[Closed] How much quicker are fast rolling tyres?

Tons. Til you crash or get a flat.

The rear makes the biggest difference though ime, a minion front/rockrazor rear gives a brilliant balance frinstance. Business at the front, party at the back 😉 Wouldn't be that much slower than a pair of ardents but gives far more overall control.

I agree with Tons. I love a fast rolling tyre. Especially since I've got weaker in my old age 🙂 One of the reasons I hardly ever ride in the wet is so I can use my Slaughters. Used to love the old Larsen SSs in the 26er days too.

I've been on the lower profile summer tyres for some weeks and it feels like cheating to me, they roll so much better and feels like you get some free speed.

Now I mostly ride point to point stuff on SDW and they've been more than fine so far and much more capable than you think but the riding you do, location and style will have some input here I reckon.

James

Depends a lot on the surface IMHO, but basically loads.

I was blown away by how fast my Anthem 29er is on roads/easy stuff. Partly due to frame etc, but also due to the Maxxis Ikon tyres.

Wasn't so keen on the sluggish feel of the Minnion DHxs on the Occam, so swapped them for Rekon 2.6 and Ikon 2.6. I absolutely love them. There is a 400g weight difference, but the main difference is in rolling resistance. It's brilliant. Fair enough, the Ikon has almost no grip whatsoever in mud etc, but the rest of the time it is briliant. I also love the bigger volume.

Did the four passes at the weekend and it felt like it was floating at times. Lovely.

Clearly If I'd ripped a big gash half way down Wharnscale then I'd not be so happy, but thankfully that didn't happen.

Not got any quantitative data, but f'rinstance I randomly decided to ride to the midweek Disley evening ride a few weeks back. Just over 70km for the full ride, which I would say suggests that a fast rolling tyre is indeed good thing. No way on earth I would have done that with the Minnions on

Currently keen to try to find some halfway house, with the rolling speed of the Ikon/Rekon and a reasonable puncture resistance. In 2.6 natch.

Do it

Will I notice a difference if I changed to a pair of Ardent for example?

You're looking at this the wrong way. You might not notice much in terms of ride stats but it will FEEL a lot quicker, because your perception is subjective.

Loads!

I did 56 miles in the peaks yesterday on a butcher front and riddler rear (the ridler looks the same as a slaughter or rock razor). I would spend ages swapping tyres and faffing about in preference to doing that ride with a grippy rear tyre.

There is less grip for sure,but on summer trails the grips absolutely fine. It was not fine on some greasy super steep Golfie trails a few weeks ago.

I ran semi slick panaracres front and rear in the pentlands many years ago. That ended in tears when I had the front and rear wheel both locked on a damp grassy down hill, and was still accelerating. I stopped accelerating quite abruptly:-|:-|

My 2.2 Metzcal's compared to my son's 2.4" Enduro (Gum-x, natch) is like riding an eBike....

A decent amount. As others have said - grippy up front, fast out back is a good combo for most things. I'm on Magic Mary/Spesh Slaughter combo on the hardtail, Verdict/Trailboss on the big bike (although not a great fan of the TB - not enough edge grip and goes just the wrong side of the fun-drifty/scary-sketchy divide)

if I changed to a pair of Ardent for example?

Ardent. The only tyre I've ever got rid of before wearing it out. Hideous thing. Nasty on the back, wouldn't even vaguely consider it as a front.

Looks like it's worth doing then!

I only mentioned Ardents because I have one kicking about in the tyre mountain, think I may have a Slaughter in there somewhere. Wheres Planet X and their cheap tyre deals when you need them!

Somewhere between loads and disappointingly little! For example, swap a DHR2 2.4 DD MaxxGrip for a Minion Semi-slick and the latter will feel super fast. But swap a DHR2 2.3 Exo Dual compound for that same semi-slick and you’ll wonder why it’s not much faster or even a bit slower in exchange for giving up all your braking grip.

With tyres the casing and compound and tread details (it often changes with width) matter just as much as the model name.

The only downside of running a Semi slick on the rear, (which I do on all my MTBs) is when you do feel the need to put something a bit grippier on the back it feels like the brakes are binding.

To be fair the Minion SS isn't a great tyre anyway.

My wild enduros are like treacle compared to the Agressor and DHF

Though they're gumX and on inserts

My lighter tyres and wheel sets are like a Breath of fresh air.

