Hi Votchy.
Must say my experience of 2.35 Highrollers was the same as yours.
I bought them thinking I’d be happy to sacrifice a bit of easy rolling ability for extra grip on nadgery trails, but found them both painfully slow and poor gripping front and rear in a range of conditions.
I’ve ridden them at Afan in the bone-dry, The Dark Peak in mud and ice, Cannock (not tried them over the Wyre,)in all weathers and just don’t get on with them at all.

Got some 2.1 ADvantages on now and they wipe the floor with the Highrollers in all conditions, as far as I’m concerned.

Compared to the 2.7 dual ply slowreezy minions on my DH bike, my 2.35 LUST high rollers roll very quickly, but grip like they’re on ice. Compared to other AM tyres they roll reasonably well, and grip better, IME.

I guess that’s not helped much though…

To the OP,

I’d say that they just don’t suit your riding style. I love ’em and run a supertacky up front and regular out back. They are – imo – leagues ahead of the XC Pros I used to use.

No great shakes if you don’t like them. A new member (to here) used to complain that they never had any grip and things were really slippy. I never had the issues over the same trails so told them to try a set of HR’s. They don’t like them either saying the same as you.

Maybe some Cinders would suit you better?

IMHO you can try all the tyres on the market but if you have one bad experience on a tyre its psychologically never gonna be good enough from then on really!!! Be honest with yourselves now cos i’m sure this is the case for alot of us!!!

What are you expecting from them? Its only a 60a, you are running them ‘hardish’ and you want fast rolling.

Is what I was asking.

I run lust’s on the rear and normally a Minion on the front. Its a dry set up. Tyres will slip on roots. Even if its a super tacky and below. Just depends on how you apply weight/brakes etc.

If you ride at the Wyre (which I have ridden quite a lot) I’d go for a Maxxis Swampthing 2.35 (60a)for winter, spring and Autumn. Minions (front) front and rear (2.35) would be great when its dry as they roll quicker and corner very well.

Hows that?

RHSno2

thanks for clearing that up

I’ve not actually said anywhere that I want fast rolling, just that I have found the HR’s to be more draggy than anything else I’ve used

Used Swampthings last winter and really like them, more versatile than the trailrakers I usually use in the wyre mud

As also mentioned above once you’ve had a bad experience with something you never really trust it again.

Think I will go back to the Kendas purely as I know they work well and because trying different tyres can be a big drain on the wallet if you find they don’t work for you.

Will drop the HR’s to 25’ish front and 30’ish rear tonight to see how they grip then, remembering to get the bike well over on the bends to make best use of the side knobs

IMHO you can try all the tyres on the market but if you have one bad experience on a tyre its psychologically never gonna be good enough from then on really!!! Be honest with yourselves now cos i’m sure this is the case for alot of us!!!

I think that’s a good point. I had a horrible experience with my Eskars at Whinlatter once in the wet, they felt lethal and hated using them after that. Put them on again recently though and they seem to be fine.

You’ve gotta trust your tyres, if you dont then you’ll always be taking it easy! And its so easy to have that trust knocked, when in all fairness if something goes wrong its easier to blame the tyres than yourself. If you think your tyres are awesome you’ll ride better regardless. Simple psychology i reckon. But thats not to say there aren’t some awful tyres out there……

I have High Rollers 2.35 60a back and front on my Enduro
+ I run them at about 35 psi for faster rolling; I like that bit of extra pressure to make them a bit looser on the corners – you get better feedback from the bike that way
+ the rear seems to be better now it’s about half worn down the centre tread
+ you NEED to lean over on corners to get onto the side-tread and get the most out of them, so that means taking corners at more than a bimble

– only misgiving is on hardpack cambered corners with loose dirt where the front slips and washes out because you’re riding on the centre tread (which runs perpendicular to the direction of travel) and not on the side knobs – but if you know to expect it, it’s fine

the point which needs to be made is that you need to get to know a tyre before you can be comfortable riding it, it should match your riding style, not dictate it – if you’ve already found one you like then stick with it

Votchy, If you don’t want then I may be interested in taking them off your hands!

