Currently have a set of 2.5 dual-ply DH casing High rollers on my DH bike that are starting to look like semi-slicks.
I know the 2.4 folding Rubber Queens are going to be close to 1.5 pounds lighter but could I get away with them for DH duties?
Are the side walls going to be strong enough to take the odd rock garden?
How pinch flat resistant are they between 30 and 40psi?

I’d say no

Going to depend on you and where you ride really- I got on fine with mine at innerleithen, but it’s not hard on tyres. The sidewalls feel seriously thin but they never actually gave me any bother.

If you want a light dh tyre you might want to check out the Specialized SX range, they’re basically ply-and-a-half. I’ve got a couple of Clutches, not quite as sticky a compound as their DH tyres but still I reckon the grip’s similair to a supertacky highroller, and a little faster rolling. Or, maybe an Exo Maxxis.

I’d say that the sidewalls are too thin. I’ve ripped two sidewalls recently, one after only 40Ks!!!!

Really wish they did a protection version.

I’ve had a casing deform on a pretty much new tyre. It happened after a small crash that didn’t do any other damage (no buckled wheel, pinch puncture, nothing)

The only tyres I’ll be buying from now on will have “Maxxis” written on the side of them.

Shame, as it was quite a nice tyre until then. Not cheap either.

The 2.4 has Apex sidewall reinforcement.

The Rubber Queens sound a bit hit and miss.
Pity as the ‘black chilli’ look to be a good, fat, grippy tyre,
but at £40+ an end I don’t think it’s worth the risk.
Will check out the Spesh range.
Any other recommendations?

My mate rides with them (he’ll probably be on later for more accurate comments!) and loves them. Watching them when following the rear does appear to slide around and lock up a lot but never causes him any problems.

Nail in their coffin might be that both front and rear punctured hitting the road gap on the uplift at Inners on Sunday. May have both hit a sharp rock on the way down the chute running into it but we were surprised both gave out at the same time.

More props for the sx tyres here. I’ve used the clutch and it’s great, very grippy, rolls well and doesn’t wear much at all. Decent amount of rubber in the sidewalls too.