Yeah yeah I know….

I like Maxxis Highrollers and want to get some for a trip to the Alps this summer. Most of the riding will be down hills but I’m not a downhill rider as such. So which ones for a 15 stone clumsy but reasonably fast rider on an all mountain type bike?

I want 2.35s and have a choice of:

Kevlar
Wire
70a
60a
42a super tacky
DH
DH dual ply
XC

Thanks.

damn wrong forum.

DH dual ply 42a front 60a rear

Can your fork take the 2.5? Causes certain people to spazz out but IMO the 2.35’s not that great a tyre, the 2.5 supertacky as a front is in another league and surprisingly not massively slower. (Basically if you wanted a 2.35 tyre, you have to buy the 2.5 because of the maxxis rubber ruler)

Thanks Northwind not sure whether the RS Pike will take a 2.5 – one to think about though.

It should do easily, the 2.35 is more like a 2.1, the 2.5 isn’t that big, certainly no bigger than a lot of other 2.4’s.

The high roller 2 is more accurately sized.

I’d recommend specialized eskars, I’ve used (and really rate) various high rollers, but the eskars feel like a better compromise. More grip than a 2.35 60a singleply, nowhere near as draggy as a 2.5 supertacky, and only slightly heavier than a singleply 2.35.

Saying that what are you doing in the alps, if it’s all chairlifts just get a pair of 2.5 super tacky dual ply’s, instantly transforms any bike into a DH bike, so much weight, but stupidly grippy and you’d have to try hard to puncture one.

XC – 2.35 singleply 60a/maxxpro
AM – eskars (might even get away with something faster on the rear)
DH – 2.5 dual ply 42a/supertacky

I like the Eskar on the rear, or on the front as a fast-rolling, somewhat-grippy knobbly, but I wouldn’t want them on the front for this job- good tread but quite a hard-feeling compound. IMO of course but if the focus is on descending then I’d want a lot more grip.

(TBH I wouldn’t be using the Maxxises either… We’re off to White Rooms and it’ll be SX carcass Clutches for me. Balance of weight and toughness feels right and they’re excellently grippy. But that’s getting off the topic 😉 )

IMHE the bead doesn’t really matter, but High Rollers aren’t the widest tyres out there so you may want to size up.

A soft compound tyre up front with a normal compound at the rear is also a very good idea too. I’ve been playing around with a soft compound Rampage up front with a standard Rampage at the back and I’ve noticed no appreciable loss of rolling resistance to speak of.

I’ve recent;y been running an eskar as it was cheap, and and the tread looked good. Turns out it’s awful. I’ve used it for Ten under the Ben (lost my rocket ron somewhere) and it was pants even in Jey mode. It was alright riding rocky stuff in Torridon and was again, naff back home in Calderdale. The terrain it’s worst at is dry, slightly loose or dusty trails e.g. Lee quarry after a nice week, Scottish trail centres or the Alps in general.
My favourite alps tyre is a 2.4 fat albert or a bontrager xr4. If you’re looking for heavy duty maybe take a look at a 3c minion or specialized clutch or butcher (I have a clutch sx and it’s very good). Schwalbe’s DH stuff might be fairly decent too. I don’t really like high rollers for the front but they’re a nice tyre on the back.

most frames will take a 2.5 maxxis fine. Got for them in 60a (lasts the week)

Went there last summer and despite the weather being beautiful every day bar one it rained every night which I believe is quite typical. Tracks out in the open dry very quickly but wooded sections stay very slippery, I used minions, one friend used high rollers, another swampys but best of the bunch seemed to be dirty dans, cleared the gloopy mud really well.

Dual ply all the way. If you are chair lifting all the way then 2.5s will be great, but if you are going to ride up hill then a 2.35 on the rear may ease the pain. And compound wise I’d go 42a front and 60a rear.

A cheap alternative would be some old but still good Michelin downhill tyres Comp 16/24s

Pikes run 2.5 HR no problem, and you don’t want any other tyre for the alps unless you just happen to prefer a 2.5 minion. ST front, 2.35 60a rear is the tried an tested classic combo…

2.5 super tacky = pedalling through treacle. Used on in the Dolomites last year, wouldn’t want to be pedalling very far though!

Due to circumstance (aka me being an idiot when ordering) i’m currently having to use 2.5 highroller 42a dual ply supertackies on my xc bike. I used to think people exaggerated a bit about how draggy a tyre could be…but bloody hell it gives a right good workout 😀

Maxxis minion DHF on the front and high roller on the back, both dual ply

Is what others have recommended.

interesting… i have a pair of 42a’s for PDS… maybe i should get a pair of 2.35’s and split them with my mate.

I’ve recent;y been running an eskar as it was cheap, and and the tread looked good. Turns out it’s awful. I’ve used it for Ten under the Ben (lost my rocket ron somewhere) and it was pants even in Jey mode. It was alright riding rocky stuff in Torridon and was again, naff back home in Calderdale. The terrain it’s worst at is dry, slightly loose or dusty trails e.g. Lee quarry after a nice week, Scottish trail centres or the Alps in general.

Really? when there was a rumour spesh were discontinueing them there was a whole thread on here of people panic buying them!

But then again I regulalry run dirtjump and semi-slick rear tyres so maybe I use my tyres in a slightly different way.