Drop me a mail if you want, sp coldicott at hotmail .com (no spaces)

it should match your riding style, not dictate it – if you’ve already found one you like then stick with it

I’d agree with that.
Highrollers seem to suit people who ride and especially corner like a DHer.
I seem to get on much better with rounder profile tyres that allow a progressive lean, rather than encouraging you to dive into bends.
I’m more of a finesse type rider than aggro /shredder and they don’t work for me.

I’m more of a mincer rider than aggro /shredder and they don’t work for me.

😛

What compound were the BG/Nevegals?

Might be that you like the dual compound (the centre compound, I think, is the same 60, sides are 42 or something, so obviously cornering grip will be better.).

Not sure about the slow rolling, I’ve got a pair of super tacky dual ply ones that roll incredibly slow, but I kind of assumed it was cos they’ve got thick sidewalls and are soft and sticky… Great grip though.

Anyway, point is if you don’t like them go back to what you do like! I use BG on both ends for most stuff, which I like, and whilst there’s probably a better tyre out there somewhere I don’t want to blow £50 on something I don’t end up preferring!

It sounds like you’re riding in muddy forests. Nothing except a mud tyre will grip really well in mud, and wet roots are wet roots – slippy for most tyres. I’ve ridden a swampthing before and compared to that they’re not as good in mud but theyre still pretty good.

They grip better on corners if you lean in. Where they excell is on the loose mixed stuff. little twigs and leaves etc.

I’ve had a high roller maxxpro 60a on the front all winter and its been fine – tried a super tacky version which i found way too draggy. I ran mine at 35-38psi. compared to the super tacky i found it to be pretty fast but now the weathers come dry again i’m onto a kenda small block 8 which is the fastest tyre i’ve ever ridden. All depends on how and where you ride and what tyres you had on before.

If you like the kendas just sell the high rollers and get some more? not the end of the world is it 🙂

I deliberately avoided the term “mincer”, Grumm! 👿 😉

Maybe kendas are good for cr4p riders and Maxxis suit good riders

err, I like both!

Update from last nights ride in a dry and dusty Wyre forest, dropped the pressures down to 28 front 30 rear and following the advice above tried to ride more aggressively and really lean the bike over in the corners, must say I found them to be much better so thanks for the advice, will continue to experiment with the pressures and try and develop my riding more towards a ‘Knights of gnarl’ stylee 😀

Did find them able to cope very well with the devestation that the forestry has created over the kinlet side in the forest, negotiating what used to be a nice downhill section through the trees to the stream is now a pick your way across the logpiles techy section.

I rode mine (maxpro 60a 2.35 but on a not very glamorous hard tail) last night after reading this thread. I’ve always liked them….

But I think that I could detect a sort of ucertainty as the bike starts to lean over for a corner. With a bit of extra crank the tyres suddenly grip. But if you weren’t use to the feeling and didn’t feel the urge to push the bike over I can see that they would feel a bit sketchy and crap

Yeah they do start to slide a bit when cornering sometimes, before the side knobs dig in, but generally in a nice controlled fashion so if you don’t panic it’s not a problem. Supertacky one on the front never really did this for me though.

Completely agree that tyres suit riding styles. I was (am?) a bit tentative on steep slippery techy sections. Had some 2.25 Advantages on a new bike and just wiped out every time on stuff that was fine on my Cinders. I couldn’t get rid of them fast enough, but many on here really rate them. It seems a common fault/benefit (depending on riding style) of Maxxis tyres that they only really bite when you lean them hard. Fine, but what if you are on slow straight sections where you are relying on the centre of the tread?

Fine, but what if you are on slow straight sections where you are relying on the centre of the tread?

Well, if you’re on a slow straight section then you’re not cornering…

Votchy, does this sound familiar?:
Pump them up hard enough to not bang the rims and there’s no grip at all, but let them down a bit to try to find grip and they feel squidgy and your rims take a pounding. Can’t find a surface they work well on other than good dry roads which is pretty pointless for a mountain bike.
This was my exact experience of Fire XC Pros and from your comments it sounds like High Rollers would give me a similar nightmare.
It’s basically due to the tyre needing to be run at low pressure to get the grip but this only works if you are light enough, either in weight or riding style – & I’m neither!
I ended up going old school and running a Conti Vertical up front with a Vapor on the rear. I find I can run the front at around 30 psi with no rim problems and predictable grip and a bit more in the rear to stop the pinch flats. This set-up also means the rear will just about always slide before the front which boosts confidence no end and they roll quickly too.

how big does a 2.35 minion front compare against a 2.35 highroler??

