[Closed] 29er Fast-rolling trail tyre...what do you like?

I think the HRII is considered one of the slowest rolling tyres… so there should be plenty if scope to improve. Have you tried Minions? I wouldn't like to ride them on the road, but otherwise they're nice. You could pair a DHF upfront to something less aggressive on the back.

I currently have a a HR2 on the rear, plan to try Maxxis Aggressor next for faster rolling.

Im out of touch on what fast-rolling is considered to be if Minion is the first suggestion...my default Alps tyre!

Hans Dampf front, Nobby Nic rear for me, both Pacestar (Speedgrip)

Fast rolling rear, in the dry, for me is a Rock Razor. Fast but with big sideknobs so when you need to corner it dosent let go.

I think the HRII is considered one of the slowest rolling tyres… so there should be plenty if scope to improve. Have you tried Minions? I wouldn’t like to ride them on the road, but otherwise they’re nice. You could pair a DHF upfront to something less aggressive on the back.

I would have thought Minions would be draggier. It is one beefy mofo.

I currently have a a HR2 on the rear, plan to try Maxxis Aggressor next for faster rolling.

A mate loves his aggressor. That is on my list just checking other options.

Hans Dampf front, Nobby Nic rear for me, both Pacestar (Speedgrip)

I fell out with Schwalbe after too many tubeless failures, admittedly that was 3 yrs ago.

Specialized fastrack gryphon 2.3 have really impressed me, soft compound so very grippy on rocks and roots.

My musings on 29" tyres:

I'm set on Minion DHF up front

On the rear:

HR2 - too draggy

Ikon - too flimsy

Minion SS - not enough grip when hard braking/steep climbing

Ardent - my favourite best (or some might say worst) of all worlds

Vittoria Morsa 2.3f/Mezcal 2.2r combo. Fast rolling but still pretty grippy, especially the Morsa up front.

Never liked the HR2 as a tyre, slow rolling, weird floaty no grip point when leaning it over & rubbish braking traction too.

Faster rolling, but still reasonable grip would be the Aggressor for me. Faster rolling & a wild ride (if you rider steeper, fun stuff) the Ardent certainly gets the heart going 🙂

ardent on the front, ikon on the rear...

Aggressor is good yeah, but I think the new Hans Dampf is a bit better still (and more of an all-rounder).

Also currently riding a Maxxis Tomahawk DD I picked up cheap last Black Friday and that's alright so far too.

Interested in this too. I still want something with ok grip but do find my HR2 a bit draggy - would like something a bit less draggy but not too extreme!!

Another vote for the Mezcal here

Anyone use a on-one smorgasbord as a summer tyre, any good?

I've just put a DoubleDown carcass Maxxis Griffin (that I got in the recent Maxxis sale) on the back of my Trance 29er, as I wasn't getting on with the Minion SS (again in DoubleDown carcass).

I found the Minion SS to be too square a profile - probably because I run my rear tyres at 21psi with CushCore - and I really didn't like the feel of it when leaning it over and it transitioned from the centre to the edge tread. The Griffin is still fast-rolling but is a much rounder profile, so doesn't suffer from this.

After about 5 rides and approx. 100 miles, I'm impressed so far.

Shame because I think they're discontinuing them 🙂

WTB trail boss is a great allrounder. If you're riding anything even remotely rocky steer well clear of an aggressor if you don't want to be walking home.

Here's a (ahem) curve-ball... Goodyear Peak. 🙂

took a punt on a pair of these off ebay (£13 each!) and they are really good. Went up perfectly tubeless too. Reminded me of the old Michelin Jets I used many summers ago.
https://www.goodyearbike.com/product-page/peak

Anyone use a on-one smorgasbord as a summer tyre, any good?

Have done, it's OK but nothing special. Quite round profile IIRC.

Shame because I think they’re discontinuing them

Maxxis do have a bewildering array of tyres with what looks like a lot of overlap between them. It could be argued that they should focus on getting the ones people want available for sale and maybe lowering the prices a touch.

After years of using Racing Ralph’s I’ve switched to Vitoria Barzos. Good blend of dry grip and fast rolling and more robust that the RR.

If you’re riding anything even remotely rocky steer well clear of an aggressor if you don’t want to be walking home.

That depends on the carcass, surely?

My Exo Aggressor has been just as sturdy as an Exo HR2 or DHR2 (ie. not quite sturdy enough for real rocky rides, but you know what I mean).

"That depends on the carcass, surely?"

It's the EXO casing both my wife and I killed in the space of a couple of weeks. I guess where you ride is relevant to what you use? Never managed to kill a DHR2 🙂

No one been ridden onza tyres?

