[Closed] Light, high rolling but tough rear tyre for 29er trail bike

Vittoria barzo? Very good tyre.

I like the Minion SS but not in the mud

I currently have a HR2 in a larger size on the rear of one bike and it’s not bad.  Bought to go on the front in summer where I thought it was average at best but it’s demotion to a rear is working

Have you considered a dissector?  Not tried one but I’d like to

I do have Michelin Wild Enduros but wouldn’t call then especially fast rolling

Bontrager XR4? I have the same bike and have Maxxis Forekaster (although I last rode it in October).

The Agressor I have (27.5 2.5 DD) is no better rolling resistance than DHR but with less grip. I will not but another.

For me the Michelin Enduro was equally fast rolling as an Aggressor, whilst offering far better grip. I am not a fan of the Aggressor. The Ardent is for me the next notch down the table.

I'd say the High Roller is slower than a minion, but I really dislike them whilst others love 'em.

Maxxis Rekon?
Maxxis Forekaster? Faster rolling than it looks.

I've a Spec Butcher (in 2.6) on the back of my 29er HT, rolls better than I expected, is OK in the mud, but a bit sketchy on wet roots etc (had one on the front too, but that scared me, so got rid, but fine on the back)

I've tried the DHR/DHF tyres on various bikes, but find them pretty draggy for general trail use.

Have a Nobby Nic (rear) and Maxxis Agressor (front) on my winter SS HT, and both seem to roll well.

Mate has Hans Damph F&R on his Big Dog, and finds it grips and rolls well enough.

Michelin Wild Enduro Rear works for me, or if if you want something a little more rolling speed, then a Hans Dampf.

The wild enduro is far slower than an aggressor imo. But this time of year wild enduro every time.

Hans dampf or dissector is the sort of tyre you are looking for I think.

Despite ruling out the Minion ss, and I must admit I've not used one, I have used a Schwalbe Rock Razor on the rear without problems and I was surprised how much grip it has (supergravity soft compound and 27.5 x2.35) for most of the year, especially on hardpack/rocky trails. The supergravity is quite heavy and was a pain in the a**e to fit but the trailstar or whatever it's current equivalent is should be worth a look, although I rarely used it in really muddy conditions

Look at a Vittoria trail tyre in the tnt casing, it's the same level as exo+, but with pinch inserts. The martello is fairly fast rolling for the grip, or the agarro if you want something faster.

HR2 isn't a fast tyre. Or imo really a good tyre compared to the minions, these days.

I'd have probably said the Trailboss tbh, yes it weighs a ton but it's tough and it's got good speed for the grip. Of the three, weight's the one to compromise on imo and it's the only tyre that I've really found that straddles the gap between a dhr2 and a rockrazor well. The Maxxis Dissector could have been worth a look but it's not tough.

Rockrazor in supergravity is a fantastic rear tyre, but this time of year it just lacks pedalling power and steep descending gets sketchy. I mention it only because you mentioned the Minion SS, which is basically the same thing but quite a bit less good, and I'm not sure if your issues were with the concept of the semislick or just the execution of the maxxis ones.

That said I probably won't put them back on a bike til about March or April myself. But you should probably get one for the other half of the year anyway, they're that good.

(stay away from the Super Trail though, it's a really awful carcass- "let's add sidewall strength and weight to our not-tough-enough trailbike tyre but leave the tread face like a sausage skin")

Threads like this remind me that different local conditions and such widely varying expectations of grip/weight/durability/rolling resistance render threads like this a little bit useless

Regarding the DHR2, which I swear is the best mixed conditions rear tyre ever, it varies a lot in rolling speed. I’ve only tried Exo ones but read that DD and dual ply are each slower than the next. Of the ones I’ve tried:

Dual Compound is faster than 3C MaxxTerra
2.3 is a lot faster than 2.4

DHR 2 2.3 Dual is closer in rolling speed to a Minion SS 2.3 Dual than it is to a DHR 2 2.4 Dual. Tiny difference in carcass size between the 2.3 and 2.4, huge difference in knob size, way more drag.

And a DHR2 2.3 rolls faster than a High Roller 2 2.3. Not sure how the 2.4 compares, had one on the front and one on the back so can’t tell!