Roughly the same size. My last bike came with a set of 2.35 60A highrollers and I took them off after one ride and swapped to 2.35 Minion fronts (42A front/60A rear) which are a much easier tire to control for the less gnar. I too am clearly rubbish at getting the bike on it’s side enough to go round corners.

I’ve found the 2.35 high rollers work much better on a wider rim. Narrow-ish rims cause the tyre to take a more rounded profile, and you get a strange transition between upright and leant over (that others above have described well) much better on wide rims where the profile is more square, and you hit the side nobbles sooner. You can also run the tyres softer and they dont squirm around or fold over.

On wide rims – ace tyres! (but not for racing)

The Badger – Member
I’ve found the 2.35 high rollers work much better on a wider rim. Narrow-ish rims cause the tyre to take a more rounded profile, and you get a strange transition between upright and leant over (that others above have described well) much better on wide rims where the profile is more square, and you hit the side nobbles sooner.

That, Badger, is probably an excellent point. So guys, who is running a wide rim and really likes Highrollers, and who is running narrow and hates them. My rubbish experience with Advantages was on DT 4.2’s which are quite narrow

I run highrollers, super tacky front and normal 60a on the back, the only tyres I can compare them to are Hollyrollers which roll much much faster (obviously) and against some Intense 909’s (i think) and if you think highrollers drag then you really should try some 909’s man they drag something rotten, but boy do they grip.

What would you folks class as a wide rim? My highrollers are mounted to some sun mtx 29 rims, bit of a bugger to get on and off due to the having the wire bead version.

Mine were on Mavic 321 rims, kind of medium width. And i’m in the no camp.

Mine are on Stans Flow rims so quite wide and I’m in the not sure camp now

Mine were on a DT Swiss 445D OEM rim for Specialized – not sure how wide but reasonably narrow I think.

I run them on 321s and 823s and a better all round tyre I cannot find. Nearly everybody in our club is on them now too. They really suit our local conditions as well as the likes of Golspie and Laggan, with the odd big hill day thrown in.

I run the 42a front 60 rear combo on one bike and rampage on another, both seem to roll plenty quick enough (i tend to freewheel and pump rather spin and keep up with the guy in front) both run around 30-35lbs with tubes, the only difference is the rampage tend to start to drift / slide sooner, and I’ve had more rear pinches with the HR, although they are on a HT in the lakes……………….

mavic ex729 rear with 2.35 DP 60a highroller at 25psi, run stans notubes, and think it’s a very good tyre.

Same tyre on front on a mavic xm321 with an xc tube, run at 22psi, is great with loads of grip.

not so good in wet mud though. great on wet / dry rocky stuff

I run both HR’s & Fire XC pros’s..HR’s are on my AM/FS bike & they work fine for that kind of riding. My XC’s are on my XC/HT bike & I cant ride them the same way I ride my HR’s but I expect that – my point is you have to get the tyres that suit what yr riding style.

I find the HR’s are great on cornering regardless of conditions whereas my Pro’s have no where near the same level of grip but they do light up better in sprints..I tend to be hanging on a bit with the Pro’s in the corners whereas the HR’s just bite & any slide (if any) is very progressive & easy to control.

Having said all that I am tempted to switch to HR’s on my XC/HT to get better cornering..

you’ll no doubt be wanting a minion on the front
less of a platform between the centre and side knobs, so a more predictable slide motion

been caught quite a few times with high rollers suddenly losing grip on the front, only to grab on the side knobs. Not a good look.
Minion on the front everytime.

you’ll find most downhillers use minions not highrollers on the front

I don’t rate the highroller as a front tyre at all

most downhillers don’t include all the ones down this way then.

very litte use of minions, tends to be rollers or cut down spikes.

rollers were awesome at gawton last night.

Ditch em and move on