There  ibex or the  canis could be a good shout! Ibex its  meant to have good grip all year round bit more draggy though  I’ve just fitted there canis model front and rear and should get a ride out next it later this afternoon so will come back when done. Was on maxxis ikon very fast but as someone said side walls are flimsy. Probably great for racing though.

Vittoria Mezcal 2.35" F&R here, very happy with them so far.

Currently rocking spec ground control gripton.

All round better than the hr2 I had on the rear, way less draggy than the minion I had on the front (but obviously not as much grip, but plenty).

Dirt cheap ATM as spec have some whizzy new compound.

I've found DHR2 front/Rock Razor rear is a good balance- the rock razor's ridiculously fast obviously, but still can do most jobs until things get really wet, and while the dhr2's obviously not especially quick, it sort of balances out the rear. I tried more naturally balanced sets with both being fastish rather than this slow/fast combo but it just didn't work as well for me, I think I need to be able to count on at least one end.

batman11

Member

No one been ridden onza tyres?

I had ibexes at one point. Shite tbh. They use harder rubber than most people, no idea why. It was just a bad highroller with no redeeming features at all

Slightly old school, leftfield choice, but I'm running a 2.25" Crossmark2 out back right now with a 2.3" Minion DHF up front. For fast trail riding (anything short of "Enduro" you might say" in the current conditions, I haven't yet found the Crossmark2 wanting... But then I was a big fan of the original Crossmark where many weren't, and the mk2 version is a big improvement again.

New tyre in their range, but 2.4" Rekon might also be worth considering, though haven't tried this myself. Aggressor seems to be many people's go to tyre for these conditions though, or there's the Rock Razor which is just awesome as long as you can ride around its shortcomings.

Took a punt on a 2.5 aggressor on the back of my hardtail and really like it. Probably not the fastest rolling but a very good compromise of rolling and grip for 3 seasons use.

Bontrager XR4 on the front, XR3 on the rear. Fast rolling, much lighter than the Vigilantes they replaced and very good grip in most conditions. I also like their more rounded profile, bike feels more nimble now.

Another vote for rock razor here. I'm impressed with how well they roll while keeping grip even in moderately wet conditions we've been having recently. Maybe they're not a full slop tyre but they seem like they'd be good for 80%+ of the year.

Hated the Aggressor 29x2.5 that came on the rear on my bike - sketchy as anything, has no plus points at all in my book. One of the most draggy tyres I've ridden. It seemed to like to clog up in loam and sink into grassy / moss. Useless in mud. It only worked well on the tarmac / super hard pack and didn't brake well anywhere.

Swapped it for a minion DHR II 3C 2.4 and it's not just faster everywhere but it actually corners predictably.

Paired with the DHF 3C 29x2.5 up front... best all year round combo IMO.

I enjoyed last summer (it was actually proper dry then!) on the Minion SS Silkworm as a rear but honestly the DHR II has more control and Wales still hasn't fully dried out this year yet.

The next level set of tyres is a Mary / Dampf Super Gravity set - those are the ultimate for muck and gnar. I suspect the new Maxxis Agassi DH would be better though. Hope they make an TR EXO 3C version soon. I'm trying to stay on TR EXO 3C level tyres these days to save switching. There's only a few days mid winter I wish I had the Mary on.

Mates all tried the Rock Razor and it always punctured for them. They're all on Maxxis again.

Minion DHF rolls alright in the back but I'm running the Minion SS at the moment. I like it for the current conditions i.e. firm -> hardpack or rock.  It only struggles in summer when there is a lot of loose powdery dust, which is sort of what it's like at Cannock currently.

Aggressor Front. Ikon rear.

Been using this on my xc bike for a good while now. Great off road and very fast on the roads with a little more psi in each

Mezcal, ikon, ralph - all fine. Ardent race is good for something slightly more trail-y and less xc, but it feels slower than the other 3.

I used to swap rear tyres in the summer and enjoyed a rock razor last year before going back to magic mary for the winter, this year went back to it a little bit later when the trails were already dry and really didnt like the reduced braking! Didnt notice much difference in rolling speed either, but I do mainly ride rougher trails, if I rode more hard packed stuff I think I would have. Have gone back to the mary now.

There ibex or the canis could be a good shout! Ibex its meant to have good grip all year round bit more draggy though

My Jeffsy came with Onza Ibex on them (29 x 2.4, IIRC) front and back. I really didn't get on with them. They were fairly fast rolling, but not particularly grippy even in the dry and not at all grippy in the wet. Personally I wouldn't describe them as good all year round, and I wouldn't even describe them as good at all. I kept them on for a while but the best thing I ever did with them was take them off and put them in the bin. To be fair to them, the back wasn't the biggest concern but they scared me on the front.