But its night and day though on loose and loam

I'm interested in some faster tyres. I have Wild Enduros which are great in wild enduro conditions but a drag everywhere else. I've been off the bike for ages so I want something for doing some miles until my legs and lungs come back online.

I thought I'd settled on a Dissector/Rekon combo but then I got baffled by the options. 3CT, EXO, TLR, WT. What the hell are they on about? I just want some tyres less beefy than DH versions but with sidewalls tougher than Specialized.

Yeah wild enduros are slow, so I have sped it up a bit with a SE5 on the back in a 2.3. Still grippy but rolls a bit better.

Proper xc? Get stuck in with ikons, Ralph's, mezcals etc and go much faster.

Nobby Nic front, Racing Ralph rear on my Anthem makes me go plenty fast enough to pass the Ikon front / rear "dirt roadies" and their carbon 29er hardtails.

Ikon, Aspen, Rekon race all fast tyres
Yes they are lightweight and more susceptible to damage but well set up tubeless roll so well

Quite a lot IME. I'm pretty slow and unfit but a decent 2.2 low profile rear and slightly more knobbly front makes a much faster to pedal bike.

However, that Maxxis Forecaster on the front of my bike can go back in the shed for winter rear use because it's bobbins up front for braking and loose corners compared to the wider and more aggressive Butcher it took the place of. The Butcher is definitely going back on as soon as I can be bothered to sort it out.

That's the thing, faster rolling = grip compromise. Out back I can tolerate some slip but the front tyre is key in keeping my teeth in my gums so I'll be returning to gnarly.

I used to run a Spesh Fasttrak on my 456 for c. 8 months a year at the back. Worked a treat but no way it would have worked for me up front.

Use to run a 2.25 Ardent on the back and a 2.3 DHF on the front of my full sus. Last summer I put a 2.3 DHR2 on the back and it felt like the brakes were dragging. Dodnt notice much extra grip so went for 2.35 Forekasters instead. So much faster.

My XC bike has a 2.35 Rekon Race on the back and a 2.6 Ikon on the front. It feels much faster on smoother stuff. But the bike is 2 kg lighter.

Any speed you get on straights with the likes of an ardent up front will be lost in corners.

Grip front,speed rear +1

I have run a rock razor and a minion SS for a while before moving over to an aggressor. It’s the better all rounder with a lot more breaking grip than a full semi slick. Still not going to be as good as something a lot more aggressive like a dhr but will roll a lot quicker

My 2.8 wild enduro is the draggiest tyre I've ever used, except for dh mud spikes. It's an amazing tyre but it might as well be square.

sharkattack
Free Member

I thought I’d settled on a Dissector/Rekon combo but then I got baffled by the options. 3CT, EXO, TLR, WT.

Maxxis like their TLAs- 3CT is "3c triple compound", pretty much meaningless by itself but a 3CT tyre will have either maxxgrip, maxxterra or maxxspeed which are grippy, medium, fast.

(For a dissector you want either maxxgrip or maxxterra on the front. And for Rekon, either maxxterra or maxxspeed if it exists, or maybe just the Dual which makes a good rear- wears slower)

EXO is puncture protected- but pretty lightweight, you might say trailbike but not so much enduro. EXO+ is a bit tougher, DD (Doubledown) much tougher but also much heavier, it's a real tough one. For me, EXO is fine for the front but for the rear I really want EXO+ or DD if I can find it.

TLR- just tubeless ready. Ignore it.

WT- Wide Trail. Means it's designed for a wider rim than the old models. Pretty much ignore that too unless you're squeezing them onto an old skinny rim.

Grip is overrated. Ardent front, ikon rear on my smuggler.

drifty…

Just the right thread for me, as I am thinking of tyres on my Ripmo.

Have 30mm EX511 rims and currently using the stock DHF front and Aggressor rear, both in 2.5" WT form.

Doesn't feel too draggy tbh but I don't really rail corners like a 20 something year old me would have done (20 some years ago), so I am wondering if lighter less grippy tyres would be worthwhile ?

Probably defeats the object of having such a bike but....

Other bikes have 2.8" NN which roll well surprisingly, although shallow gravel paths are annoyingly slow and a lightweight Whippet with 2.1" Racing Ray and Ralph so that should teach me a bit about tyres (not ridden it yet)

Probably worth a look at this https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews ... 25W more to push a Hans Dampf vs a Race King, although only 10-15W vs Maxxis tyres. Either way that's probably 10%+ of your available power.