2.5 super tacky = pedalling through treacle. Used on in the Dolomites last year, wouldn’t want to be pedalling very far though!

+1 I made this mistake in Spain, felt like hell trying to pedal uphill at 3000m with 2.5kg of supertackies! Went back on a DH holliday and was still amazed how bad they were just pedaling from the van to the trail!

Cool lads, thanks.

I just bought a 2.35 60a Dual ply High roller for the back.

My favourite alps tyre is a 2.4 fat albert or a bontrager xr4.

The 2.4 Fat Alberts are my current Trail Centre / general use tyre on my Ragley Ti – running them tubeless on Stans Flow rims and I really like the way they handle (although they need at least 20 psi or they start losing grip in corners).

I have opted for 2.5 DHF ST DP Minion for the front, and 2.35 DHF DP 60a Minion for the rear.

I off out playing with trail addiction on my Yeti asr5

Going with a maxxis ardent for the front and a high roller for the rear.

Single ply so just wondering if i should throw a tyre liner in the rear ?

dh tube be reet.

Counter-intuitively I’ve found in the alps that DH tyres are ok with Normal innertubes, but a normal tyre will probably be better with a DH innertube. Talcing your tubes is highly recommended.

I’ve had 2.5 minions (both fronts) Minion front and High roller rear 3c (Very good), and a pair of supertacky high rollers.

To be honest I’d just go for 60a high rollers or minions super tackys are a bit grippier, but the cost/wear rate doesn’t justify it.

Considering clutch SX’s if they come up as a proper 2.35″

oliverd1981 – Member

Considering clutch SX’s if they come up as a proper 2.35″

Don’t have an exact size but they’re in the right ballpark.

I have Dual Ply front and rear for the alps, went for the 42a 2.35 minion on the front, and 60a Highroller on the rear.

The maxxis tyres are tiny. I love the 2.35 though I have the same tyres in single ply for general peaks / XC stuff. They are fast and grippy, without that much drag. I’m fairly restricted by the shit clearance on the Five swing arm.

A friend just swapped his 2.4highroller 2s for a 2.5 minion and 2.5 HR and was gutted at how much smaller they were.

Yup, why the hell would you swap 2.4 High Roller 2’s for the older Highrollers? They are loads better than the older model and the specs show they are bigger!

Yup, why the hell would you swap 2.4 High Roller 2’s for the older Highrollers? They are loads better than the older model and the specs show they are bigger!

Lack of UST compatibility for tubeless with the highroller 2 is the reason… The hr2 kept popping off the ztr flow rims, not something you want doing 30mph+ down a rocky alpine slope. Hence minion and hr1 which are UST specific.

If you’re not hammering the downhills then how nessecary are dual ply tyres. I’m off to Morzine on Monday, I’ve bought the DP 2.5 supertacky minion for the front and HR 60 DP at the back which will do me for the uplift stuff, but was considering doing a day exploring the xc routes round there, and was thinking the aformentioned tyres might be overkill.

Was wondering if a day of XC bimbling on a set of 2.35 singleply high rollers, potentially tubeless, would be a disaster waiting to happen.

you can bimble a fair way on 2.5’s if you don’t use your height up too quickly. If you have to use 2.35, then extra thick tubes are advisable.

Well I never expected such a flurry of interest in the wonderful subject of tyres, but many thanks all the same.

You can have too much choice, but I’m getting close to going for a pair of Specialized Clutch SX’s as they resolve the ply dilemma nicely at 1.5 ply. They also seem to be quite a wide 2.3 which suits me nicely, and are heavy, but not too heavy. Just right I reckon.

Have fun in the Alps everyone – it’s my first time on lifts and I can’t wait!

Or,

I’ve got some Hans dampf I’ll be taking out for the mega.

Trouble is I can’t help feeling that I NEED dual plys.

So, I’m taking a dual minion front 2.35 42a and a 2.35 60a dual Larsen tt.

All the above will be set up tubeless.

The Larsen should solve the resistance issue. I’ve another Larsen if you need? They don’t make them anymore in the dual.

If you are localish to Manchester Ive got 2HRs that you could borrow.

1×2.5 Dp
1×2.35 Dp

That’s a very kind offer of a lend Hora but I’m in the SW. You don’t want to sell them do you?

Could do. When I get back I’ll recheck the duro etc and mail you.

Will check the duro’s etc and comeback to you when back in this aft. I think I’ve actually got 3 HR’s. 1x single ply 2.35, 1xDualply 2.35 and 1×2.5. The first two are as new.

I’ve also got a brand new dual ply Swampthing 2.35 that turned up the day I left for France last year!

So im not cutting edge when it comes to tyres then by using an ancient Richey z max on my single speed ?

not sure how flush you are, but I’d take two sets of tyres.
High Roller 2.35 60a for the more pedally days and Minion 2.5 42a for the gravity-assisted days.
the two tyres are worlds apart in terms of drag/ grip.

On Minions (especially front). I always wondered why I found them to be sketchy/not great yet they always seem to be on DH racers bikes.

Then I realised you need to be able to rail, nail and **** own the tracks to get the Minions (especially the DHF) to work right.

Its not really a good tyre for the average mincer. 😆

I’ve also got a Maxxis 2.35 Minion DHF if you want that – its almost new as well.