Returned from a trip to the Lakes last weekend with a big hole ripped into the sidewall of my rear Nobby Nic, with my Rubber Queen on the front also requiring retiring as the sidewall has deteriorated to a point where it really isn’t safe to be ridden.

So new tyres are in order.

So the question is, given that most of my riding is in the Peaks/Lakes/North Wales and I’m big and heavy and reasonably aggressive, which tyre(s) should I be looking at if I pretty much want the moon on a stick, with characteristics as follows, listed in the order of priority:

Grip
Protection
Rolling resistance
Weight
Price

Any thoughts/advice/ideas gratefully received.

Cheers

If you can wait then Schwalbe Magic Mary Super Gravity Trailstar up front and Hans Dampf Super Gravity Pacestar at the back. If you can’t then Specialized Butcher Control on the front and Butcher SX on the back. Personally I like the heavier duty Rubber Queen / Trail King (UST or Protection) on the back but they might not have a strong enough carcass for you – it is a lot tougher than the standard version though!

OP, your description could have been about me. I run an on-one chunky monkey on the front and ardent EXO on the back. Does the job really well.

Used Specialized Purgatorys all over and had no problems. Take your two old tyres to a participating Specialized dealer and trade them in for two new Purgatorys

Thanks all, heard good things about the Butchers for sure. The Chunky Monkey does look like a bargain though. Would have to be pretty bad to not be value at that price..
Always like Schwalbe tyres. Again heard good things about the Hans Dampf. The Magic Mary looks great. Maybe a Chunky Monkey to fill the gap in the meantime..
Purgatories always review well. Can I take it fro your post that there’s an offer on at the moment which will give me free tyres? If that’s the case then the Purgatories just shot to the top of the list! 😉

UST tyres tend to have tougher sidewalls so that’s a good place to start along with high volume. I get on well with a 2.4 UST rubber queen/mountain king combo.

Not free. Take two old tyres in and trade them in for two Pugatorys for £40

I can heartily recommend the Chunky Monkeys, grip well, cheap, in the ball park for weight and run tubeless very easily. ‘Eckso’ sidewalls seem tough too, I had them in the alps and were faultless despite picking up a large scratch down the sidewall.

Purgatorys in the 29er control version, whilst being good tyres, are not tough in my experience. Nobby nics are also pretty fragile which you can guess from their weight. Ardent exo in 2.4 for the rear and a hans dampf on the front in 2.35 should see you right though.

New 2.3 minion DHF (trail?) 2.3 up front, 2.3 High roller 2 on the back. Loads of grip, roll quite well, about 800g each, tough EXO sidewalls and tubeless ready. I’m 17.5st and these work well for me. If you shop around the minion is about £32 and the HR2 about £28.

I asked a sort of similar question about tyres for an MTB tandem.
A combined rider weight of 150kg plus a tendency to just bludgeon through stuff instead of hop over it meant we wanted something strong but fast.

Maxxis Larsens were recommended as a “DH casing with a XC tread”.
They are doing the job fine. I’d buy them again.

For preference Bontrager XR4’s, but they’ve gone a bit pricey.

So I ‘m not buying anything but Smorgasbords for the forseeable future – great tyre, good value.
Grip well, last well, tough, comfy ‘cos of the high profile.

2.5 Minion EXO for the front and a High Roller 2.4 EXO for the rear.

Thanks guys

Maxxis seem to be coming to the fore. Problem is I’ve used an Ardent in the past and found it to be an alarming tyre from a grip perspective.

However, I’ve heard good things about the Minions and High Rollers in the past.

Decisions, decisions.

Anyone got any thoughts on the Kenda Nevegal? I know they were reasonably well regarded a few years ago, but seem to have disappeared from view…

I ride purgatory on my hard tail. Really good tyres, but not for lakes or peaks, the side walls are far too vulnerable to rock. Purgatory grid have tougher sidewalls.

+1 for the spesh butcher purgatory combo.
The grid on the rear is well worth it for something like an 80g weight penalty.

OP, your description could have been about me. I run an on-one chunky monkey on the front and ardent EXO on the back. Does the job really well.

