Have a 2.25 crossmark on the front at the moment which was great for 1 ride when it was bone dry. Now that we are back to normal british weather (slop) I am in need of something ‘better’ for the front.

Am hoping I can leave it on for the 3 seasons that I ride (not much between nov – feb) and am after something that can deal with with current conditions as well as when it is drier?

Thinking either 2.35 HR LUST or maybe minion but not sure of it’s slop credentials?

Any advice appreciated?

Minion, I find to be the best tyre that I’ve used for all-round/aggressive riding. High roller, I found to be the worst. I know this seems to go against the consensus, somewhat, but I cannot stand high rollers. That said, I think neither are particularly good in slop.

There are lots of other tyres out there that perform equally, and better, so don’t just look at Maxxis. I’ve always rated WTB, and they can often be picked up fairly cheap (my favourite was the timberwolf, but they don’t make that anymore).

It depends on your riding style. The High Roller does roll well, but the “dead” space between the centre tread and edges can make the bike feel a little unnerving in the turns.

The High Roller does roll well, but the “dead” space between the centre tread and edges can make the bike feel a little unnerving in the turns.

I think that is what the High Roller 2 is meant to address. Eye-wateringly expensive though.

High Roller front/CrossMark rear works very well. The ‘transition’ phase on the HRs is not that bad people say the same thing about Ardents. While some surfaces can give a feeling of uncertainty it’s good to know that the HR hooks up very securely when you think you are going to be on your ear. Minion 2.35 DHF has none of these issues and is a grip-tastic but heavy.

Minion – everytime.

Thanks for the input. Am thinking 2.5 minion as it seems they come up very narrow. Any experience inflating them as tubeless (customer rim plus sealant?)

Cheers

Sorry that was meant to say UST rim – damn autocorrection 😕

Minion
Never considered 2.35 to be too narrow. I run these single ply/super tacky as tubeless on the front of the FS. They inflate well on Flows with just a track pump.
Would only consider going to 2.5 for some serious Alpine descending (dual ply in that case)

super tacky

Or super-draggy, as I tend to call it, worth it though, minon all the way for me.

2.35 Minion is narrow-er than a lot of similarly sized tyres and narrower than e.g. a 2.25 Ardent or a 2.35 HR or a 2.25 CrossMark. Although it does work quite well the thick, heavy tread seems at odds with the skinny carcass, almost as if it was a mistake at the Maxxis factory.

The 2.5 DHF is really what it ought to be but you’re looking at a kilogram of tyre which is a fair old chunk of rubber.

Minion 2.35″ single ply comes up about 2.1″ ish on my rims but is actually quite a deep, chunky tyre and feels fine for most of my riding. Certainly my tyre of choice for the front for most UK conditions (supertacky 😉 ). I run dual-ply 2.5″ for alps etc but they are heavy old things and also slightly undersized – prob about 2.35″-2.4″.

Dear Maxxis

Can you please not charge a flippin’ fortune for your tyres. I have mouths to feed other than my own.

Thank you

PJM1974

Bontrager XR4 2.2 rolls surprisingly well, restricts clogging pretty well and doesn’t have that unnerving gap between the centre and edge blocks. Slightly bigger volume than a 2.35 HR and works very well tubeless.

Nobby nics worked well for me in most conditions

anyone who doesn’t like high rollers doesn’t know how to ride properly….FACT.

Minion 2.35 is fine for most riding IMO, they are not VERY narrow.

Prefer 2.5in for DH though.

chiefgrooveguru – good heads up, I’m a fan of Bonty tyres. How do they wear in the sidewalls? (I’ve always found Jones ACXs are great but the sidewalls wear surprisingly quickly)

anyone who doesn’t like buys high rollers doesn’t know how to ride properly there are other tyres and just follow the crowd….FACT.

there you go, fixed it for yer

well im trying these tyres this year…..infact i got a bargin off the local market today (i got 2 tyres for 8 quid….they are hardly worn only ridden a couple of times and the tread is great…. so got a bargin today….normally they are 9.99 each…great mud tyre apparently !

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=8543

High Rollers are alright. They have a square profile and an annoyingly sketchy bit at a certain lean angle. You have to ride them hard to get the best out of them, so hardly confidence inspiring.

I prefer Nobby Nics in the double defense guise I just swapped them for.

