Not been hugely impressed by Schwalbe tyres on the Foxy recently so looking to change things up a bit. Needs to be a decent 2.3″ size, 650b and not Schwalbe! Usual suspects are Maxxis HR’s and Minions but availability is patchy, not sure how many there are out there. Got £30-40 budgeted for each tyre, would prefer something slightly faster rolling at the back if poss as well. Any suggestions?

Hutchinson Toro – awesome tyre

Specialized Butcher on the Front
Specialized Purgatory (Grippy) or Ground Control (Faster Rolling) on the back.
Both in Grid Casing

Currently running the Butcher/Ground Control for a mix of Off piste riding and trail centre. The ground control gets swapped out for a purgatory when it gets steeper for a bit more braking grip.

I’ve got an almost new pair of Purg/Butcher Grid 2.3 that I probably won’t be keeping, if you do decide that’s what you want.

What Schwalbes were you using and what didn’t you like about them BTW?

WTB Vigilante

Really loving WTB tyres these days.

Hardtail runs Wolverine rear in summer and Trail Boss on the back in winter, with a Vigilante up front all year

Full sus runs Vigilante front and back all year

Was running a Magic Mary/Nobby Nic combo, the Mary was great in the deep mud but a bit sketchy elsewhere and the Nic was pretty good grip wise but felt super harsh and kind of plasticky if you get what I mean.

What kind of surfaces do you predominantly ride? mud? hardpack? rocky?. Kinda the most important consideration, otherwise folks will just recommend what they use.

Mixture of surfaces really so need a solid all-rounder, probably 50/50 between hard pack trail centre trails and softer, muddy natural trails

Forgot to mention, need to be Tubeless ready as well.

I’d have said the Mary. You have got the nice “Evo” ones and not the “Performance” models?

Yeah top spec Evo trailstar. It’s not bad by any stretch, but for some reason it just doesn’t seem to inspire the confidence I thought it would. As I say it’s great in the slop, but feels a little washy on harder surfaces.

i just switched from conti 2.2 trail kings to bntrager xr4 2.35 team issue.

they come up a bit bigger, went up tubeless about a trillion times easier and seem to have more grip so far. seem to roll fast enough and inspire more confidence cornering too.

xr4 front and xr3 rear is supposed to be a good combo

http://www.vitalmtb.com/product/guide/Tires,48/Bontrager/XR4-Team-Issue,13503#product-reviews/1544/expand

Funny. I love the Mary but felt exactly the same as you about the Maxxis Shorty.

I’d be interested in the Mary if you’re flogging it.

for my monies, from dry/hardpack -> wet muddy i go..

wtb – trail boss
wtb – vigilante
maxxis – shorty

im also agreeing that im really liking the WTB tyres at the moment.

Anyone tried Michelin Wild Grip’R Advanced?
Good reviews on the Trigger thread…might go for them at £25 a pop.

Usual reply. Spesh Butcher up front and a Purgatory out back. Good everywhere except proper gloop. Will probably get away with them this year as a decent four season tyre.

+1 Hutchinson Toro
An under the radar tyre but bloody brilliant!
Check out Acycles for bargains.

Another Butcher front / Purg back user here.

I’ve only been running this combo since the start of winter though. Previously using Purg front Ground Control rear in the dry. The Butcher / Purg combo has some noticeable drag on tarmac compared to the aforementioned but apart from that the extra grip and climbing traction gained in the wet makes up for it.

The Butcher is such a confidence inspiring front tyre though. A real revelation. I’ll be sticking with this combo for the foreseeable future.

Gone for Butcher & Purgatory Grid.
Got them from Websters Cycles in Leicester over phone as they order them in from Spesh.
Got the pair for £50 instead of £70 – plus £3.99 delivery – happy with that price.
Ask for Ash.