So sorted on hubs for my wheel build, now the dilemma of tyres.

Curious on what combos everyone’s using for all round / mixed MTB riding. Bit of natural enduro rougher stuff, bit basic trail center hardpack.

Tempted by WTB Vigilantes, high grip front, fast rolling rear.

Thanks again folks!

Maxxis forekasters at present.

Shorty on the front, dhr2 on the back, works reasonably for everything and brilliantly for the nasty stuff (I’d rather have it work less well on trail centre hardpack, and save my arse on slippery death)

But I have a DHF, a DHR2 3C and a Minion SS that I can shuffle on too- I could use the shorty/dhr2 for everything but I don’t want to!

DHF on the front
HR2 on the back here.

Gonna save my WTB ones until the summer re-appears.

HR2 up front and DHR2 on the rear works for me!

What’s the forekaster like? I’ve got a shorty on the front and a minion DHR on the back, but the latter is too slippy for me in the gloop. Was going to get another shorty and suck it up on the climbs, but how does the forekaster differ?

On my short travel full suss 29er:

2.35 Forekaster front
2.35 Ikon rear

The 2.35 Ikon has a chunkier tread vs the 2.2 (which is pretty XC), so is a more aggressive tyre as well as being higher volume.

Forekaster seems good so far. Not as agressive as the shorty but rolls pretty well and hasn’t scared me too much on the DH’s so far.

Ta

Chunky Monkey / Smorgasbord.

zelak999 – Member

HR2 up front and DHR2 on the rear works for me!

Did you ever try the DHR2 on the front btw? I replaced my hr2 with a dhr2, I prefer the r for literally everything. (also I like the way the natural order has been turned upside down here, after years of using 2 DHFs, having a bike with a pair of DHR2s tickles me)

2.35″ Hans Dampf on the front
2.35″ Nobby Nic on the rear now its winter. in the summer i ran a 2.25″ – as this is Ireland, winter and summer are distinguished by the quantity of mud :p

Still on the combination I used for the summer – Specialized Butcher front and Schwable Rock Razor on the back.
It’s not got muddy round my way yet though.

Currently running a new projek baron on the front and a hr2 3c on the back in Scottish bog conditions. Would go more aggressive at the back if I was going
Off peist

A *fast* combo is Maxxis Crossmark II rear and High Roller II front. It can feel a bit loose at the back but I’m ok with this as long as there’s plenty of front grip. I’ve tried gripper rear tyres but find them ponderous. I noticed the top end Whyte T130 Works is spec’d with this combo.

I’m running a Magic Mary front (which I’ve only recently got and really like it so far) and a Spesh Purg Grid rear. The grid casing has held up so far on my hardtail, can’t fit a wider rear tyre either. So far I’ve been impressed by this setup but my ocd doesn’t like the fact I’m running 2 different makes of tyres.

Bonty team issue XR4 n XR3

Hoping to try a Convict/Vigilante combo very soon..
Currently running DHR 2 front and back.

I’m running Baron Projekts front and rear.
Very grippy on off posted stuff but not as inspiring on hard pack.
Turn in is less defined and I’m 3 seconds off my phone on a high speed singletrack section

fooman – Member

A *fast* combo is Maxxis Crossmark II rear and High Roller II front. It can feel a bit loose at the back but I’m ok with this as long as there’s plenty of front grip.

Have you tried any of the semislicks? Can’t see me using a crossmark or ardent again, the semis are faster and grippier where it counts imo. Once you get over the straightline braking on hardpack, anyway 😆

Minion dhf up front and 2.4 ardent out back nice balance of rolling and grip

Have you tried any of the semislicks?

I was going to try a Minion SS on the rear until the Crossmark II came out. The side tread on the SS looks massive! I find the (normal) Minion profile a bit square when leaning, rather than rounded, though maybe that’s the point. Ardent is worthy but dull, like Health & Safety have been on the blower to Maxxis!

Shorty on front and still running my minion ss on rear. Before every ride I say I’ll change the rear but surprisingly the ss holding its own in the moist damp conditions.

Bonty team issue XR4 front and XR3 rear

High roller behind a Magic Mary

Did you ever try the DHR2 on the front btw? I replaced my hr2 with a dhr2, I prefer the r for literally everything.

I’ve been using the DHR2 on the front for a while and whilst it is great I recently switched to the HR2 2.4, and I think that’s even better in loose/wet conditions. The 2.4 bit is important – the 2.3 HR2 is nowhere near as knobbly. So that’s my suggestion – HR2 2.4 3C front, DHR2 2.3 Dual rear.