They're absolutely worth using for the right rides.

I run an Assegai / Dissector on my 100% singletrack bike and an Ardent combo (2.4 front, 2.2 rear) on my off-road commuter (60% gravel, 30% tar, 10% singletrack).

Riding the commuter last week I got a Strava PR on a 3.5km flat section that i'd previously got a PR riding on 28mm slicks.

The only issue is dialing it back when you encounter anything with less traction.

If i ever ride the singletrack bike on the road the noise is enough to put me off.

I wish Michelin would do a Wild Semi Slick. Has a 2.4 Wild Enduro/2.6 Slaughter combo for a couple of rides, but the Slaughter is too sensitive to pressure in bog-standard Grid casing - holed it in the tread and just above the bead after 3 rides, even with an insert. At least it was only £12.

Now on a 2.6 Force AM2 at the back. Not as fast as the Slaughter, but faster than a 2.4 WE (comes up the same size), and crucially, a much better casing than the Slaughter.

I'll take durable over fast any day.

I used to have summer and winter tyres, last winter I never got round to removing my summer tyres so spent all winter with a Slaughter on the back. I was really quite surprised how well it's worked, I've honestly never felt the need to change it even in sloppy conditions.

So basically you'll gain speed and also not lose as much grip as you think.

I’ll take durable over fast any day.

I think you can have 2 from 3, I'm happy having durable and fast on the back, not so bothered about grip!. I've used Slaughter on the rear for a couple of years now, before it died, now have a DHF cos it's what I had. It's okay, but it's EXO and won't last - surprised it's lasted thus far tbh.

Currently looking for a Rock Razor.

Don't rule out Continental. My "summer" combo is Trail King front and Cross King rear.

Probably worth a look at this> https://www.bicyclerollingresistance.com/mtb-reviews <… 25W more to push a Hans Dampf vs a Race King, although only 10-15W vs Maxxis tyres. Either way that’s probably 10%+ of your available power.

Interesting scientific angle. 10%+ is a big difference - on the flat. Going uphill slowly fighting gravity is your biggest concern. And conveniently this usually preceeds a descent where you want the chunkier tyre.

FWWIW I recently swapped my rear tyre form exo ardent to DD aggressor in anticipation of a few trips to wales, Peak, etc. First ride on my local sandy trails with it, which happened to be the day after my vaccine, I felt so slow and pathetic I thought I was having a reaction to the jab.
I think you soon mentally adjust your expectations, if you arent riding to a stopwatch though.

makes a massive difference.

going from winter dh tyres to singleply front and semislick rear on the HT is just a joy.

I also got at least 2 extra laps of the park taking my hillbillys off the eeb. 😲

Night and day, both ways.

Swapped out my usual 2.4 DHR 2 for a slaughter whilst recovering from an operation that meant I was riding tamer stuff than usual.

Much, much faster uphill and surprisingly grippy on trail centre surfaces, but anything steep or loamy and I found myself missing the grip - the dhr 2 went back on as soon as I was riding off piste again.

Few summers ago I swapped to a Rock Razor from a Hans Dampf and found the speed increase on dry mud/loam to not be that much, but for braking to be awful. Was better when I went to the trail centre to ride off piste and was on some of the man made rocky/gravel stuff though.

Instead of DHF-DHR have you tried dual of either? DHF front and rear or DHR? DHR is considered to have better braking I believe

Loads is the best way of putting it, I have been running a relatively low profile MSC Roller 2.1" on the back and a grippier MSC RockRoller 2.2" on the front of my 29er XC FS, but I swapped them to their new Dragster tyre front and rear in 2.2" and they're stupidly fast and corner well given the decent shoulder knobs (for a fast XC tyre). I'm totally sold on them for dry'ish to totally dry conditions.

I normally run dhr2’s on the rear of my full suss in the winter. 2.3 exo when it’s just normal stuff - or the 2.4 exo when it’s biblical slop.

Swapped to a dissector this year for a bit and it was a chunk faster and still retained a lot of grip. But then I found a 2.6” slaughter for £12 in a ale and I couldn’t resist. It’s the fastest tyre I’ve run 100% - but I’ve kept a DHF on the front for steering duties. So far I’m happy but haven’t ridden anything even slightly greasy yet - I’m guessing braking traction will be right out the window with the slaughter.