile looks really good. A lot more like a standard tyre. I think the rims were a bit narrow for the NN.
I set them up at 18psi rear and 16psi front, which is more than I would usually run in them, but I wanted extra in to cover any potential air loss from bedding them in. I will drop them to 15psi rear and 12psi front which is around the same as I ran the NNs in the dry.
First thing I noticed was how they felt a lot more like normal size (2.3) tyres. No noticeable squirm and they felt a lot quicker to accelerate. I felt a lot more confident in leaning the bike over too.
They didn’t have that same kind of monster truck feel that the NNs had, but hopefully that’s down to running them at the higher pressures. If not though I’d be happy to trade that for the other benefits.
My biggest concern about switching to 2.8s was that the already low BB would end up being too low and I’d be constantly suffering with pedal strikes. It certainly wasn’t an issue on this ride, but I’ll reserve judgement on that until I’ve ridden them in the woods.

I also found a good use for the Maxxis tyre bags too. Peaty would be proud of me.

Think the purgatory is available with grid casing now. The butcher and slaughter not here just yet.

I have 2 new 3.0 Grid purgatory tyresup for grabs if anyone’s interested. Replaced them with a 2.8 HRII up front and a 2.8 Recon+ on the rear. Looks like the Mary is available from June. Hopefull they’ll be released oin time for my Alps trip in August. Then the HRII will be going on the back and the Mary up front.

I would of had the Maxxis in 3.0 if they did them it’s not about the size.
It’s a personal thing I suppose. I was never a fan of the Spesh tyres even on my Enduro. The HRII has been an excellent front tyre so far. When I demoed the Levo at cannock I found I couldnt ride hard into the berms entering half way into the turn without the front sliding into the banked bit of the berm. With the spesh tyre on the front I’d have to follow the berm all the way around. With the Maxxis I can enter the corner early, late, high or low without having to think about wheel placement. I like the ‘point and shoot’ attitude of the HRII. One less thing to worry about on the trail. The Recon on the back is the + version of the Ardent which is a good intermediate trail tyre. When the 2.8 Magic Mary comes out in June I’ll probably put the HRII on the rear for an alps trip in August ( if my shoulder heals ) and put the MM on the front.

Alex, How did you get on in Spain?

Off to BPW Friday. I was going to go for the 29er wheels, but really like the rekons so sticking with the plus set up. The BB is definitely lower with the rekons, but it’s just about ok.
I like the Nobby Nics, and when the Magic Mary is out I think I’ll go for a MM front and 2.8 apex NN rear for autumn/winter riding.

I’m riding a Stumpjumper. I have found that they need to be ran higher than the NN. I was running the Nics around 12psi front and 14 rear in the dry, where the rekons are up around 16f and 18r. I’ve only had the rekons a few weeks but I’m really impressed with them, they’re more like a super grippy normal tyre.

Yep, I put off for ages buying them as I was worried they were going to be too small and didn’t want to take the punt at that price. Glad I did though.

We had brilliant warm sunshine when we went to Afan in October, so I’m expecting it to be cold and wet in May.

What do the 2.8/3.0 tyres on 27.5+ rims measure in height..? I’m hoping around 740mm, which will be the same as my 26+ 4.0 jumbo Jim’s.

Ordered Ranger rear, NN front – thanks.

I’ve got my 3.0 Purgatory GRID for sale now, I ended up going back to being 29er – I just found it so much faster, so selling the whole 650b+ setup.

I’m pretty tempted to try it again now it’s properly fast, dry conditions, but in the wet it sucked.

40 scrapers on el guapo boost hubs for 150 on planet x FWIW.