I think the DHR2 rolls quicker and brakes better and and corners equally well on harder ground, but the HR2 2.4 has more edge grip and clears better.

I have Shorty 2.5 and 2.3 for more filth and DHR2 3C / Minion SS for drier trails.

I think the DHR2 Dual is a near perfect rear tyre – it rolls almost as fast as the Minion SS (quite a bit quicker than the 3C version) and is good at everything and very predictable. It’s nice to have the DHR2, HR2 and Shorty to choose from up front – but they’re all very versatile. I’d like to try a DHF 2.5 front at some point.

Just gone the other way, ditched the HRII 2.4 3C for a DHRII 2.3 3C on the front, Found the HRII to unpredictable when leaned over. The side knobs seem to fold under way too easily, they’re ripping badly at the base so this backs my feelings up. Also find it wanders on greasy stuff, great on loamy trails though.

The Vigilante that I had on rear was draggy as f&&&. It was only the cheap one tho. Was a bloody tight fit to get on WTB rim too.

Edit; with hindsight it was too much tyre for xc single-track so may be better for enduro-ing

Hans Dampf/Magic Mary for me this winter.
If I could get schwalbes volume in a Maxxis tyre I’d run DHF’s and never buy another tyre.

Ardent is worthy but dull, like Health & Safety have been on the blower to Maxxis!

Dull is high on my list of properties 🙂 been through the stuff with hilarious predictably or the ability to chew itself to death etc.

Butcher/Purgatory

Like Northwind I’m using a Shorty front and DHR2….but I’ve equally good performance using a Mary on the front (and the same DHR2)…used to use a Minion front and Highroller back for racing but they’ve been superseded in my opinion.

Just took delivery of a WTB Convict (which looks awesome by the way) which I’ll pair with a Trail Boss at some point for experimentation….ditto the black chilli Trail King front and Mountain King-2 I’ll try later this winter too.

Not a fan of the Rock Razor, Minion SS, Ardent type ‘fast’ rolling rears that are all the rage, they all just seem lethal and rob me of any rear braking performance.

Have bike set up at present with a dhf 3c and an aggressor rear, come spring will give the aggressor a try on the front with a tomahawk rear. Although the forekasters look interesting.

…swapped the HRII 2.4 3C for a DHRII 2.3 3C on the front, Found the HRII to unpredictable when leaned over. The side knobs seem to fold under way too easily, they’re ripping badly at the base so this backs my feelings up. Also find it wanders on greasy stuff, great on loamy trails though.

Interesting how much it varies from rider to rider – I think I’m fairly light on the front and heavy on the rear tyre, so the DHR2 on the back holds up well when I really stand on the side knobs (I noticed a clear improvement with how positive it felt going from the softer 3C to harder Dual compound), and I’m not asking the side knobs on the front to handle heavy cornering loads. And because the HR2 2.4 side knobs are tall and relatively narrow they really dig in and track the way I ride.

The HR2 is fairly intolerant of a lack of lean compared to any of the Minions so after my first lazy and thus sketchy turn on a ride it reminds me to corner properly, which I like!

We didn’t have to mention rim widths in the past because 20-25mm was pretty standard on non-XC rims but if you’re getting into 30-35mm territory then tyres will behave differently, sometimes better, sometimes worse, to narrower rim handling. I don’t see the HR2 or Minion SS liking really wide rims (I’m on 25.5mm Flow EX) but the other rounder Minions probably will, as will bigger Schwalbes, etc.

And another thing – 26, 27.5 and 29 versions will behave differently for two reasons, one being the contact patch shape but the other being that the tread patterns are rarely identical. The HR2 27.5×2.4 has thicker side knobs than the 26×2.4, presumably because they found the original version was folding over too easily, so when they tooled up the bigger wheel they improved it a bit.

Hans Dampf 2.35 up front and Purgatory Control 2.3 out back. 26″ wheels, mind. I’ve tried many combinations over the last few years and this seems to be my favourite. The Butcher Controls aren’t too bad either, and the Specialised tyres are reasonably priced. Not sure I’d be bothered with a semi-slick during the autumn/winter months.

chiefgrooveguru – Member

I’ve been using the DHR2 on the front for a while and whilst it is great I recently switched to the HR2 2.4, and I think that’s even better in loose/wet conditions.

Ah yeah, I always forget that about the different breeds of HR2, pretty dang stupid tbh!