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Hi,
Sorry, I got overloaded with options reading the forums so thought I'd ask a specific question.
Riding a full sus over fairly tame terrain most of the time, think woody singletrack, tracks in woods etc and maybe a yearly trip to Afan. I should probably be using a hard tail but want to just have one MTB in my shed.
I was using the stock Vittoria Barzo's that came with the bike but got no confidence with the grip so swapped them out for Maxxi Shortys I got cheap ages back....and OMG they're killing me! Feels like its on traintracks but they're so heavy and killing the joy of riding for me.
So, long story short - what would you recommend? I've seen these for £27 for the front and seem to get good reviews but worry that's just another Barzo-type tyre https://www.merlincycles.com/schwalbe-racing-ray-addix-speedgrip-folding-tyre-275-123049.html?source=PHG
Not sure about the above, but I always got on well with a Butcher front, Slaughter/Purgatory rear combo. Could never be doing changing them so they did all year, all conditions fine.
Yeah not surprised the shortys are dragging.
Cheers Kayak, will check them out. A little worried i'm just getting unfit lol.
Logic is chunkier tyre on the front from memory?
Ah, yes, sorry Jimmy 27.5
If it came with stock barzos it must be an xc bike. Racing Rays will be like Barzos, maybe less grip even. So go one step up. Eg Bontrager team issue xr4 front / xr3 rear.
Are you running a Shorty on the rear? I can imagine that's draggy as hell
a 2.3" DHR II is a good balance of grip and speed for the rear.
Barzos and Shortys are at opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of grip and gnarliness. And there's lots of choice in the middle. Something like a nobby nic or the maxxix or vitoria or specialized equivalent would probably do the job.
Also +1 what Yak said.
what compound, what type? DH? EXO? shorty is draggy but so many variables
Yeah, Shorty will be pretty horrible in anything but slop, especially on the rear. I really like rear semi-slicks for feeling fast, and since it's coming into summer, it should soon be time, especially on smoother dry trails. I like Rock Razors, but the Minion SS looks similar.
Knobbly something on the front, fewer knobbles on the rear.
Obviously your choice of carcass will make a difference too.
Thanks everyone for your patience and clear replies....
Yak - Ah, glad I asked as that's exactly what I feared (buying the same tyre!)
Richmtb- yup, bit of a noob so got a "my car has the same tyres on each corner so that must be how it works with bikes 🙂 Ah, Ok, so potentially an option to keep the shorty on the front and have a DHR on the rear
Wonnyj - cheers!
Howsyourdad - Ah, triple compound Exo 3C? As you can see, I didn't have a scooby what it meant and while it makes the bike look gnarly I've got to the point I don't want to ride it!
Superficial - got you. I'm tempted to sell swap out both the shortys then as I think they're way beyond the stuff I ride.
only ever run a shorty in the worst of winter for off piste stuff
tried one on the back once, literally once and it came right off again
I ma massive fan of the dissector atm, got it fornt nad rear on my hardtail.. so nice..
My full sus runs dhf/dhr and in all honesty that feels like overkill a lot of the time, the dhr is dying so i'll probably throw another dissector on that
Cheers Al, what a clown I've been, I can still hear my mate's voice as he said "you sure you want to put these on" 🙂
DHF front, Dissector on the back. Loads of grip, fast rolling and works everywhere.
Enjoying my assegai dhr2 combo that came on my scout.
On everything else i run dhf hr2.
Its easy done tyres are a bit of a minefield
Even sticking with one brand the choice is ridiculous, and the wrong choice can ruin a bike - as you found out 🙂
My full sus is DHR2 front and rear, but a 2.4" 3C and the front and 2.3" DC at the back.
My hardtail is HRII front and Minion SS rear
I stick with Maxxis because I love the yellow logo they are consistently easy to set up tubeless, which hasn't necessarily been my experience with other brands.
I tried DHRII at both ends, didn't like it as a front tyre, I'm obviously not pushing the front hard enough, as I seemed to get caught int he transition between centre and side grip more often than I liked.
For winter/slop it's Shorty front/DHRII rear (both in Exo3c maxxterda spec)
For faster/firmer I'm on DHF/Dissector (Both in Exo dual compound)
I'm tempted to try and Assegai on the front as a middle ground option (I keep being tempted by the Schwalbe magic mary, but I've had my fingers burned a few too many times with Schwalbe tyres)
Shorty on the front, DHR on the rear works well for me.
