Forum menu
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!)