+1 same here, and get the softer CM

Love the 2.5 EXO DHF minion single ply up front for the rocky stuff of peaks and Wales. Will replace it with the new 2.3 trail tubeless ready version when current tyre is dead as they are a bit of work to get sealed on a Flow rim.

Rear option not mentioned yet and a perfect partner for the DHF is the new (tubeless ready) trail version of Maxxis Minion DHR II ….. big volume and even bigger grip. EXO sidewalls. Makes this big guy big happy in Wales and Peaks. Agree with you OP the ardent as a rear, although nice volume, is not going to fulfil your big grip priority!

DHR II 2.3 folding Dual EXO (comes up same size as the older 2.5 DHF almost)
EXO Tubeless Ready Dual 62A/60A Single Ply
(60tpi) 35- 65
Stickered weight 780

£35.99 online on a quick google check

Or for more grip/money:

DHR II 2.3 Fold 3C MaxTerra EXO
EXO Tubeless Ready 3C MaxTerra Single Ply
(60tpi) 35- 65
Stickered 755

£47.99 online

Dual ply is the only real solution to side wall failures on the rear, but they ain’t light. Dual ply Maxxis need serious mistreatment to fail.

ChUnky Monkey up front has held up well for me in the lakes as a large lad!

I’m about to swap to a new High Roller II tubeless ready EXO and see if I can go both tubeless and shed some of the dual ply weight.

@Funkrodent Not sure I’d bother with Nevegals, in terms of grip they’re decent tyres, however the side walls are bit flimsy imo.

Thanks for all the advice guys, much appreciated. As a final thought, was leafing through the latest issue of MBUK (I know) and they were waxing lyrical about the new Mavic Crossmax Charge tyres.

Apparently they’re Mavic’s first foray into MTB tyres, but impressed with bucket loads of grip and control, whilst rolling reasonably well for a heavy unit.

Question is, has anyone tried them as yet?

Specialized or OnOne, as the people say.

Dual ply is the only real solution to side wall failures on the rear, but they ain’t light.

The new Schwalbe Super Gravity tyres are dual ply on the sidewalls but single ply under the tread, so they roll much faster than dual ply and aren’t quite as heavy. They also have pinch protection near the bead (apex?) and puncture protection (snakeskin?) under the tread. Not cheap and in short supply at the moment though!

Thanks guys. Looking like a Chunky Monkey on the front and probably put the Ardent on the back for the time being. Lots of good advice and certainly decisions to be made down the line!

Pretty much made my mind up and then saw this thread on the Magic Mary tyres. Aaarrgghhh!

They do sound great though and I’ve always had a soft spot for Schwalbe, particularly with them being a British manufacturer and all*.

*I’ve always liked their road tyres. I only found out that they’re Brits the other day when researching stuff around this thread. Always thought they were German 😯

Specialized do great tyres but the Controls are not tough- they’re all designed to be “tough enough most of the time”, sort of thing, and Purgs and Butchers are definitely better than Nobby Nics for that, but still. I am a fan but not convinced they’re right for you. There’s a newer Grid sidewall protection version, haven’t used that.

(Butcher SX is a really good middle ground between single and dualply. But there is no Purg SX)

Nevegals in sidewall shield version maybe but the standards’re similiar to the controls- not flimsy, just not tough.

*I’ve always liked their road tyres. I only found out that they’re Brits the other day when researching stuff around this thread. Always thought they were German

They are German!

Dual ply is the only real solution to side wall failures on the rear, but they ain’t light. Dual ply Maxxis need serious mistreatment to fail.

ChUnky Monkey up front has held up well for me in the lakes as a large lad!

I’m with Tomaso. Dual ply Minion DHF on the back/Chunky Monkey on the front. Tubeless on Flow EX.

chiefgrooveguru – Member
*I’ve always liked their road tyres. I only found out that they’re Brits the other day when researching stuff around this thread. Always thought they were German
They are German

Oops! Got taken in by the UK site which has no mention of their German origins. We’ll put it down to fatigue or something.. 😕