You also need to pay attention to casing types , and compound types.
for maxxis tyres :
Casings go : exo, exo+,doubledown, DH , in ascending order of gnarliness and hence weight and hence slowness
Rubber compounds : maxx speed, maxx terra, maxx grip. in ascending order of gripiness and hence slowness.
I tried DHRII at both ends, didn’t like it as a front tyre, I’m obviously not pushing the front hard enough, as I seemed to get caught int he transition between centre and side grip more often than I liked.
Weirdly that's exactly why I don't like the DHF! Its got the weird floaty / vague sensation when its leaned over a little bit. The DHRII (particulary in a 2.4WT) just feels more consistent at non hero levels of commitment
Specialized Purgatory or Butcher on the front, Ground Control on the rear. Depending on the soil where you are riding, you might even get away with a Fast Trak on the rear.
Schwalbe Nobby Nic on the front/ Racing Ralph on the back.
Something like that kind of combo anyway.
keep the shorty on the front and have a DHR on the rear
This^^^^^^, 2.5 maxxterra Shorty up front and 2.3 maxxterra dd DHR2 on the rear, unless riding a lot of hardpack/rocky/trail centre stuff where I would generally swap the shorty for a 2.5 maxxgrip dhf. Schwalbe rock razor is a good option on the rear and is surprisingly grippy for a semi slick, I'd only run a shorty on the rear if I was doing uplifts
Brilliant, thanks everyone. I'm now setting myself the weekend to research and get the new tyre/s on order. Really kind of you all to take your time out of the day for the advice
I have a front shorty on my winter hardtail for slop. It's the draggiest tyre I have ever had but good in muddy sloppy conditions.
Mine is also the maxxgrip version as I made a mistake when buying it
Tyre choice is increasingly bewildering. Here is a bit of guide i recently found (sort of) useful for similar research: https://enduro-mtb.com/en/the-best-mtb-tire-in-review/
My bike came with an EXO+ MaxxGripp Assegai on the front and EXO+ MaxxGripp DHR2 on the rear and I have hated both of them.
The compound is super stick and the levels of grip are immense. However for my meagre talents, I don't generate enough speed to use it and I actually find that they have made the bike really hard work on anything that is not pointing down significantly.
Coupled with coming back from injury and low fitness, this has really hit my enjoyment of the bike. On the flat I was grinding and on minor descents, I was just slowing down and having to pedal.
I'm sure if you have the skill to carry mega speed everywhere the grip will be amazing, but for what I do and can do, it's overkill.
On my hard tail I have the Hutchinson Griffus 2.5 and Maxxiss Dissector EXO MaxxTerra on the rear and it is so much better. Big fan of both of them. The Griffus rolls slower than a MaxxTerra DHF, but is way better (IMHO), and the Dissector is very good on the rear.
I couldn't find a sensibly priced Dissector so have gone with a Vittoria Agarro on the rear now and the Griffus 2.5 Hardskin on the front, but have yet to try the bike, this will happen Monday.
Looks like a lot of the responses on this thread are thinking you're more into gnarly stuff but reading your op I said say stumpy 01/YakW/onnj have hit the nail on the head. Look on specialized UK for the sale tyres, you'll get decent tyres for £50 for both ends
Yeah, agree with that, most of these recommendations are good combos but don't seem right for the OP.
Shorty is definitely the wrong tyre for you, whether it's 2 or 1, but obviously it's expensive to change both at once... That's the only reason not to though. It's not just that they're slow, they're actually not as good as most tyres for what you describe.
I'd go DHR2 on the front, in the 3c maxxterra, and a rockrazor on the back. Arguably still too much front tyre but it's miles faster than what you're used to and will give you tons of security. The only real downside is it's expensive. You can get tyres that are probably 7/10ths as good, for less than half the price, but for me tyres aren't the place to save money.
And the rockrazor on the back is super fast, not the grippiest as it's basically a semislick but as long as you can trust it, does a really good job. This is my go-to for most of the year on my hardtail. You could go a little faster/less grippy on the front, and a litle grippier on the back, without much sacrifice.