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Love my clockwork evo s 29. Decent spec. Front end feels great with 120 revs, 2.6 specialized hillbillies and the stock kore realm 2.7 (thats 27mm inner width). But the rear sucks (i know its a hartail).
The 2.7 rear wheel has been beaten up a fair bit. I run a 2.4 trail boss thinking its chunky enough but even with 30psi i think its just giving way under hits and at 30psi its not smooth.
Im seeing lots with heavier looking tyres on HTs. talking to someone this morning he had 2.61300g tyres running sub 20psi. 14psi up front with foams inside. That sounds hard going for climbs but i guess rewarding on decents.
Can i run a 2.6 thicker ply on a 27mm rim?
I'd recommend you try a Rimpact insert.
As long as it fits in your frame it should be fine. Ideally the rims would be a bit wider but it won’t make too much difference.
The 29’’ 2.4 trail boss I have isn’t very wide and likewise Specialized 2.6’s tend to be pretty narrow also. Certainly not true to size.
Depending on your weight you could certainly drop some pressure which would increase comfort and grip with a 2.6.
I have Schwalbe 2.35s on the hardtail with an insert and run it at 28psi on the rear and I’m about 100kg. Very rarely ding rims and that’s in the peaks and Hebden way so depending on your weight I would imagine you might be able to run a bit less on your current set up too.
The insert sounds like a good idea.. with a 2.6 trail boss maybe.. tough casings or normal lightweight stuff?
I would go light fast rolling for the rear
On the trail boss. The new light ones have a slash guard on them so are still pretty sturdy.
£25 at wiggle at the mo.
I run an insert in the back of my hardtail, it obviously provides protection for the rim but I like the way it changes how the tyre behaves by reducing the air volume. It's difficult to explain fully but I definitely prefer the feel with an insert in. I run a nukeproof Ard.
30psi is quite a lot in a tubeless tyre. Do they make a 2.5wt Maxxis aggressor? Perhaps that either in an exo+ with a rimpact insert or just a DD casing would be an improvement. The Trailboss isn’t very chunky in a 2.4” - either casing size or the size of the knobs on it.
have to admit I've no idea what psi is in my tyres it just feels ok, only got 26" wheels but love my rock razor on the back although I did stick a super gravity casing on there. Probably overkill for all 10 stone of me but I've yet to damage it but that could be me riding like I've never seen a bike before!
Just drop your psi to low 20s and see how you get on. At 30psi I'd be pinging off everything on ht or fs.
I'm running a dissector 2.6 exo+ with cushcore cc. It's fairly bombproof and doesn't way a ton. That said the dissector is hopeless in mud so I guess I'll be changing it out soon given this weekends conditions up my way. If you're on a hardtail then a good 2.5/2.6 is the way to go, and balance weight of tyre with an insert for maximum resilience.
Cheers. Ive ordered a rimpact now so thats a good start. Lookinhg for a decent 2.6 now. Weight wise the butcher grid trail, minion dhr looks a decent weight at around a kilo. The trail boss is heavier.
Butcher looks to be more of a front grippy tyre but the local trails are never dry so may be a good shout.
I run a 2.6 purgatory on the back of my HT with an insert. Fab.
Running a Specialized Eliminator on the rear of the FS currently, seems pretty good for the money..
So the insert makes it possible to run lighter tyres.. combination of the foam protection and lower air volumes stops rim dinging.
Eliminator 2.3 is a better rear tyre than the Butcher 2.6 (having swapped from the latter to the former) and is a big 2.3, measures 2.4” so as big as some 2.5s! I pair it with a Hillbilly 2.6 up front, both Grid with Rimpacts on 30mm rims.
DHR2 2.3 Dual Exo is even better but usually more expensive...
Maxxis dhr2 wt 2.4” is a chunky tyre in 650b - that’ll give you plenty of grip in mud if the 29er is similar. I found it a bit draggy but that was on a full suss weighing about 33lbs. I’d imagine your hardtail is quite a bit lighter.
I’ve decided I’m pretty light on tyres as I don’t seem to have any issues on Maxxis Exo with no inserts and somewhere between 20-25psi in my tyres. On my new hardtail I’m planning to run a 2.5wt DHF exo 3c up front and have picked up a 2.6 exo forecaster to try one the rear.
I would go light fast rolling for the rear. On the trail boss. The new light ones have a slash guard on them so are still pretty sturdy.
No, no, no. The point of WTB's light grip and tough fast options are you can run the light one up front for grip and the tough fast rolling one out back, especially on a hardtail if you ride fast tech stuff. Their tough fast are dual ply, which if you do ride a HT like a FS on fast trails, is the minimum tyre spec for the rear to avoid issues. Even depending on your weight, you shouldn't need more than 20psi out back with this setup.
I’m pretty tough on tyres and wheels and would have no qualms using the newer slash guard version on the rear. Especially with an insert on an all round hardtail.
“I found it a bit draggy but that was on a full suss weighing about 33lbs.”
It’ll be just as draggy on a lighter bike and if anything the perception of drag will be increased.
The eliminator does appeal. Trail version or standard?
I recently replaced the wtb rims and tyres (vigilante and trail boss) on my hard tail as they were so heavy (like downhill heavy).
I went light weight with stans arch MK3 and maxxis ardent race on the rear, don't know if that would meet your needs tho, depends on the kind of riding you do I guess