Something that’s practical for general trail usage including going up, aggressive tread for soft ground and a bit of non-greasy mud but still ok on trail centre terrain. 26×2.35

Minion DHF?
Hans Dampf?

High Roller if you can still get them in 26″

Chunky Monkey

Are On One tyres good then?

Front or rear?
Magic Mary up front, can struggle a little on hard pack, but I’d trade that any day for it’s mud and general riding.
Rear, I’m liking the WTB vigilante light/fast, but the Hans Dampf seemed ok

Spesh Purgatory ?

DHF, never look back

DHF, although I seem to have destroyed the edges on my rear in 2 months. #slashthemberms

DHF, Vigilante or a Mary (in order of ‘aggressiveness’). I use both of the former for trail center and natural year round. Only resorting to the shorty when it proper wet natural stuff.

I’m told dhf is great (I’ve just put one on but only tried it on dry hardpack where it was awesome). I think it leans more towards hardpack but ok on mud.

I’ve not tried it but magic Mary is also meant to be good – but perhaps leans slightly toward natural rather than hardpack.

Depends which you do as to which you would go for.

Both of those are for front tyres. On the back it’s up to you – I’ve stuck on a dhr2 which I previously had on the front. Feels more locked down on the back than the aggressor I had on there before – and is meant to be good under braking.

Hans dampf is also meant to be ok as a back tyre, as could a nobby nic. I’ve only had the cheapest rubber version of the nobby nic and it wasn’t brilliant on hardpack but was good on natural stuff.

Although it’s not about the 26″ version have a look here anyway :

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/continental-der-baron-projekt-29-tyre-any-real-world-experience

Magic Mary Trailstar on the front is undoubtedly the grippiest tyre I’ve had in decades of riding. Got an HD Pacestar on the back, as I don’t like pedaling draggy rear tyres – that breaks loose, but fairly predictably

DHF front, HR2 back. Fit and forget.

Magic Mary Trailstar on the front is undoubtedly the grippiest tyre I’ve had in decades of riding.

On what surfaces though?

Vigilante Tough/High grip on the front grips like poo to a blanket.
Chunky Monkey is good too, but quite draggy.

Ignitors were very grippy for me at trail centres but not good in the soft woodland stuff. That’s what I’d like to address specifically, but still be ok at trail centres.

Thinking minions tbh.

ajantom – Member
Vigilante Tough/High grip on the front grips like poo to a blanket.
Chunky Monkey is good too, but quite draggy.

I’d say the Vigilante high grip tough is more draggy and heavier than the Chunky Monkey.
Both good tyres, for me Monkey on trail centre stuff and Vigilante for natural stuff, the tough casing is a bit overkill unless it’s fast and jagged.

For the conditions you describe, I’d recommend DHF front & rear.

I’m a bit of a tyre obsessive, and have tried HD (Trailstar F, Pacestar R) and MM front. HR2s F & R. After all that faffing, I’m back on DHF front & rear!

(I have a pair of DHF 60a 26×2.35s going spare if you’re interested (I’m 29er only now))

I think I might be bowglie, how much and how worn? Ok tubeless?

Very lightly worn, so loads of life left in them. I ran them tubeless with Stans with no problem. I didn’t have them on long before going over to a 29er, and took em off when I flogged my 26er.

If you don’t mind covering the postage cost, you can have the pair for a tenner. (I think the last pair of tyres I sold, the postage came to around £5, but I can weigh them tomorrow and let you know.

Personally, I’d not run 60a on the front. Not really very good on roots.

I prefer the Schwalbe MM on the front. It’s not as good as the DHF on hardpack and solid, but most of the year it’s better for the soil and mud where I am, but if you’re hitting trail centre alot it’s got to be the DHF.

Are you local to South Wales by any chance bowglie?

On what surfaces though?

Mud, wet rocks, roots and last weekend at BPW on hardpack, albeit wet hardpack.

Not sure if I rode this combo in the couple of days of dust we had this summer, but that’s irrelevant for a good few months now anyway

No, unfortunately – Notts/Derbyshire border.

The Magic Mary is certainly grippy, it does sometimes scare me a little on cobble stone size rocks that you can find on mixed conditions trails trails. You can feel the centre tread deflect and ping back, it doesn’t lose grip though – or at least, finds it quickly afterwards.

It’s probably the best jack of all trades tyre.

Just switched from a Butcher (practically a DHF) to a Mary up front, mostly riding Hamsterly on and off piste. Haven’t noticed a difference on the hardpack stuff but on the off piste…..staggering.

Never got on with the butcher compound, in cold and wet it’s sketchy until ridden for a bit, seems to go hard n plasticky like a cheapo tyre. I stuck with it for ages, but it never seemed to get any better.

Ignitors were very grippy for me at trail centres but not good in the soft woodland stuff

Ignitors??? You mean the rip off Conti Vert that didn’t work as well as Verts even when they were new? Personally wouldn’t even consider one as a front tyre in the middle of summer!

Shorty 3C on the front, 60A HR2 or DHR on the back usually, although I’ve got a Butcher Grid I fancy trying on the rear. That’s for all day winter Peaks riding up and down. Plenty of mud and roots but also a lot of pretty grippy rocks.

I’ve just switched from Spesh Butcher/Purgatory (on both bikes!) to Minion DHF/High Roller IIs.

The Purg is an okay tyre with the Grid carcass, but it’s noticeably slower and draggier than the High Roller II to the extent that I’m frequently running a higher gear with the latter. Up front, things aren’t hugely different with the DHF. I rate the Butcher very highly, it’s a very good tyre indeed and they wear very well. I’ve had three years’ use out of the Butcher up front on my 29er!

2nd the Butcher, other than not being 100% convinced it seals properly (side walls seem a bit leaky, even after being fitted for several months).

I have butcher/purgatory on the rigid bike – or had over last winter, not re-fitted them yet. Ok so it’s hardly a close comparison but they were ok in the mud and soft. They weren’t as good of a carcass as the Ralphs I put on though. I had to run nearly 30psi to stop bouncing and squirming, but the Ralphs I could keep at 20psi.

Were they Grid or Control casings? The Grids are substantially stiffer in the sidewalls.

Mind you, I run 30psi in the rear anyway and still dink the cakky out of my rims on a regular basis, but at least rarely pinchflat.

Just get a set of DHRII’s, I run 2.3 EXO’s all year (3C front, Dual rear) and they are the best compromise for an all-rounder round here. Not that draggy, loads of braking grip, corner as well (if not better than) a Minion DHF and work well in mud. Judging by the tyre tracks I see around they’re a popular choice.

Minion doesn’t clear mud very well.

For general trails plus south wales mud I would prefer Beaver. For slightly more speed and less mud grip Nobby Nic still clears better than DHF. Most people don’t consider either of those as front tyres (though I personally like them for winter XC/Trail riding), so if you want to go to the draggier and grippier end of the trail/mud spectrum then it’s Shorty or Magic Mary.

For a slightly more mud-capable DHF go for Spesh Butcher which clears better, but the difference is slight compared to the other options above.

How do Marys cope with roots and slippery rocks?

As good as any tyre I’ve tried.

The Mary’s obvious competitor for me is the Shorty, Shorty is better in mud, but Mary beats it on rock and roots, so better for me as I don’t solely ride in slop at any time of the year, I like a tyre that can handle big rocky descents too, hence the SG Mary is my choice.

Might have convinced me to get Marys then. I saw some on a guy’s bike on Friday and he was a local rider, they looked pretty bitey.

Stick a Minion DHF on the rear (yes rear) and a shorty on the front, fantastic combo.