Maxxis Ardent Front, Maxxis Aggressor rear - I only bought the Aggressor because it it came in a 29 x 2.3 which is the maximum 29 x width I can fit in the rear (I know actual width varies but I took a punt on this and the size is perfect). Really impressed with the Aggressor - as i've seen mentioned before "faster than it looks". Reckon i'll use it all year, i'd only change the rear for something less knobbly if I was going to be doing a long ride with significant percentage of tarmac, where I usually break out an old set of Maxxis Crossmarks.

Another opinion to add: I really don't get on with those square "fast in the middle, knobbly on the outside" tyres e.g. rock razor - on proper hard-pack, it's perfectly grippy when the bike is upright, and then squirrelly as hell when you lay it down into the corner and suddenly you are riding on a thin line of chunky knobbles which can't dig into anything. I can see they make sense in the mud, (apart from not having any grip when the bike is upright lol). Mullet tyres as far as i'm concerned 🙂

Bonty XR4 front, XR3 rear for the rough stuff. If I'm doing more long distance rides then XR3 front, XR2 rear.

I've a Vittoria Mezcal 2.6" on the front of the Solaris ATM. This is with a rigid fork and I put that tyre on to give a bit of give for last year's French Divide and left it on. It seems to be hold up OK here in the Dales. It's a pretty fast roller but in terms of tread I'd say it was akin to an XR2 or Maxxis Ikon.

I need to double-check that I'm not imagining things but I've run the Minion DHR2 2.3 3C, DHR2 2.3 Dual, Minion SS 2.3 Dual and DHR2 2.4 Dual on the back in recent years. In order of rolling speed, fastest to slowest:

Minion SS
DHR2 2.3 Dual
DHR2 2.3 3C
DHR 2.4 Dual

The DHR2 2.3 seems to roll way faster than the 2.4 - when you compare the knob spacing and size it's no great surprise - the 2.4 has far bigger knobs and more room between them.

I was shocked at how quick the Dual 2.3 is, it really wasn't much slower than the Minion SS. I've just bought another one to replace the 2.4 I was trying on the back. Considering how it's FAR better at braking and driving than the Minion SS and actually works in the depths of winter (as a rear tyre) I think it's an amazingly good tyre. I thought the 3C felt a fair bit slower and the side knobs wore much quicker so it lost its bite in soft ground.

running... Vittoria peyote/mezcal F/R in 2.35 on 25 internal rim width (come up 2.35 on Vernier). Quick tyres and Peyote far more predicable than Schwalbe rocket ron (which are great until let go!). Also just about to try for Forkaster 2.35 Front and Bonty XR3i Rear 2.35 combo for better mixed conditions grip.

Interested to hear how you get on fivealive as this is my plan. Currently have xr3 on front and icon on back but when weather turns I will change to forecaster front / XR3 back. xr4 looks to draggy for front for North Downs in Kent

Am surprised that the HR2 is considered slow rolling, I replaced Spesh Purgatories on the back of my two bikes with an HR2 each and the difference to rolling speed has been night and day - the Purgatory is one slow rolling tyre.

I do find that the HR2 becomes noticeably slower rolling once part worn though.

I am using the specialized Fast Trak 2.3 gripton tyres and have been very impressed with them on some longer xc rides and at Cannock trail centre.
They grip well when at right pressure which is 20-25 for me yet still seem to roll fast on hardpack

For what it's worth I put a Specialized Slaughter on the rear. It is semi-slick in the middle with side lugs, a bit like the Rock Razor. So far in the dry it has been superb. Weight wise similar to the high roller so a solid casing but fast rolling. Perhaps not the world's most grippy tyre but I am not a madman on the downhill sections.

I'm not sure if it's the done thing anymore, barely seem to see them mentioned nowadays, but I've always liked the Continental Trail King (née Rubber Queen) Black Chilli ProTection. Fast rolling, good grip, decent sidewall protection. Maybe a little heavy but not much wrong them. Great all round tyre

How fast rolling, how robust?

I'm a fan of Schwalbe, Magic Mary both ends works well but doesn't meet "fast rolling".

Nobby nic speedgrip (rear) puts a bit of speed in and works well all around. I've found this tough enough, but if you're riding a lot of rocks on a hardtail I'd put some pinch protection in (I'd do this with anything short of a full on DH carcass to be honest)

Racing ralph/rocket ron in speed compound, liteskin on the front snakeskin on the rear is very fast rolling and adequately grippy, but I'm not sure you'd describe it as a "trail" setup. I have nevertheless (through lazyness and a long road journey associated with riding with my club as much as anything else) used it all the way through winter and it copes surprisingly well. Maybe a speedgrip on front would be more sensible, with a thicker carcass. I do put procore in if it's rocky, though (it makes sense in an XC race as it's only marginally more weight than a tube and CO2 cartridge, and you can finish a lap on it if the outer chamber deflates, which generally it doesn't!)