My hardtail is ridden mainly on country roads and bridleways and I’m looking for an easy riding semi-slick for this purpose (26″ and reasonably wide for comfort).

I’m currently riding 2.0″ Michelin Hard Terrain tyres, which I generally love but seem to have all the puncture protection of wet tissue paper!

These when they come out? http://www.singletracks.com/blog/mtb-gear/maxxis-minion-ss-mtb-tire-review/

I love the look of those for round these Malverny parts Steve.

I currently ride rocket rons which arent dissimilar.

I’m patiently* waiting for them to become available…ideal round these parts methinks 🙂

*not patiently at all….

I have some Maxxis semi-slicks, can’t recall the exact model but they are a tough as old boots.

ikons 2.35. fast, tough and remarkably grippy.

Minion SS? a semi-slick DH tyre for bridleways?!

I ran Schwalbe Smart Sam, good grip but solid centreline for fast rolling.

Cheap-ish. Not especially thron proof tho.
£14
or puncture proof version…
£18

Given you say its mostly back roads tho id probably go for a Landcruiser. Have them in CX size and they are quick, tough and grippy offroad. Only 1.9 in 26″ tho.

Hi,

I use Maxxis Aspens – surprisingly good off road !

paul

except on wet grass. then it’s time for comedy speedway drifting

I’m liking the look of the Schwalbe Hurricanes; reviews seem to suggest that they’re a pretty decent all rounder.

Minion SS? a semi-slick DH tyre for bridleways?!

It’s not only a DH tyre, they do lighter ones too. 745g for 26″ x 2.3″ EXO/TR

These kinds of tyres look appealing, I bought a Rock Razor earlier this year for the benefits mentioned in that article about the Minion-SS….all was going great until I tried to brake, I should add I was on practice runs at a local DH race but braking in a straight line prior to the corner they had no bite whatsoever…..i ran wide into a load of spectators who found my incompetence highly amusing!

I should imagine for general trail riding they’re great, I often put a Larsen on the back during the height of summer….but pointed downhill on steep tech terrain I found them lacking….i swapped over to a Minion DHR2 and all was good again….decent chunky paddle-like knobs to bite into the ground when braking with the bike upright.

I could see Rock Razors and Minion-SS being suitable for places like BPW where the trails are hard packed and the tyre doesn’t actually need to dig into anything to brake but on this particular DH course where lots of it had been freshly cut, it was grassy, muddy, rooty etc….they were useless.

i`ve run the old maxxis high roller semi slick a few times. virtually smooth in teh middle. hours of fun. makes you learn how fast you can corner. brake – nothing happens, oh well, lean in, shoulders bite – wowzers.

the new ones with a few knobbles in teh middle are for wimps.

for a mix of on and off road io`d be looking at On ones cheap Geax tyres. i think they do a semi slick version.

I’m guessing you didn’t actually read the opening post?

Continental Travel Contact are pretty good. I used them on 700c on a CX bike for a year.
Fast rolling but with side knobs so a bit of grip of road and very puncture resistant

Currently using Geax Mescals which are also very fast rolling, again with side knobs ( I actually use them all year round off-road where I live). I use the tubeless ready version (TNT) so can’t comment on puncture proofness when using a tube.
It helps that they are also very reduced/cheap at On-one

Currently liking Hutchinson Cobra Hardskin, fast rolling, 2.1″ (measure up at 1.95″), and can’t remember the last puncture over the past few months of daily commutes mixing roads/xc. Fantastic in dry/hardpack, be cautious cornering in the wet however.