You can ride anything on a highroller, they’re a good zero-thought option. The 2.35’s disappointingly small and low volume though if you’re used to the benefits of a genuine 2.3

@ mildred
your coment nearly worked until i scrolled up and saw that your favorite tyre is the wtb timberwolf, now thats a good joke 😆

nicko, I don’t really know about the sidewall wear – I’ve had one of these XR4s on my lone MTB for a year and it was fine until recently* but most of my riding is in a very non-abrasive and unrocky area!

* Whilst going down something rather steep, droppy and chalky last month I got a 1″ slash through the carcass courtesy of a big pointy piece of flint. Put a tube in and continued and the tyre has since been patched so it can be used tubeless again – found a surprisingly large bit of flint inside the tyre which must have snapped off as it ripped open the carcass.

The problem with High Rollers (which the new ones address) is that you have to lean the bike enough to get full cornering grip – fine for a DH tyre because hopefully everyone who DHs can corner properly. Not so good for many XC and trail riders, including relative beginners like myself, hence my preference for a less ‘square’ tyre.

I’m curious to see how the XR4s perform at some rocky Welsh trail centres this weekend, as that’s the sort of thing they’re apparently designed for, although they actually work bizarrely well in Southern woodland singletrack in all seasons. I’ll then be doing a XC race with them on the following weekend!

chiefgrooveguru – Member

The problem with High Rollers (which the new ones address) is that you have to lean the bike enough to get full cornering grip – fine for a DH tyre because hopefully everyone who DHs can corner properly. Not so good for many XC and trail riders, including relative beginners like myself, hence my preference for a less ‘square’ tyre.

Very true this, you need to commit a bit more… And since if you don’t commit they don’t grip well, after a few slides it gets pretty hard to commit! They are vicious black circles.

I like High Rollers.

Still amazed that they work as well as they do on the rear.

That is all.

Minion DH 2.35 single ply are my default tyre, prefer the fact that the front and rear are specific and seem to work for me (most of the time I’m not crashing)

@ mildred
your coment nearly worked until i scrolled up and saw that your favorite tyre is the wtb timberwolf, now thats a good joke

What? – they’re great!

having to leaning the bike into the corner to get grip is not a ‘problem’ as this is the proper techinic for cornering!
i can see the point about beginer not feeling immediately comfortable with them ,but i think they actually make you riding more technically and once you know how to use them and feel those shoulders ripping into the corners that when they inspire confidence and that is where they excel over the minion dhf.Also they do not clog with mud as fast as minion dhf and they have better braking on the rear.

wtb timberwolf is not really a good all round tire. it rolls as fast as a slug.

minion dhr rear= vague feel and slightly slower than dhf but less cornering grip.

having to leaning the bike into the corner to get grip is not a ‘problem’ as this is the proper techinic for cornering!

It is a problem if you aren’t going fast enough to warrant leaning the bike over that far to get the grip.

Do you ride everywhere leaning your bike 45 degrees no matter how fast you are going? If you do I think you are the one who needs to look at your technique.

i can assure you my technique is fine. the bit between the centre tread and the shoulders can be used to drift the bike into postion.this actually is an advantage in my opinion and give the tyre a more lively,workable feel.

I quite like my Minion DHF 2.35 as an aggressive all rounder. It would be perfect if it used the same carcass as the Ardent and Advantage as it’s dissappointingly small both in terms of width and volume. I’m comparing it against an Advantage 2.25

I absolutely agree that much of the time you should really lean the bike into corners. But having broken my ankle rather nastily earlier this year, just as I was getting a good feel for cornering properly, I appreciate having a tyre that rewards me when I do lean the bike over (the XR4 has nice big side knobs with clever sipes) without viciously castigating me by throwing me into a tree when I fail to commit properly, thus reducing my confidence further!

the bit between the centre tread and the shoulders can be used to drift the bike into postion.

Haha! Meanwhile, back in the real world… 🙄

Another big fan of the 2.35 minion here for trail use. The only tyre I ever use on the front. Grips well, rolls pretty well, doesn’t squirm in the gloop like the HR does, easy to set up tubeless even though the 2.35 doesn’t come in tubeless variety (please sort this maxxis!), relatively cheap as well. 2.5 minion is pretty heavy though. A great DH tyre but a bit too much for trail use. Maybe have a look at the 2.5 exo version, expensive though!

back in your world maybe….

Minions!

Got the new 2.5 DHF EXO 3C tyres on my Heckler (set-up easily on Stans Flow rims) and they are superb so far,as it’s early days. Got 2.5 weeks in the Alps coming up so we’ll see how they fare.

The 2.35 do come up narrow though hence going for 2.5’s. Weight wise both were between 850g and 900g, can’t remember exactly how much though.