Dissector, loads of grip, fast rolling. It what an aggressor should be.

I have higher roller II s. I think they role ok. I couldn't get hold of a dhr II at the time so can't compare.

I have ran hr2 for years. Find the grip ideal and predictable. Mainly natural trails and tech but fast riding.
I did however demo a bike with Assegi front and Disector rear and was so impressed by lots of grip and lots of roll I have a Disector in the garage for when it stops being super winter.

This is on a 29er trail bike.

Bontrager XR4?

Great tyre, pretty thin carcass though.

OP - Based on your other thread, I'm tempted to just answer this thread title with "no".

Basically, at your weight I'm not sure you will find anything sufficiently tough which is lighter or faster rolling than the Trail Boss. I owned a few and had them on different bikes, but got rid in the end 'cos they weren't very grippy. I use the Hans Dampf for the same job now, so maybe try one of them - but I've no experience of the latest set of carcasses.

They never seem to get mentioned much nowadays (perhaps someone can enlighten me if there's a reason why) but the Conti Trail King (nee Rubber Queen) in Black Chili and Protection guise is reasonably light, fast rolling, has good grip and pretty good protection. Certainly good enough for a rear tyre I'd say and actually works well on the front too.

In addition it's a jack of all trades that holds up well on most surfaces. Though in real slop, like any non mud tyre it'll get overwhelmed

jimmy748
Free Member

Dissector, loads of grip, fast rolling. It what an aggressor should be.

Bit of a lack of carcasses though- no DD 29er, and the only DH 29er is the maxxgrip (weirdly, they do an EXO+ but only in maxxterra- which is what I'm using and I like that sticky smeary grip on wet rocks but it's not what I'd have chosen.)

I do like 'em though, just not sure it's right for the OP.

I’d be tempted to say Trailboss in tough / Fast to be honest. I bought one for a trip to Antur Stiniog as I was worried my exo Aggressor might not be up to the job. I then rode up Snowdon with it the next day and left it on a few weeks. I’m not even sure despite being heavier that it was slower than the aggressor.

Other then that I’d be tempted to try a Dissector - or a Slaughter. My plan was dissector but then Specialized had yet another sale last week so I picked up a 650bx2.6” Slaughter for £12 plus p&p.

Forekaster here. It was originally on the front but doesn't give enough confidence in the slop for me.

I took the ardent off the back and retired it until I emigrate from Lancashire, very fast rolling but less grip than a hot knife....

Turns out the forekaster is a great rear tyre.

I was looking into this recently

Vittoria Agarro looks great, comes in TNT (like a Maxxis Exo but with a rubber bead insert for pinch flats) or the TLR, which is is full on DH dual ply

Maxxis Dissector or Rekon in Exo+ also look good

Specialized must have something? Slaughter?

I've used a Minion SS and found it pretty good, but a separate problem is that it's a bit outdated and doesn't like rims wider than about 25mm internal

WTB, why so heavy I don't know

DHR2 is faster rolling than a high roller 2.

Minion SS needs to be mounted to a narrow rim (sub 25mm, think more like 21-23) otherwise the knobs tough the ground and its super slow.

Aggressor is just plane rubbish, clogs easy, isn't that fast rolling compared to a DHR2, feels about the same.

Forecaster, well, you might as well run a minion SS as alteast that has decent side knobs.

I'm confused by the light, tough, fast rolling but grippy requirement. Simply doesn't exist, you will have to compromise on something.

My go to trail tyre setup on the smuggler is a 2.5 minion front and a 2.4 or 2.3 minion dhr on the back. This time of year its shorty front, dhr 2.3 rear.

What maxxis really need to release is a tyre with the rekon/larsen centre tread and minion/high roller sides, would be an ace rear tyre for summer.

Minion DHF for everything. But I’ve currently got a WTB Trail Boss 2.6 on the back of my hardtail that seems to do the trick well (I do run all my tubeless tyres at about 30PSI as I hate squirmy tyres. It has big side knobs for cornering but fairly low (not that low) centre knobs. Probably my favourite WTB tyre since I was running Velociraptors back in 2000.

What about the e13 LG1. That seems like a chunky semi-slick tyre.